Yesterday, the Washington Post published an opinion piece by ubiquitous lefty political blogger Markos “Kos” Moulitsas attacking Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her prospects for winning the presidency in 2008.
According to Moulitsas, Clinton suffers from a wide range of problems. She relies too much on her husband’s old political advisors. She has no big ideas. She’s too much of a Washington insider. She hasn’t learned the all-important lessons of the all-important Howard Dean. She fails to recognize the ultra-supremacy of liberal Internet opinion makers such as the author himself. And she totally isn’t doing well in the recent straw polls sponsored by the author’s Web site. In other words, unelectable!
“Hillary Clinton has a few problems if she wants to secure the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination,” writes Moulitsas. “She is a leader who fails to lead. She does not appear ‘electable.’ But most of all, Hillary has a Bill Clinton problem. (And no, it’s not about that.)”
In printing that bill of particulars, Moulitsas instantly created his own Clinton problem — as all day yesterday and on into today his fellow liberal bloggers took turns pile-driving Moulitsas to the mat, while conservatives looked on in glee.
“Get real, Markos,” writes HeadlineUpdate. “Just because Hillary doesn’t have a Web site doesn’t mean she won’t attend to your precious netroots. Besides, how many people are really tuning into John Edwards’ podcasts or Mark Warner’s blog?”
“Is Markos Moulitsas a mole for the Hillary Clinton primary campaign?” writes the RCP Blog. “I have to ask on account of this piece on the Washington Post op-ed page today. Because, you see, the surest way to guarantee a candidate’s election is to put them on the side opposite the Kos Krowd.”
“Kos suffers from the typical ideologue’s delusion: My party loses when it doesn’t do enough of what I want,” adds the RCP Blog. “It’s a tempting delusion, found on both the Left and the Right, for sure.”
“The Daily Kos relentlessly continues to severely damage the Democratic Party establishment,” writes the right wing’s Flares into Darkness. “He still believes Howard Dean to be a centrist candidate!”
“A cynic with a sense of humor must wonder if Karl Rove is bribing the Daily Kos,” adds Flares into Darkness. “Are they possibly the best of buddies? Markos Moulitsas and his radical friends cannot be effectively marginalized. This is virtually impossible in the age of the Internet. The young man can easily raise enough money to remain a serious player. This is great news for the Republicans. With enemies like the Daily Kos, who need any friends?”
Indeed, conservative bloggers were having just as much fun as their liberal colleagues dropkicking Kos’ column through the goalposts of the blogosphere.
“All of this makes Hillary Clinton problematic to Kingmaker Kos,” writes Power Line. “An unerring judge of horseflesh, he allows that Hillary ‘is one of the warmest politicians I have ever met.’ But she’s only a rumor when it comes to the Daily Kos straw polls. Worse, she accepts the counsel of losers like James Carville and Mark Penn, who have no credibility because Bill Clinton never cleared 50 percent in his two three-candidate presidential elections. Better that Hillary should listen to Kos who foresaw that Howard Dean would sweep past Joe Lieberman in the 2004 Democratic also-ran sweepstakes.”
“Message to Hillary,” adds Power Line, “please listen to Kos.”
Felix Gillette writes about the media for The New York Observer.