Back in the day when Dean was riding high in the polls, the far-left Daily Kos seemed to be the epicenter of the new democratic party. And one of the recurrent themes on Daily Kos were repeated rants about The New Republic, a (brilliant) centrist-liberal magazine. Fast losing its relevancy, declared one. The Pretentious Wing of the Democratic Party, alleged another, under the ironic title "Shock! TNR Writes Something Stupid". The New Republic happens to be my favorite magazine.

And then....Dean lost the nomination. Suddenly, this new populism looked significantly overestimated. It seemed as if the Democratic party is the same centrist Democratic party it has always been, not terribly enthusiastic about embracing a radical agenda touted by a small minority.

Recently, kos made some denigrating comments about the contractors who died in Iraq. "Screw them," he said. Conservatives had a field day. In the end, John Kerry pulled his ads from the Kos webpage.

Whose irrelevant now, bitch?