Kos Promises to "Cleanse" the Dem Party

Rick Moran has the unenviable duty of reporting from the YearlyKos convention in Chicago, a convergence of wackos and lefty activists who populate the DailyKos website. The founder of the site now considers himself the Democratic kingmaker and promises to "cleanse" the Dem party of those who do not follow his wishes:

And as Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, AKA “Kos,” made crystal clear at a press conference this afternoon, the battle will not only be against Republicans, but also against Democrats who need to be “cleansed” from the party. Kos didn’t name any names, saying we will find out “soon enough” which Democrats would be targeted for defeat in the primaries. But his message was clear; on issues near and dear to the hearts of the progressive on line community, Democrats will adapt or they will face the wrath of this new force in politics.

In effect, Kos has promised to remake the Democratic Party in the image of the netroots. And while many observers think that this would pull the Democratic Party too far to the left, Markos disagrees.

“There is no Jesse Jackson wing of the Democratic party anymore. We are the center,” he said.

The exhibit hall at the convention sounds pretty fascinating, as Rick reports:

The highlight of the day was a trip to the exhibitors’ hall. Here, all manner of activists had set up tables to hawk their causes and ideas. Well known groups like People for the American Way and the venerable Americans for Democratic Action were there. And groups who have received some press recently such as “The World Can’t Wait” – which advocates impeaching President Bush and trying him for war crimes – were advocating that everyone wear orange to show their support. When asked why the color orange, we were told that “orange was the color of the jumpsuits worn by Guantanamo inmates” as well as the color that denotes “warning.”

All of the Dem presidential candidates will be appearing before this bunch in the hopes that they will find favor with the online activists, lest they be cleansed. They tried cleansing Joe Lieberman, and though they got him out of the party, they didn't get him out of the Senate, and I still think that someday Joe will turn on these guys completely, abandon the Dem caucus, and flip control of the Senate back to the GOP. It would be a fitting legacy for the Kos crowd.