Democrats discover support in ‘netroots’

LAS VEGAS — After years of demoralizing political failures, Democrats have turned to the Internet for electoral salvation.

The heartbeat of this liberal “netroots” movement is gathering this weekend at an aging gambling house in hopes of plotting a political recovery for Democrats and the party’s top elected leaders — Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California — will participate.

Hosted by the powerful liberal blog Daily Kos (www.dailykos.com), attendees will wrestle with tough tasks such as “Winning in the States” and debate whether Democrats really need to appeal to the South in order to win a national election.

The virtual leader of the movement is Markos Moulitsas, a blogger who transformed his online rant sheet into a Web site viewed by an estimated half-million readers and bloggers every day.

“These have been heady days for the people-powered movement,” Mr. Moulitsas said in his keynote address he posted on his Web site yesterday.

“We’re only four years old, from the early days when bloggers like Atrios and Jerome Armstrong at MyDD (www.mydd.com) inspired bloggers like me and countless others to stop railing at Fox News and our so-called ‘liberal’ pundits, and start publishing those rants on the Web.”

And rant they do.

After the killing this week of Abu Musab Zarqawi — one of the most vicious terrorists in the world — bloggers flocked to the Daily Kos to post opinions somewhere short of the joy and relief felt by most Americans.

“Bush’s idea of justice is bombs falling out of the sky?” reads the first posting. From there, they referred to President Bush as the “Butcher of Crawford,” lamented the political boost the kill could provide to Mr. Bush and suggested that the whole thing might have been staged.

“Now we are rid of one murderous tyrant — how about the removal of another one — believed to be hiding in a safe-house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,” wrote one frustrated blogger.

After hundreds of unbridled postings, one blogger asked whether the postings were a “joke” and worried that the sentiments might not play well in the heartland.

“Joe-sixpack is going to think that Zarqawi’s death is nothing but good news,” advised ShooterTX. “If he hears what you have been posting at Kos, he will think you are all nuts! Or worse, that you are in simpathetic to the terrorists/insurgents/jihadists.”

That remains an open question after a poll earlier this year on the Daily Kos revealed 41 percent of those surveyed said they “despise” Mr. Bush more than they despise Osama bin Laden.

One of those surveyed posted a comment, which was later removed from the site, that said:

“I realized that I empathized and agreed with bin Laden’s hatred of Bush and all he stands for. Bush is not America and while Binny may just be baiting us, I would welcome a truce if it included the impeachment of Bush as part of the bargain.

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