OpenLeft
Encyclopedia
OpenLeft was a political blog
founded July 9, 2007 by Matt Stoller, Chris Bowers
, originally of MyDD
, and Mike Lux
, a former official in the White House
under President
Bill Clinton
Covering political and social issues from a progressive
standpoint, it spearheaded a number of causes, including focusing attention and criticism on the Blue Dog Democrat
s and supporting net neutrality. The website's campaign garnered criticism from a number of Democrats, including Brian Baird
.
On February 4, 2011 Bowers announced that Open Left would cease publishing new content, although previously published content would remain available. He explained, "As the people who founded the site, myself included, moved on to other projects, we have gradually run out of money to maintain operations."
, a policy plan designed for progressive/liberal Democratic congressional challengers (or incumbents) to endorse and point to as their "plan" for the Iraq War. The plan had several high profile military endorsers, including retired General Paul Eaton
.
Action, bought ad space in traditional media sources such as The Washington Post, Slate, Roll Call and The Hill, funded by its readers. The ads were aimed at Majority Leader Reid and President Obama with the message of “no excuses”, pointing to the whip count, and asking Reid to put a public option in the merged Senate bill, which he later did.
In October, Adam Bink raised money from OpenLeft readers to travel to Maine and report from on the ground. While in Maine, he engaged on a number of issues to elevate attention to the election, including rank-and-file Catholics' response to the Bishop's involvement; the emerging role of new media infrastructure in supporting the campaign; and pushing back on opposition efforts. He also filmed and produced a thank-you video from the campaign to the netroots and organized several online blogosphere fundraisers. Adam also co-produced the 3-2-1 Countdown for Equality designed to help online activists understand the who, what, and where needed for the three LGBT-related elections in November 2009 (Washington State, Maine, and Kalamazoo, MI). When it was “swarmed” by nearly 50 other prominent blogs, it became the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars in free media in the final days of the election.
to create action campaigns on the public option, including buying ad space and creating petitions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on building a coalition for health care action, and with Friends of the Earth to provide on-the-ground coverage in December 2009 of the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
Political blog
A political blog is a common type of blog that comments on politics. In liberal democracies the right to criticize the government without interference is considered an important element of free speech...
founded July 9, 2007 by Matt Stoller, Chris Bowers
Chris Bowers
Chris Bowers is a blogger for DailyKos and a manager of their email list. He was a blogger and co-founder of OpenLeft, and was until July 2007 a front-page blogger for MyDD...
, originally of MyDD
MyDD
MyDD is a collaborative politically progressive American politics blog. It was established by Jerome Armstrong in 2001. Its name was originally short for "My Due Diligence." In January 2006, the name was changed to "My Direct Democracy" as part of a site redesign, with the new tagline "Direct...
, and Mike Lux
Mike Lux
Mike Lux is the co-founder and President of , a political consulting firm founded in 1999, focused on strategic political consulting for non-profits, labor unions, PACs and progressive donors....
, a former official in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
under President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
Covering political and social issues from a progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
standpoint, it spearheaded a number of causes, including focusing attention and criticism on the Blue Dog Democrat
Blue Dog Democrat
The Blue Dog Coalition, commonly known as the Blue Dogs, is a group of United States Congressional Representatives from the Democratic Party who identify themselves as moderates....
s and supporting net neutrality. The website's campaign garnered criticism from a number of Democrats, including Brian Baird
Brian Baird
Brian Norton Baird is a former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1999 until 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district comprises the counties of Thurston, Lewis, Pacific, Wahkiakum, Cowlitz, Clark, and Skamania....
.
On February 4, 2011 Bowers announced that Open Left would cease publishing new content, although previously published content would remain available. He explained, "As the people who founded the site, myself included, moved on to other projects, we have gradually run out of money to maintain operations."
A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq
Stoller endorsed and helped create the document A Responsible Plan to End the War in IraqA Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq
A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq is a 36-page plan created by a group of United States Democratic congressional candidates, retired military officers and national security professionals that outlines policy measures that the candidates pledged to support in the 2008 elections.The plan's...
, a policy plan designed for progressive/liberal Democratic congressional challengers (or incumbents) to endorse and point to as their "plan" for the Iraq War. The plan had several high profile military endorsers, including retired General Paul Eaton
Paul Eaton
Major General Paul D. Eaton is a retired United States Army General most known for his command of operations to train Iraqi troops in George W. Bush's invasion of that country...
.
Collaborative legislation writing with Senator Durbin
In July 2007, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited OpenLeft to seek input into drafting broadband legislation in the Senate. The effort garnered notice for the coordination between senior lawmakers and bloggers.Public option campaign
Throughout the health care debate in 2009 and 2010, Chris Bowers worked with readers at OpenLeft to maintain a public whip count on the supporters of a health care public option. His whip count was an attempt to demonstrate that there were in fact 51 Senators who would support a health care reform bill through reconciliation that included a public option. Chris also engaged in a series of posts demonstrating that reconciliation was a viable means by which to pass a public option. Upon proving 51 Senators existed for such a goal, OpenLeft, in partnership with CREDOCredo
A credo |Latin]] for "I Believe") is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed. The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the...
Action, bought ad space in traditional media sources such as The Washington Post, Slate, Roll Call and The Hill, funded by its readers. The ads were aimed at Majority Leader Reid and President Obama with the message of “no excuses”, pointing to the whip count, and asking Reid to put a public option in the merged Senate bill, which he later did.
Net neutrality
Since its inception, OpenLeft has done significant work and reporting on the issue of net neutrality. OpenLeft’s writers worked with Congressional and Senatorial candidates to encourage their campaigns to support net neutrality. Congressman and 2010 Senate candidate Joe Sestak wrote a piece on the site voicing his support of the issue. Former OpenLeft writer Matt Stoller played an instrumental role in gaining a commitment from every Democratic Senatorial candidate in 2008 in favor of net neutrality.Searching for John McCain
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Chris Bowers launched an initiative to influence search engine results for John McCain, and asked readers to do so as well. Readers raised the Google pageranking of links to certain articles on McCain’s record so when voters searched for information on the candidate, those articles would be the first to come up. This effort helped voters become more familiar with McCain’s negative history on issues such as Social Security, health care for children, and the Iraq war.Protect Maine Equality
In 2009, Adam Bink wrote heavily on the "No On 1" campaign to protect Maine's marriage equality law, discussing the importance of a win for the LGBT and broader progressive movement, and encouraging readers to contribute. Over the course of the election, his efforts helped raise nearly $1.4 million on ActBlue, included over $8,000 via OpenLeft's "Better Democrats" page on ActBlue.In October, Adam Bink raised money from OpenLeft readers to travel to Maine and report from on the ground. While in Maine, he engaged on a number of issues to elevate attention to the election, including rank-and-file Catholics' response to the Bishop's involvement; the emerging role of new media infrastructure in supporting the campaign; and pushing back on opposition efforts. He also filmed and produced a thank-you video from the campaign to the netroots and organized several online blogosphere fundraisers. Adam also co-produced the 3-2-1 Countdown for Equality designed to help online activists understand the who, what, and where needed for the three LGBT-related elections in November 2009 (Washington State, Maine, and Kalamazoo, MI). When it was “swarmed” by nearly 50 other prominent blogs, it became the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars in free media in the final days of the election.
The Progressive Revolution
In January 2009, OpenLeft co-founder Mike Lux released a book titled The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be. In it, he discusses the history of conflicts between progressives and conservatives, disputes long-time conservative myths about progressive leaders and accomplishments, and details why the time is ripe for another “Big Change Moment.” The book was published by Wiley & Sons. After its release, Lux went on a 60-event, 29-city book tour to discuss the book and the future of the progressive movement. He also wrote a series of posts from the road on what the mood is out in the states among progressive activists.Movement-oriented campaigns
OpenLeft.com was known for being one of the few blogs on the internet to have built its own infrastructure, including its own email list, fundraising apparatus, and legislative contact tools for e-action. It is part of a left-leaning coalition of websites that pool their web space together to sell to advertisers. OpenLeft has used these resources to create several partnerships to interest progressive media and build broad action campaigns. Such partnerships include working with CREDOCredo
A credo |Latin]] for "I Believe") is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed. The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the...
to create action campaigns on the public option, including buying ad space and creating petitions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on building a coalition for health care action, and with Friends of the Earth to provide on-the-ground coverage in December 2009 of the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
List of regular contributors
- Chris BowersChris BowersChris Bowers is a blogger for DailyKos and a manager of their email list. He was a blogger and co-founder of OpenLeft, and was until July 2007 a front-page blogger for MyDD...
- Adam Bink
- Natasha Chart
- Mike LuxMike LuxMike Lux is the co-founder and President of , a political consulting firm founded in 1999, focused on strategic political consulting for non-profits, labor unions, PACs and progressive donors....
- Paul Rosenberg
- David SirotaDavid SirotaDavid J. Sirota is a progressive Denver-based American political figure, radio show host and commentator. He is an author, book reviewer, nationally syndicated newspaper columnist, a Democratic political strategist, political operative, Democratic spokesperson, and blogger...