Cyberspace pumps up Democrats

Monday, June 12, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.

If there were any doubts that the 2008 presidential campaign has already begun - go ahead, spit out your coffee now - they were obliterated when former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner stepped off the elevator at the top of the Stratosphere.

To his left was a giant ice sculpture and martini bar, straight ahead were a couple of guys doing a serviceable impression of Jake and Elwood Blues, and all around him was the new voice of the Democratic Party - the Internet political activists who convened this weekend in Las Vegas for the first time at a convention called YearlyKos.

The name YearlyKos was borrowed from Daily Kos, an Internet site started by Markos Moulitsas that now has hundreds of thousands of daily visitors, who log on to read Moulitsas or other writers castigate President Bush, or not infrequently, Democrats in Washington for going soft.

The site allows readers to set up their own online diaries, or blogs, to do the same. Moulitsas, the shorts-wearing star of the convention, is an Army veteran who wasn't involved in politics just a few years ago. He began typing away during his day job and professed to be amazed when he had 100 readers.

Warner's presence and his extravagant attempt to fete a group of people nobody had ever heard of three years ago was a testament to the emerging influence of these activists, many of them new to politics. The fact that he made millions in cell phone technology before governing a Republican state as a centrist and leaving with an 80 percent approval rating lent the conference mainstream credibility.

By reaching out to these people now shaping liberal opinion and raising millions of dollars for favored candidates, Warner won some online liberal allies in his drive to become what is known simply as the "anti-Hillary" - a candidate who can be an alternative to Sen. Hillary Clinton. Many Democrats have grown weary of Clinton and fear America will not elect a Northeastern Democrat.

Some of the activists rejected Warner, however, as a corporate Democrat who would try to co-opt the online liberals and corrupt their movement.

All told, the weekend illustrated a complex, maturing and increasingly influential community, though one whose effectiveness is still largely untested. In perhaps the perfect symbol of how the Kos community is quickly infiltrating establishment politics, Moulitsas appeared Sunday on the ultimate insider's show, "Meet the Press."

Saturday night, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, the insider's insider, drew a few standing ovations during his speech to the convention.

These activists, long dismissed as young, angry and left wing, loved being able to point to Reid and Warner as well as other convention visitors - Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, former NATO Commander Wesley Clark and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson - as evidence that they've been miscast since so many of them rallied behind Howard Dean and helped him raise millions of dollars in his 2004 presidential run.

When he introduced Warner, Moulitsas thanked him by saying, "He put his credibility on the line. If somebody like that wants to meet us, it may show we're not these far-left extremist wackos everybody thinks we are."

It was a wry anticipation of Republican attacks, which were already filling reporters' in-boxes Friday. Paul Adams, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, released this statement: "The ideas promoted by Dean, Reid and the Daily Kos are the most liberal among liberals and there just isn't a reasonable, common ground with this convention and Nevada.

"This is a collection of angry-spirited liberals who are more focused on impeaching presidents and attacking mainstream policy than providing safety and solutions for Americans."

The volunteers who organized the convention saw the attacks coming and often tried to diffuse them with self-mockery and humor. A group called Laughing Liberally entertained the crowd with standup comedy and impressions and seemed to cut across the "angry" characterization.

One comedian responded to Warner's party this way: "Thanks for the sushi and lattes. If only we'd had the party in a gay marriage chapel and given out gift bags with the "Communist Manifesto" and The Nation magazines."

Conventioneers also pointed to people around them to prove their normalcy. The crowd skewed older than expected but in all looked like other convention crowds, if more of the comic book and computer type. A common greeting was, "What's your handle?" referring to a person's online pseudonym.

Karen Norman, a 53-year-old stay-at-home mom from Monrovia, Calif., (handle: mommybrain), said she was thrilled to see beyond screen names. Turns out, "They're the same people they are online. The only thing now is that I can put a face to their brains."

Her online reading and writing has led her into offline political activism, she said.

Tom Mattzie, the D.C. director of MoveOn.org, an increasingly powerful online activist group with millions of members, said, "What you realize about these people at this conference is how normal they are."

Yet all of the warm glow, the mainstream press coverage, the lavish parties, had some of the conventioneers wondering if they were being bought off, if the movement is losing its edge.

Edward Anderson, who traveled from New Haven, Conn., called the Warner party "over-the-top largesse" and said it was out of keeping with the humble origins of the bloggers.

Warner estimated the cost of his shindig at $50,000. It was a sign of respect, he said.

Anderson said it would be a shame if the Kos community became yet another part of the political consultant class. He was unmoved by Warner, who spent most of his speech introducing himself and touting technocratic achievements. He mentioned the Iraq war only briefly.

To that, Anderson responded: "Our party doesn't say anything about Iraq. Right's right. Wrong's wrong."

For the most part, though, the bloggers were reveling in their new status. As the Warner party wound down Friday, couples began dancing enthusiastically, if not always in rhythm.