Faux-populist James Carville shows his real colors in this revealing quote, reported by Ryan Lizza, on his reaction to the relatively open process Democrats are just finishing in their selection of a new party chair:

"I think it's pathetic. It's so indicative of the Democratic Party. Now we're just playing into every stereotype: We're weak, disorganized, flopping around.... Somebody should have fixed this damn thing in November. I wish someone would have taken charge and three or four people would have gotten together in a smoke-filled room.... They're not running for president! They are running for party chair. This is supposed to be a rigged deal. You think the Republicans would do it this way?"

The rest of the article is worth reading, not only for what it describes about the pivotal role political bloggers like MyDD.com have played in the race, but also for the shifting loci of power revealed by the race. Perhaps most important: top party figures in DC, well-connected consultants, and moneymen no longer have a lock on the process. (Sorry, James.) This isn't to say that millions of grass-roots partisans have suddenly been empowered (the party chair decision isn't in their hands, as consultant Howard Wolfson had proposed), but something new is loose in the land.

To paraphrase Chris Nolan, not only the newsroom has left the building, but so has the war-room.

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