I'm a big fan of Moveon because it does some amazing work, especially considering its small staff. I love their virtual phonebanks, I love their coordinated Congressional lobbying, I love their netroots ad contests, and I love many of their TV ads.

But Ari Melber's interview with Justin Ruben, Moveon's new Executive Director, reveals Moveon's limitations:

MoveOn's four "core" policy areas, decided by members during December house meetings, are economic recovery, universal health care, climate change and ending the Iraq war.

Melber notes,

That change agenda tracks closely Obama's, obviously, and excludes some popular liberal issues that the administration has sidestepped. Politico's Andie Coller noted, for example, that MoveOn's new agenda does not address "holding the Bush administration accountable; fighting for gay rights and LGBT equality; and reforming campaigns and elections." And while MoveOn loudly led the battle against the Iraq "surge," Ruben said he not expect ending the war Afghanistan, where Obama is deploying additional troops, to make the priority list. The "overwhelming priority" is still Iraq, Ruben explains, and while his members are concerned about Afghanistan, they tend to "differ on what ought to be done about it."

I think it's fine for Moveon to support Obama's agenda, since Moveon's 5 million members want Obama to succeed. They are the mirror opposite of Rush Limbaugh and his millions of ditto heads who "hope [Obama] fails." Given the power of Limbaugh and the G-nO-P, a massive pro-Obama force needs to exist.

It's also important for Moveon to pressure BlueDog and DLC Democrats who want to undercut Obama from within the Democratic Party. So it's great that Moveon is supporting Accountability Now PAC, which was created by Glenn Greenwald and Jame Hamsher to beat BlueDogs in Democratic primaries. 

And I don't have a major problem with Moveon's dictatorial decision-making style, which resembles mine. Even with the latest online voting tools, bottom-up leadership is very inefficient. The "free market" in grassroots organizing is genuinely free: thanks to Facebook, anyone can create a free group in 5 minutes. After all, Moveon itself started with a simple $85 web petition opposing Bill Clinton's impeachment. If Moveon (or Democrats.com) fails to meet its members' needs, those members will simply "move on" to other groups that do a better job.

My problem with Moveon is its excessive willingness to compromise progressive goals to support Obama's agenda.

For example on Iraq, Moveon is likely to support Obama's compromise plan of 19 months+50K residual troops. Why doesn't Moveon push Obama to fulfill his oft-repeated campaign promise of 16 months, including "non-combat" troops?

On health care, Moveon is likely to support Obama's compromise to protect private insurance. Why doesn't Moveon push Obama to support John Conyers' Single Payer bill, HR 676?

On climate change, Moveon is likely to support Obama's compromise on cap-and-trade. Why doesn't Moveon push Obama to enact Al Gore's plan to Repower America with 100% clean electricity within 10 years?

In the end, Moveon's positions are "progressive-lite," just like Obama's. For some, that's enough - but not for me. And that's why Democrats.com will continue to fight for "aggressive progressive" solutions to the problems of our nation and our world.