First, a word of praise for "Bloggers On The Bus"---I'm so used to reading hostile reactions to liberal bloggers from the mainstream media and so many instances of exploiting some of the worst episodes or worst blog comments to smear us all that I'm slobberingly grateful to read an account of liberal blogging that's accurate and respectful (while not shying away from talking about some of our uglier issues). There's a lot to address that he covers in the book: the Clinton/Obama blog wars, policing liberal bloggers who want to make like wingnuts and trade in conspiracy theories, pushing back against the Dirty Hippie stereotype, and the "where do we go from here?" question.

But I want to address the question Eric raised about how the Obama campaign and administration has, while using the larger netroots and social networking structures already in place, put the bloggers themselves at a distance. As he details in the book, this upset a lot of bloggers, especially since the blogs themselves mostly broke for Obama and had a lot to do with raising his profile above Clinton's. Despite this, while Edwards and Clinton had blogger outreach, Obama didn't.

It strikes right at the heart of the insider/outsider conundrum that's plagued the liberal blogosphere since about 2006, when it became clear that we really were a force to be reckoned with. Believe me---for those of us who've been around when the only blogs the mainstream media would acknowledge were wingnutty and liberals felt like we were screaming into a void, this transition to power players has been unsettling. Blogs were built up for a lot of reasons, but as Eric notes, most of us got into this, especially in the beginning, because we wanted to vent. We had no ambitions to change the world, and when we started to get pulled in that direction, most of us shrugged our shoulders and said you can't turn destiny away when it starts knocking on your door.

But like many of the bloggers Eric interviews note, ours is the energy of outsiders. The metaphor people grasp for more than anything is punk rock, and it's apt (especially the way that people who break into the mainstream are berated for selling out). So, instead of being mad at Obama for keeping us at a distance, I humbly suggest that he did us a favor. If he'd brought the bloggers into his inner circle, then it would be a lot harder for us to criticize him and hold him accountable for what appears to be a long 4-8 years of selling out progressive values because the skittish Democratic mindset is kicking in.

Being outsiders actually makes us better allies to the Democrats when they actually deserve it. There were Clinton camps and Obama camps, but both camps jumped all over Chris Matthews for his relentless sexism towards Clinton, which is easier for us to do as we're independent and don't have to worry too much about whether our words reflect poorly on this campaign or that campaign's message.

The Obama campaign didn't try to be my friend, even though my blog Pandagon was deeply in their camp (much to the chagrin of our Clinton-supporting readers). Because of this, I don't feel even remotely guilty hosting broadsides against some of the stupider things the administration is doing, from the unbelievable defense of DOMA to their pussyfooting around on human rights issues to their inappropriate outreach to abortion and birth control foes in the wake of a doctor assassination.

This goes a long way to explaining how the liberal blogs can persist over the long haul. If we maintain an outsider status and the energy that gives us, we can have the best of both worlds: an ability to wield political power and influence without having to stifle our opinions.