"MoveOn's clout divides Democrats"

RAW STORY:
The clout of the online Democratic activist organization MoveOn.org, visible in the campaign of Ned Lamont to seize the Democratic nomination to the Senate for Connecticut, is provoking conflict with key members of the Democratic leadership, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal.

A front-page story in the Journal illustrates how MoveOn -- with a budget of millions of dollars and a large membership base -- has advanced itself as a player in Democratic party politics. The article makes the case that the organization's support has been critical to the success so far of the Lamont campaign in launching an insurgency against a major Democratic senator, remarking that MoveOn's endorsement of Lamont "injected cash and volunteers into the antiwar candidate's crusade to unseat one of the staunchest Democratic supporters of the Iraq war."

But other Democrats fear that MoveOn's activities could harm the party as a whole. Party leaders fear that a leftward movement, concentrated heavily on Iraq, "would imperil moderate and conservative Democrats whose appeal in Western and Southern states is critical to winning back Congress. It could also alienate swing voters, who polls suggest are shifting back to the Democrats this year. Says moderate Louisiana Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu, who supports Mr. Lieberman, 'I don't think it's a winning strategy or a smart strategy.'"

An excerpt from the subscription-only story is provided below.

This tug of war is similar to a push by conservative Republicans in the early 1990s to take over the party structure and elevate such social issues as abortion. That intraparty feud contributed to the re-election defeat of President George H. W. Bush in 1992 but helped fuel the conservative Republican takeover of Congress two years later.

The Connecticut showdown comes at a time when the Democratic Party is struggling to reposition itself after successive presidential-election losses. For all its momentum, MoveOn hasn't scored a major victory, despite its rapid mobilization of people and money around the world. Its members backed 2004 Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean, who lost in early primaries. It rallied behind the Ohio Senate candidacy of Democrat Paul Hackett, an antiwar Iraq veteran, who in February angrily quit the primary under pressure from party leaders anxious to clear the way for Rep. Sherrod Brown. And this summer MoveOn made voter-turnout calls for Democrat Francine Busby, who lost a high-profile House special election to replace convicted Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in San Diego.

A Lamont loss would take the edge off threats by MoveOn and online activists to punish candidates who defy the party's so-called "netroots." But a successful challenge to Mr. Lieberman could embolden an energetic and left-leaning wing of the Democratic party, which for the first time this year is weighing into congressional primary races.

"This puts the political class on notice that they have to pay attention to people outside the Beltway," says Eli Pariser, MoveOn's 25-year-old executive director.