If you tend to think of the progressive blogosphere as primarily an echo chamber in which lefty dittoheads are led around by celebrity bloggers, you should check out the raging debate going on at DailyKos over Markos Moulitsas' condemnation of John Edwards' decision to accept public financing. Markos' four posts on the subject have drawn a total of 2,408 comments, which is a whole lot even for that very large site.

I haven't had the time to read anything like all those comments, but get the feeling that overall sentiment is more or less equally divided between those who agree with Kos and those who don't. Some of the debate tracks the broader blogospheric debate between partisan and ideological approaches; many Edwards supporters among the Kossacks basically consider him the only acceptably progressive major candidate, and consider Kos' willingness to write him off as a surrender to a likely HRC nomination. But while there's plenty of angry disagreement with Kos' conclusions, there are very few Edwards supporters who are inclined to defend his public financing decision as a matter of principle rather than practical expediency. On the other hand, a DailyKos reader poll suggests that the decision, and Kos' reaction to it, doesn't seem to be changing many minds about the Edwards candidacy.