One problem that the "netroots," whatever that is, has is that there's tendency by Democrats to see it as just another player in the interest group checklist politics game. So, sometimes "this will piss off the blogs" is a consideration, and a similar one to "this might piss of NARAL" or "this might piss off the Sierra Club." We're a noisy somewhat influential group to be placated somehow.
Now that's not how I see things as I think blogs should be seen more as an opportunity to influence media coverage and narratives, as well as helping to stitch together a broader-based political movement.
But it isn't very surprising the Democrats don't really understand how blogs work within the media, as they've long failed to understand how the media works generally. So it's difficult to communicate and explain the "good" the blogs can do when a lot of them just see us as a noisy sometimes-pain-in-the-ass. This isn't true of everyone in DC, of course, but one has to remember that of congressional staffers are often shockingly young and really can't be expected, no matter what their talents, to have a grip on all this stuff in a sophisticated way.
Ultimately politicians respect power, and respect you if you can deliver something for them. I don't really see that the important role of blogs is raising money, but it's one way to get attention and some respect. And while in the past fundraising efforts were largely directed at "anyone who can win in a race which might not be getting enough love from DC insiders," this time around we have the luxury of being more choosy, and in doing so can hope to express a somewhat more coherent, if broad, ideology other than "we want to throw Republicans out of office." I happen to think the fairly broad if still somewhat undefined "netroots platform" is a pretty good one. While there is certainly a variety of political perspectives within this group, it's always pretty obvious to me which issues/policies are going to have widespread interest/support and which ones aren't among my readership and and popular blogs generally.
All of this a way of getting to the point that money is one way to get respect, and proving that you can deliver it to the right kind of people has a way of encouraging people to come around to your point of view. So, yes, demonstrating that the mighty blogs can pull in $100K over a few days for a House candidate - and not just any House candidate - 14 months out from an election is one way to get a bit of respect. And a way to get people to listen to your concerns... and responding to them.
So, consider forking over a few to Burner.
