Spirited Democratic Debate at the YearlyKos

Debate Wrap- We caught up with Joan McCarter, a contributing editor to DailyKos and one of the moderators of the panel. She was thrilled with the way it went, saying the candidates seemed to feed off the energy in the room. She said the moderators were aiming for a more sophisticated debate than what transpired on YouTube last month, in which candidates were asked questions via video submitted by the public. “We wanted to reflect that we have a highly involved, high-information audience, and we wanted to reflect their concerns,” she said.

The exchange on lobbyists and whether the candidates would accept their money, she said, “was one of the most honest moments we’ve had.” That exchange may reflect a shifting of the power center of the Democratic party away from the moderates and toward the grassroots, or as they are called here, the Netroots.

One question she didn’t get to was why the candidates came to this bloggers’ convention but did not attend the recent meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council, the moderate group championed by President Clinton. “We’ve reached a point where D.L.C. politics are an anachronism,” she said......