One of the hallmarks of netroots politics is for radical partisans to announce their movement represents the mainstream of the mass electorate.

By continually arguing that “progressives” control the “political center,” hardline leftists can disguise their extremist agenda as reflecting the political preferences of a majority of Americans.

I’ve noted regularly the left’s tendency to claim the mainstream, but there’s some recent radical outrage over the media’s declaration that Barack Obama - after wrapping up his nomination - has moved to the political middle. There are differences, naturally, among lefty bloggers as to Obama’s correct location on the spectrum, but what’s not at issue is that for many Obama has violated the progressive creed, which the leftists see as the majoritarian core of the American political universe.

The least compelling argument of this sort comes from Matt Stoller, who simply denounces Barack Obama’s move to the center as a corrupt bargain - a political sellout to the corporate power elite of the Washington establishment. After highlighting the media coverage of Obama’s moderation, Stoller attacks the lobbying practices of Tom Daschle, the former Senate minority leader, who’s mentioned in the Washington Post’s article, “In Campaign, One Man’s Pragmatism Is Another’s Flip-Flopping“: (more…)