Liberal Talk Radio

Me April 6:

But what much of this analysis leaves out is that Obama did this without the lockstep support of what they used to call the “netroots.” The online left, a.k.a. the folks who rallied around Howard Dean in 03-04, aren’t all on board the Obama train. No doubt some of them are, but Obama’s whole schtick is that he’s post-partisan, which makes many online lefties skeptical. These folks don’t want someone who “rises above” politics, they want someone who unabashedly champions progressive causes, i.e. Dean, Russ Feingold, and John Edwards v2.0.

Mike Crowley, April 17:

A belated point about Barack Obama’s fundraising: He pulled in scads of small online contributions at levels that rival Howard Dean’s hottest late-2003 numbers. (Obama raised $6.9 million online. Dean pulled in $7.4 mil in his sizzling 2003 third quarter.) What’s interesting is how Obama has done this largely without an organized cheerleading campaign by the “netroots.” Obama is often criticized on major liberal blogs (see movement leaders rip him here and here), yet that hasn’t stopped him from reeling in the online cash at a Dean-like pace. Is this a sign that the netroots are becoming less monolithic and top-down?