Last week Ari Melber from The Nation asked me to comment on the prospects for Open Left, a new blog from Chris Bowers and Matt Stoller, which launched on Monday. Accepting my fate as a known critic (and risking the “concern troll” label), I willingly responded with my predictions for the site. Melber was just looking for a quote to illustrate his column, but today he’s posted the entire exchange at Personal Democracy Forum. Here’s a sample:
Whatever happens to Open Left, it won’t be like HotSoup. [AP Reporter Ron] Fournier and company had no idea what to do with an online community or even how to build a website and no clear idea who their audience was. These guys don’t have that problem. I think the better analogy is HuffPo — that website is very successful, but it’s not quite what Arianna originally envisioned. The netroots will come to the table, and probably so will the offline activist orgs. Campaign professionals, not so much.
Not enough for you? See the whole thing here. For my thoughts on the (apparently defunct) disaster called HotSoup, see here.






