Conaway Haskins on the Webb Netroots Victory
Conaway Haskins runs the South of the James blog, currently on hiatus. Currently, Haskins works as Deputy State Director for Sen. Jim Webb.
Feld: What do you think were the most significant elements that came together to produce such a strong grassroots/netroots movement for Jim Webb?
Haskins: At the end of the 2005 statewide campaign in Virginia, there was a lot of Democratic and progressive political energy leftover as a result of Tim Kaine’s strong victory. The razor-thin losses in the 2 down-ballot races also helped give Democrats the confidence that Virginia was inching back into competitiveness. At the same time, George Allen remained the most unpopular Republican among true-blue Virginia Democrats, who were totally sickened at the thought of him being a serious 2008 presidential candidate. Thus, the environment was ripe for a Democrat with the right profile to make some noise and possibly knock Allen out of the Senate. Jim Webb was uniquely positioned as that Democrat, and the bottom-up nature of his approach resonated with Virginia’s netroots.
Feld: How do you see the Webb netroots movement as compared to past movements. like Wes Clark’s and Howard Dean’s?
Haskins: The Webb netroots was actually an ironic blend of the Dean and Clark netroots activists in Virginia. A great deal of Webb supporters, and even some campaign staffers, had been involved with both 2004 campaign efforts in Virginia and elsewhere. Those folks, along with other like-minded individuals concerned about the declining state of our nation, came together in 2006 to form the backbone of the Webb volunteer core – the Webb netroots.
Feld: What do you think were the greatest successes and greatest failures of the “Draft” and the grassroots/netroots Webb movement in general?
Haskins: I know it’s rather simplistic, but in politics, success is about winning and failure is about losing. We won, so by that metric, this was a huge success.
Feld: How valuable/effective do you believe the grassroots pro-Webb blogs and Yahoo groups were. What about the pro-Allen blogs?
Haskins: The pro-Webb blogosphere was amazingly effective and as weapons in the Democratic arsenal. Frankly, the Webb bloggers led the mainstream media to water on several important stories, and out-foxed their GOP counterparts. One word – macaca – is emblematic of that. The pro-Allen blogosphere was mostly ineffectual because they mindlessly regurgitated campaign and GOP talking points. The attacks leveled at Webb’s books were clear examples of this; they just couldn’t get it together.
Feld: How would you describe the meeting between the “bottom up” draft and the “top-down” professional campaign people after Jim Webb announced? Specifically, how do you believe the grassroots/netroots was integrated - or not - with the “professional” campaign.
Haskins: The intersection of pros and amateurs in the Webb effort was unique in Virginia political history. Because it lacked financial resources and got started later than what is customary, the campaign heavily utilized volunteers in many capacities. On some occasions, the volunteers simply freelanced doing what they felt was best. The authenticity of the Webb movement – the Jacksonian populist element – called for a certain amount of organic, spontaneous social action and too much integration would have hurt.
Feld: Throughout the Webb campaign, there was tension to varying degrees between the netroots/grassroots and the professional campaign. In your view, what were the causes of those tensions and how important were they in each campaign? Do you believe that the Webb campaign was more effective at integrating the netroots/grassroots than other campaigns?
Haskins: Politics is not about singing “Kum-ba-yah” around the campfire. It’s serious business that entails a natural amount of tension. This campaign was no different. With all due respect to Connecticut, the Webb netroots is the best that American has seen to date because Webb won.
Feld: What lessons should the netroots learn from the Webb experience?
Haskins: The key to this was the authenticity of Jim Webb himself. Trying to go out and replicate the 2006 effort without having a candidate with genuine appeal and real story to tell won’t work.
Feld: Do you believe that the rise of the netroots will continue in 2007 and 2008, and if so, how will it manifest itself (e.g., a decline in the power of the political consultants and top-down media model?).
Haskins: I believe that that netroots will rise, if and only if, it seeks to be better integrated into every element of the Democratic Party. That means being collaborative even when the natural inclination is to be Long Rangers. Consultants and media types will always have power, especially in the high-dollar system we have in this country. But, the netroots can do things that the pros can’t, which will diffuse the power base. In the long run, a certain level of netroots maturation is in order in terms of adjusting to the realities of politics and governance without falling victim to cynicism. Idealism is a great motivator, and Lords knows the netroots is chock full of idealists; but, pragmatic application of skills and abilities is what wins races. The netroots must remember that revitalizing our democracy is a marathon, not a sprint.