Crashing the Gate is a shot across the bow at the political establishment in Washington, DC and a call to re-democratize politics in America.

This book lays bare, with passion and precision, how ineffective, incompetent, and antiquated the Democratic Party establishment has become, and how it has failed to adapt and respond to new realities and challenges. The authors save their sharpest knives to go for the jugular in their critique of Republican ideologues who are now running — and ruining — our country.

Written by two of the most popular political bloggers in America, the book hails the new movement — of the netroots, the grassroots, the unorthodox labor unions, the maverick big donors — that is the antidote to old-school politics as usual. Fueled by advances in technology and a hunger for a more authentic and populist democracy, this broad-based movement is changing the way political campaigns are waged and managed.

A must-read book for anyone with an interest in the future of American democracy.

"Dead on." Adam Cohen, The New York Times

"Markos is Moses leading Democrats to the Promised Land." Eleanor Clift, Newsweek

"[A] provocative new book that offers a perceptive analysis of progressive politics and proposes to revolutionize the Democratic Party..." The Nation

"If you are high on the possibilities for the Internet transforming progressive politics, then this is the book...to read." BuzzFlash

"Two of the hottest Democratic bloggers...prove with this book that they are also two of the sharpest and most insightful voices in the progressive movement. Crashing the Gate is an urgent and powerfully written look both at what ails our democracy and what can heal it. Ultimately, they show that the fuel to reform our politics will not come from party insiders but from the netroots, grassroots, and the rise of people-powered politics." Arianna Huffington, editor of The Huffington Post

"Crashing the Gate" is a shot across the bow at the political establishment in Washington, D.C., and a call to re-democratize politics in America. This book lays bare, with passion and precision, how ineffective, incompetent, and antiquated the Democratic Party establishment has become, and how it has failed to adapt and respond to new realities and challenges.

Jerome Armstrong, a pioneer of the political blogosphere, founded one of the first political blogs, MyDD.com, in 2001. An architect of the netroots strategy that used blogs and meetups for Howard Dean's campaign, Jerome works as an internet strategist for advocacy organizations and political campaigns with his company, Netroots.com. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.

Markos Moulitsas Zúniga served in the U.S. Army for three years and later earned two bachelors degrees from Northern Illinois University and a law degree from Boston University. After moving to California to work in the tech industry, Markos started DailyKos.com in May 2002. His blog has had a meteoric rise and now gets more than a million unique visitors each day, making it one of the most popular blogs in the nation. Markos lives in Berkeley, California.

Simon Rosenberg is president and founder of NDN, a 21st century progressive advocacy organization working to modernize progressive politics. Before founding NDN, Rosenberg worked in a dozen states as a key member of two presidential campaigns, including Bill Clinton's 1992 victory. He and his family live in Washington DC.

FOREWORD
PREFACE
AMERICAN REALITY, CIRCA 2006
The Corporate Cons • The Theocons • The Neocons • The Paleocons • The Katrina Tragedy • How Did We Get Here? • Backlash Insurance • No Time to Lose
THIS AIN'T NO PARTY
Divided We Fall • "The Death of Environmentalism" • The Decline of Labor • A Woman's Right to Lose? • New Campaigns, New Movement
THE GRAVY TRAIN
The Beltway Mafia • The Commission Racket • Old Ads, New Age • The Changing Media Landscape • Information-Age Campaigns • The Cost of Failure
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
The Conspiracy Gap • The Idea Factories • The Noise Machine • No Investment, No Return • Real Income vs. Psychic Income • Seed Money
CIVIL WAR
The Dean Machine • The Resistance • The Rise of the Netroots
INSIDE THE GATE
Challenge Every Republican • The State Trenches • Taking Over • People- Powered Politics • Parting Line • Revolution and Reformation
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES
INDEX