Markos is Coming to Idaho

Republicans, lock your doors; this just in:  Markos Moulitsas Zúniga or kos, founder of Daily Kos, the premier blog conservatives love to hate, will be the keynote speaker for the Idaho Democratic Party's Frank Church Banquet on March 1st.

Sure to ignite Idaho Democrats and Republicans alike (but for very different reasons), Markos has been a fire-brand to national politics, pushing progressive issues into the mainstream with ever-increasing influence since breaking onto the blogging scene in 2002.  In fact in many ways, kos and the community he developed at Daily Kos are largely responsible for creating political blogging as we know it today.

A veteran born of a Salvadoran mother and Greek father, Markos has an impressive resume.  Here's an excerpt:

Named "the single most successful entrepreneur of the progressive movement" by NY Times magazine writer and author Matt Bai, Moulitsas is also co-author of the critically acclaimed book Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics, a contributing columnist to Newsweek Magazine and (starting in January 2008) a weekly columnist at The Hill newspaper. He was named one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics in the world by People en Español, clocked in at third in Forbe's Web Celeb 25 rankings, and was listed 26th in PC World's list of the "Most Important People on the Web".

I'm sure we'll be getting more info as the date draws near.  Until then, Idaho Republicans, consider this fair warning.

Comments

[Julie in Boise]

No doubt about it: the Idaho Dems have hit a home run with this one.

[Bubblehead]

I wonder if he'll say "Screw them."
http://opinionjournal.com/best/?id=110004904

Idaho Democrats should be grabbing the wide open center if they want to win, not playing to the far left as represented by Kos. Just MHO.

[Mark]

Well, yeah, "Screw Them". Until Bush came along, being a mercenary was a dirty word. Yesterday's news of Blackwaters use of CS gas on U.S. Army units illustrates that point rather well. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/world/middleeast/10blackwater.html After 7 years of Republican high crimes and misdemenors maybe a sharp swing to the left is what is needed to straighten out the country. Idaho will vote Republican in the next election, nothing can be done about their super majority in this state. Hopefully, the rest of the country will wake up and engage their brains and vote the GOP back to the ashheap of history where they so richly deserve to be. I for one will welcome Markos' visit to Boise.

[scootermom]

This is great MoJo for Idaho

[Sisyphus]

You know Bubbles you crossed a line here with me, pimping that old article like a troll. Either you watch too much Bill O'Reilly or you just don't know jack about what Kos stands for. Or both I guess. Why would you dis a fellow vet like that? And you're both Grant supporters.

Kos has been a strong advocate of the rise of Democrats in the West through a combination of strong advocacy of progressive policies and libertarian notions of decreased government intrusion into our private lives including the assertion of the second amendment. Progressive policies are popular politics as David Sirota extolled when he was here and it was that very thing that elected Governor Schweitzer and Senator Tester in neighboring Montana. Indeed Kos thinks western Dems are the future of the national party. I agree.

The future of our party lies not in acting more like Republicans but in not being afraid to stand up for what's correct and to quit listening to the media pundits and disinformation sources as some sort of conventional wisdom when it belies common sense.

[Bubblehead]

Actually, I don't watch Bill O'Reilly at all (is he on Fox News? I pretty much watch Comedy Central, CNN and MSNBC for my TV news). As far as not agreeing with Zuniga's positions just because he's a veteran, he sure wasn't very nice to veterans like Scott Helvenston ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Helvenston ), who it turns out was getting screwed over already by his employer. I can respect the front-line guys who work over in Iraq without liking their company.

You believe that Idaho Democrats will win elections by being more like Kos. I disagree strongly, and think inviting Zuniga will do the party more harm than good. So far, my predictions of what will happen in pretty much everything political have been better than just about any other Idaho political blogger. (I admit I didn't see the Dems taking the Senate in '06, but I accurately predicted what the Dem-controlled House would get accomplished.)

And on this blog, I'll let MG decide if I'm being trollish.

[Julie in Boise]

Bubblehead,

The one thing you forget is that Dems never march in lock step with anyone. So it's not like we're all going to agree with everything Kos says.

You know I'm a much more Kumbayah Dem than some others, but I still dig Kos, appreciate the platform he's built (which has a HUGE diversity of thought, BTW), and am thrilled to see we have enough "pull" to get him here in Idaho.

[Sisyphus]

No I think Idaho Democrats will win by being more like Schweitzer and Tester. So does Kos. And if it wasn't for the Kossacks we wouldn't have taken the senate in '06 since they were highly influential in the very close elections of Webb and Tester. Those were races that the inside the beltway Dems had all but written off. We need a little engine that could.

Your going to have to pony up on why Kos is ultra-left cause I don't see it. The label doesn't make it so. Just another tool of the Republican noise machine.

[Sisyphus]

And puh-leeze. Even Republicans predicted losing the House in '06.

[Chris]

Bubblehead: "So far, my predictions of what will happen in pretty much everything political have been better than just about any other Idaho political blogger."

Cough, cough, ahem. (click my name for link)

Let's not get ahead of ourselves now. I think I walked away with a RSR bumper sticker that day.

If I remember correctly you also brought up your "screw them" comment that day was well (@ Bardenay) and you were wrong about Larry Grant accepting ActBlue money from Kossacks.

I'll go ahead and stop you before you say it -- Although Grant lost to Sali, it wasn't because he took money from the Netroots. If you think that then you might want to rethink what you know about Idaho politics.

Seeing how "screw them" is what you brought up then, and now, I'm assuming that's all you have against Markos?

[Chris]

And it's pretty disingenuous to be bring up Scott Helvenston. Scott knew exactly what he was doing and wouldn't want pity from anyone.

If you're going to bring up Helvenston I think you might want to dig a little deeper and look at the reasons why he became a contractor in Iraq.

[Sisyphus]

Damn, Chris. Your memory is as good as your foresight. Bubbles wasn't even close. But I'm just as guilty in projecting on my predictions.

Bubbles one mistake does not a demon make. Bone up on Kos before you dismiss him. So far you've done nothing more than label him with nothing to back it up.

[MountainGoat]

Well okay all, here are my thoughts on Kos and his coming to Idaho.

1) Everyone who has ever put on a uniform holds a certain amount of respect in my eyes--a brotherhood/sisterhood kind of thing. Kos earned the right to be critical of the actions of any former member of that brotherhood. Sometimes "supporting the troops" means telling the truth as you see it. That doesn't mean that I have to agree with the actions or statements of every veteran, but I'm not going to criticize them for doing or saying it.

2) Kos' coming to Idaho represents an opportunity to energize and invigorate the base of the Idaho Democratic Party. He isn't going to appeal to conservatives (isn't that part of the point, though?) but his message will resonate with many who have felt that their government doesn't represent them. In the end, whether or not you agree with the positions he's taken isn't the point. The point is that he's learned how to get others to hear you and ultimately that is what's important about his visit.

[Bubblehead]

OK, I looked through the Kos website a little more, and I will admit that none of the various "9/11 Truth" and "Rove Hacked the Voting Machine" posts were written by Kos himself; in fact, he has a post up now making fun of the NH primary hacker conspiracy theorists. Also, I have met, and like, mcjoan. That being said, I don't think having Kos come here will be a public relations coup, and let's face it -- if the Dem base isn't already "energized" by the upcoming elections, they're not going to get energized by one speech.

I admit to having been a little off in the prediction contest Chris pulled out of the memory hole (I hadn't yet realized how ridiculous the voting pattern of Idaho Republicans could be at that point), but I have been right about what Congress was able to get accomplished this year.

[MountainGoat]

Well Bubblehead, you can try and throw a wet blanket on this all you want, but the energy and momentum Dems are going to get isn't just about Kos' "one speech." The whole invite signals that there is something exciting going on in the Idaho Democratic Party and more and more people are seeing it.

I think the important thing to get from the DailyKos community and why it's such a popular and influential site, is that it's about giving people a voice, not telling them what to say.

[JDem]

This sounds bad, but when I heard "Markos", I had to do a google search to see which website he was connected to. Yep, I'm not a kos reader. I find the layout confusing and the website hard to navigate, but I certainly appreciate what it has done and what it is for Democrats.