The Loonstream Media

The WP had a story this morning which was quite interesting about the left side of the blogosphere and their attempt to unseat California democrat Ellen Tauscher. Tauscher comes from an area of the state that is aggressively moderate. She won her first race for the seat she now holds because she and some others recognized that the then incumbent was a bit out of touch - a charming guy with a very sharp tongue.

If you look at the geography of the district you begin to understand it. The suburban homes in it are separated from the far left coast by a small coastal mountain range - this is not Berkeley or San Francisco or Oakland where all sorts of extreme left candidates can be elected. But it also is the Bay Area where democrats are very strong. The heart of the district includes high end houses of people who mostly (although with some processessing headquarters moving to the East Bay there is some significant economic activity) work in the "city" (read SF) but who chose not to live there.

But starting with the Daily Kos and evolving into two new blogs ( Dump Ellen Tauscher and Ellen Tauscher Weekly) the loon left had started a serious (It is hard to use that word in this context) to dump the member. Kos, in fact, is credited as the "inspiration" for the new blog. Kos seems to want ideological purity that would make Mao blush.

Mind you, I am not a fan of Tauscher's, her predecessor was a friend (although he lost touch with his district and deserved to lose). But this effort suggests how fragile the new majority in the congress really is. Ultimately, political majorities are constructed broadly. They need to take more than just the ideologically pure to sustain themselves. Tauscher is a pretty good vote for the left. Compare for example, the ADA (Americans for Democratic Action - a good left of center indicator. ) ratings of Pelosi (100), Barbara Lee (95), George Miller (100) and Tauscher (90). In some years she dips to shudder 85. It is unlikely that either an ideologically pure 100% is likely to be elected in her district or that a GOP successor in the district would have a rating much above 10%. But the Loonstream Media cannot stand her minor glitches into independence. The most recent post on Dump Ellen Tauscher asks the question " Anyone living in the CA-10, who do you know that's electable?"

Tauscher has been a consistently strong candidate in her district winning often by huge margins. But in a district like this, pulling out the far left vote could swing the district back to a GOP member. In reality, these kinds of ideologues eventually burn out but it is fun to see the ones on the left reemerge.