The current edition of The New Republic has a cover story on the net-roots:

The Left's New Machine

Inside the Most Important Movement Since the Christian Right

The piece is written by Jonathan Chait, a senior editor at TNR. He acknowledges that the magazine is a frequent target of criticism from the net-roots. But even given whatever history exists between the magazine and the bloggers, Chait does a good job explaining both the reasons for the growth of the net-roots as well as describing its role an ideological cudgel to move Democrats to the left.

I particularly liked the distinction he drew between the net-roots and the more generic "liberal bloggers."

Outsiders often use the terms "net-roots" and "liberal bloggers" interchangeably, but they aren't exactly the same thing. The netroots are a subset of the liberal blogs, constituting those blogs that are directly involved in political activism, often urging their readers to volunteer for, or donate money to, Democratic candidates. Other liberal bloggers, sometimes called the "wonkosphere," advocate liberal ideas but do not directly involve themselves in politics. Most of the popular sites in the wonkosphere are maintained by academics or (generally) young liberal journalists, such as former American Prospect staffer Joshua Micah Marshall of Talking Points Memo or Washington Monthly blogger Kevin Drum. The quality of these blogs varies immensely, with the best ones offering a level of reporting and analysis far better than typical mainstream media fare. While journalistic liberal bloggers are not directly part of the netroots, the two groups generally regard one another as allies and criticize one another tepidly if at all.

Do you see those distinctions? I do. To me, as a reader, reporter and blogger, I look at the two types of blogs for different reasons. I would say that as a reader, I enjoy the "wonkosphere" side of things more. I'm a fan of both Drum and Marshall, for instance. Reading the netroots, though, provides a glimpse into what the left is focusing on at any given moment, and gives me more practical ideas for posts I should do. The net-roots tells me what progressives and often the Democratic Party are doing.

Chait draws parallels between the net-roots and the grassroots conservative movement. Others have done the same, of course. But he also gives a great summation of something that I have found difficult to explain myself:

FOR THE NETROOTS, partisan fidelity is the sine qua non. As Moulitsas told Newsweek in 2005, "The issue is: Are you proud to be a Democrat? Are you partisan?" What they cannot forgive is Democrats or liberals who distance themselves from their party or who give ammunition to the enemy. The netroots will forgive Democrats in conservative districts for moving as far to the right as necessary to win elections. But they do everything within their power to eliminate from liberal states or districts moderates like Joe Lieberman or Jane Harman, whose stances are born of conviction rather than necessity. This is precisely the same principle espoused by Norquist and other GOP activists. They will defend Republicans who need to demonstrate their independence from the national party in order to maintain their electoral viability. (As Norquist once remarked about Lincoln Chafee, "A Republican from Rhode Island is a gift from the gods.") But deviation by a Republican from a conservative state--say, Arizonan John McCain -- is unforgivable.

Another point of commonality between the netroots and the conservative movement is the belief that moderation is a kind of social malady brought about by residence within the Beltway. Conservatives believe that Republicans generally begin their national careers in a state of innocence but are perpetually susceptible to the blandishments of the liberal elite. The right has developed its own idioms -- e.g., "strange new respect" -- to describe the ways that they believe establishment bastions like The New York Times flatter and cajole conservatives into abandoning their principles.

What do you net-rooters and liberal bloggers think? I know TNR isn't the place you would choose for a critique. But I think Chait does a great job and it's worth reading the whole thing.