A Conservative in Nutroots Land

John Fund of the Wall Street Journal visited the Nutroots leftist Convention in Las Vegas and filed this report:

How nervous are liberals about the November election and how angry are they at conservatives? Plenty, to judge from this year's Netroots Nation gathering of 2,000 liberal bloggers and activists.

At last year's Pittsburgh gathering, I saw a group of cheerful and upbeat folk assemble a full-fledged alternative convention for the Democratic Party. This year's meeting, in contrast, is characterized by angst and confusion. In Pittsburgh, I was treated with civility and even kindness. This year, three liberal bloggers surrounded me with video cameras within minutes of my arrival. They followed me into the media room, endlessly repeating questions about my articles on ACORN. Finally, they had to be asked to leave by other reporters there.

Signs that all is not well showed up in other places. Many of those in attendance openly expressed concern that President Obama is losing momentum in pushing their causes. "I've definitely never heard more cursing by speakers at a political conference than at Netroots Nation," Philip Klein of the American Spectator told me. Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the liberal website DailyKos, railed against "bullshit Democrats" at last night's kickoff event. He urged Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer to run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2012, when moderate Democratic Senator Max Baucus will presumably be seeking re-election. Mr. Baucus is blamed by liberals for sinking the chances of a "public option" in this year's health care bill.

Mr. Moulitsas was preceded by Ed Schultz, the liberal host who appears daily on MSNBC. He divided his speech between appeals to liberals to "stick it" to "ruthless, callous, rotten-to-the core Republicans" and raging about his disappointment with the Obama administration. "The White House has a war room. I think they have a sissy room too," he told attendees. At times he sounded like a spurned suitor. "I busted my ass for Obama," he said. "He don't come to Ed, he goes [and gives an interview] to Bret Baier on Fox News in my time slot."

Mr. Schultz charged that the Obama administration wasn't using progressive media effectively. "I thought our network did a hell of a job fighting for health care," he revealed, but mournfully admitted: "[The Obama White House] reacts to Fox, they don't go to us. . . . We're not winning right now, got to change some plays here."

Even Mr. Schultz's attempts at softer moments seemed a bit off-key. He acknowledged the tragedy that Fox host Glenn Beck may be going blind, but only because "it's a travesty he's not going to see the country he's trying to destroy." The audience laughed, later gave Mr. Schultz a standing ovation and then departed for a late-night karaoke session sponsored by the Service Employees International Union.

Nice people. They deserve the beating they're going to take in November.