"A Techno-Populist Victory"

Rich Lowry of National Review has an excellent summary of recent events: "The fight over the immigration bill was the first instance of an insider parliamentary struggle in which bloggers, talk-radio hosts and citizens were able to have a major voice through the synergistic power of the Internet, radio waves and telephone lines. Bloggers picked apart the bill, talk-radio-show hosts broadcast its flaws, and ordinary people jammed their senators' phone lines -- blocking what had begun as a kind of legislative coup..."

More from Lowry: "The bill's boosters repeatedly were caught mischaracterizing it. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff seemed to suggest that illegals would have to pay back taxes, when the White House had quietly taken that provision out. Bloggers and talk-show hosts publicized this and other problems that otherwise would have gone unnoticed (John McCain learned of the tax provision in a blogger conference call), slowing its momentum... President Bush said opponents hadn't read the bill, when diligent bloggers combed through it line by line."

"Now, there is really no such thing as an 'inside game' anymore, since bloggers make sure it gets 'outside.' ...it's clearly an enhancement of democracy. Senators should get used to it, and buy more phone lines."

Update: More from Jim Geraghty at NRO.