Its goals and kos' somewhat authoritarian nature skew the nature of the site. It is not representative of progressive America.

I think it's probably very representative of progressive America, authoritarianism and all.

I've already suggested that the underlying US myth is  domination at almost any price.

It's most obvious and naked on the Right. But the Left is hardly immune. A site devoted entirely to getting into power, and worrying about policy later, fits into the pattern very neatly.

It's been interesting watching Sirota getting torn apart for suggesting that Obama isn't the last best hope. That argument seems to have been based on electability vs policy - the latter not being an Obama strong point.

However - I don't think Kos is entirely policy averse, no matter what he says. He'd be unlikely to support Lieberman for 2008, nor any of the other more business-friendly and centre-leaning Dems.

The problem is that there's a distinction between progressive and populist policies in the US. It's an area that hasn't been picked over properly yet, possibly because the Dems have spent the last five years almost completely on the defensive.

Or perhaps they've been on the defensive because they haven't evolved a strong pro-labour narrative and have been too busy watching the hand with the 'War on Trrra'  glove waving in their faces.

If Dem freshmen gave Rubin a good kicking, that's a good sign. But they need someone or something to tie them together into a movement. Otherwise it's just random ideological mortar fire, rather than a concentrated campaign.