Yesterday I blogged about Andrew Sullivan's critique of the Human Rights Campaign. Today, Markos (founder of DailyKos) extends Sullivan's critique to talk about the poorly managed "No on Prop 8" campaign in general. He notes that traditional "gatekeepers" of activism will self-destruct in an era of decentralized, grassroots Web 2.0 activism (extending his concept of "Netroots"):

"As a gatekeeper, the Human Rights Campaign sucks. Sullivan calls for the organization to be abandoned and defunded. But something worse is happening -- it is being rendered irrelevant by current events, and with irrelevance, it will shrivel up and die on its own.

He goes on, though, to divert attention away from HRC and refocus it more largely on the "No on 8" campaign in general, and its inability to spark the kind of grassroots mobilization seen in the wake of the amendment's passing. He urges caution, though, in noting that we need more than just the "street protest" as our method of activism:

The anti-Prop 8 campaign was an exercise in frustration. What we're seeing now, straight out of Taking on the System, is brilliant. And the movement is spreading far beyond California's borders.

These nationwide protests are a watershed moment of sorts -- the moment when the gay community realized that it had the power to fight for change on its own, and didn't require any of it's so-called, self-appointed "leaders" to give them permission to engage. This isn't the first time a community has made that realization (and TOS is full of such examples), but it never fails to inspire me.

But what about the tactics -- the use of street protests themselves? It's no secret that I have a general disdain for the street act, but in my book, I don't call for their elimination -- I say they must be "reinvented". And indeed, the chapter "Reinvent the Street Protest" is full of great examples of .... street protests. I focus on the Jenna 6 protests, the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine, and the pro-immigration protests of a few years ago. The key to an effective protest effort is to have a clear message (no "free Mumia" bullshit), clear, achievable goal, and to make that protest effort part of a broader multimedia campaign. The protest can't be the goal in and of itself, rather, it's a tool in a broader toolbox.

In this case, these protests have served as a wakeup call to equality-minded people all over the country. It is an empowering act. But rather than people feeling they've done their part by marching for a few hours, I'm willing to bet that, just like here in California, the seeds were planted for further organizing all over the country. There is nothing more dangerous for the status quo (the "system") than people suddenly feeling empowered.

Markos is certainly on the cutting edge of using Web 2.0 tactics in organizing political campaigns. The challenge now will be to harness the energy built by the "Join the Impact" protests into a more focused political strategy. How to do this in the wake of clear, centralized message-builders? That's I guess the challenge for the coming months.