The Shadow of the Hegemon tells the truth about the Kos brouhaha: it’s all about the money:
Kos is a target because he’s a valuable source of funds, not simply because he’s an opinion leader. (Stoller does mention this, but it’s not his main thrust). Bloggers are ALSO attacked for being opinion leaders, but the money makes it far more virulent. Talk radio is completely different, due to the simple differences of medium eliminating the fundraising element… even if everything Rush said was documented, he still wouldn’t be as easily accessable a source of funds as Kos.
The attacks, and the reaction, also demonstrate the fundamental difference between the left and right that remains to this day. The integration between liberal bloggers and democratic politicians mostly centers around the recognition by the former that Bush needs to go, and by the latter that these “bloggers” are a source of valuable funds. Even while there is recognition by both that “they need to stick together”, there is a wide divergence of opinion on a number of issues; bloggers remain fully willing to criticize their chosen pols quite severely, as well as each other.