Politics certainly do make strange bedfellows. I finally got the chance to see Dodd smack down O'Reilly. Count me as very impressed. I am now trying to process how this affects the world of progressive politics. I think the ramifications are huge. I'll try to explain why after the fold.
I think we can all agree that prior to Dodd v. O'Reilly, Senator Dodd was never a favorite here in the progressive blog world. I think it is fair to say that we respected his politics, but we never looked to him as a champion of progressive causes. Does Senator Dodd now become a "people powered candidate" even though he has been in power for years? I think the answer to this one question could change the progressive blog world forever.
Senator Dodd is the type of respected politician that instantly gives Daily Kos credibility with a much broader spectrum of the Democratic party. However, is this the type of credibility that this community has been seeking? Can our movement simply mesh with the current Democratic establishment or do we need to continue to promote the type of candidate
(Tester et al) that we have in the past?
I don't pretend to know the answers to these questions, but I do think that these are subjects we need to hash out. O'Reilly may have inadvertently
made Daily Kos and the ideas expressed here more acceptable to mainstream Democrats. Is this a good thing or is it too soon?
Anyway, thanks for sticking up for us Senator Dodd. I hope this works out well for everyone involved. These are certainly interesting times.