Informed Speculation

Good piece in the Wall Street Journal today on the results of the ‘progressive’ push for Ciro Rodriguez in the Texas Democratic primary:

The campaign was long on sentiment but short on funds. By the end of December, Mr. Rodriguez had raised only $170,000 to Mr. Cuellar’s $655,000. Then, in January, the conservative Club for Growth endorsed Mr. Cuellar, its first ever Democratic endorsement. And as President Bush entered the House chamber for the State of the Union address, cameras captured his hearty embrace of Mr. Cuellar. The endorsement and the image were widely disseminated, igniting a nationwide liberal campaign to defeat Mr. Cuellar. Influential bloggers Markos “Kos” Moulitsas and Duncan “Atrios” Black led the charge, joined by kindred Web sites. As much as $500,000 poured into Mr. Rodriguez’s coffers during the final six weeks of electioneering. Liberals touted the effort as the ultimate mobilization of the “netroots”–the indomitable synthesis of grassroots organization with digital potency.

In the March 7 primary, Mr. Cuellar won with 53% of the vote to Mr. Rodriguez’s 41% (a third candidate taking the rest). He increased his margin of victory over Mr. Rodriguez in 2004 in 10 out of 11 counties, besting his principal opponent by nearly 5,600 votes–despite the efforts of the netroots activists. “A lot of energy and money was wasted in the Democratic primary that could have been used to defeat Republicans in November,” says Colin Strother, a general consultant for Mr. Cuellar’s campaign. “The netroots people took their eyes off the ball–taking the House back from the Republicans,” he says. “They only knew one picture . . They knew nothing about the district.”

Blogger Moulitsas is unapologetic. “So we didn’t kill off Cuellar,” he wrote in an entry on his blog, “but we gave him an [black] [sic???] whooping where none was expected and made him sweat. That’s the reason why Lieberman is sweating in Connecticut,” referring to another netroots challenge against another centrist Democrat.

So far, threats like these seem the best the Angry Left can muster. They now have a disastrous 0-17 record stretching back to 2004. The netroots leaders resemble nothing so much as World War I commanders, who after each successive setback maintained that victory was tantalizingly close, and lobbed more artillery shells and threw more troops over the top. Similarly among the netroots, the article of faith is that victory is only a matter of trying harder, upping the rhetoric and raising more money.

Despite the lack of tangible electoral results, the netroots effort could have a devastating effect on the increasingly thin ranks of moderates within the Democratic Party. Mr. Cuellar suggests his victory should force party agitators to rethink an ideological agenda that pits so-called progressive yet marginal candidates against mainstream Democrats. “This little election,” he observes, “has repercussions for the Democratic Party.”

Mr. Cuellar remains unfazed by the netroots intimidation. “People ask me, ‘Are you gonna change, did this scare you?’ No. I don’t mind bucking the system if it’s the right thing for the district.” Whether Democrats will tolerate such independent thinking is the great challenge facing their party.

[Emphasis mine]

It’s not about ideology, right? It’s all about the winning? Please…