Drinking with Kos

I attended Drinking Liberally tonight at the 331 Club, where Kos from Daily Kos was in attendance as advertised. It was a pretty packed place, full of energy, and Markos did not disappoint. He is a very good spokesperson for the liberal blogosphere, telling it like it is, passionate, and taking the fight to Republicans everywhere.

Overall, his question-and-answer time and his opening spiel were good. I don't think I will quite agree with his remarks that the traditional media is not necessary anymore; only a very tiny fraction of people read blogs after all. However, I do think that blogs and other online media are in their ascendance, and the chattering class, the pundits, the self-styled experts, the letters-to-the-editor writers, they are definitely plugged in. And that does make a big difference. Markos talked about that vis-à-vis the Stephen Colbert affair at the Washington Correspondents Dinner, but it's evident in lots of place.

I also agreed with his take that Democrats need to talk about the issues that Democrats share, and get away from the single-issue advocacy groups. One woman asked what Democrats can do about all the women who are outraged at the loss of reproductive rights, and Markos gave her an answer that she probably didn't like: that these single-issue groups need to butt out. Frankly, I agree, and I am surprised by these people. I am a strong supporter of reproductive rights, but women aren't rioting in the streets about abortion. Few people are rioting about anything, except maybe gas prices. Talking about volatile issues is pointless.

All in all, a good night. I was kind of surprised that no politicians showed up; I would have thought that they had more sense.