Reluctant radicals.(THE OUT YEARS)(Column)

IT IS CONVENTIONAL WISDOM THAT THE NEW DEMOCRATIC activists of the "netroots" are strong on political tactics but don't have much to contribute to the war of ideas. Matt Bai, writing in The New York Times Magazine, charged disparagingly that "leaders of the netroots ... will tell you that Big Ideas are overrated."

This isn't entirely fair, but let's take the point: The better-known lefty blogs are indeed weighted toward the tactical. They argue that the liberal establishment of think tanks and advocacy groups is built on the assumption that the government ...

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