I hate to see Obama trash his political capital this way. It won't work. This is not the way to build a consensus.

Aaron Gould Sheinin reports in the ajc's Gold Dome Live:

Left-wing giant MoveOn.org typically keeps Republicans squarely in its well-funded sights. But, with President Barack Obama’s plans for health care reform facing obstacles, MoveOn is widening its target set.

Now in its crosshairs: U.S. Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.)

Barrow was one of the so-called Blue Dog Democrats who voted against the president’s health care plans in a House committee vote last Friday. A radio ad slamming Barrow for the vote begins in his Georgia district on Wednesday, the group said.

This same thing is happening nationally. The Wall Street Journal has this opinion piece on Democrats sacrificing moderates for the greater liberal good:

The real political news this month isn’t Republicans vs. Democrats, and certainly not insurance companies vs. Democrats. If anything, the health-care business lobbies are helping Democrats by keeping quiet and hoping their silence buys their survival as heavily regulated utilities. If the insurance companies were any quieter, they’d be Trappists.

The news is how the political left and its lobbies are roughing up fellow Democrats who won’t get with President Obama’s government-run program. They’re treating the centrists who helped make them a majority as if they were Newt Gingrich without the social conscience.

On Friday, Democracy for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee put out a “rapid-response ad” against Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, who is lukewarm about a government-run insurance scheme, the so-called public option.

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus is another target because he’s negotiating with Republicans.

Over in the House, the Blue Dogs have received similar treatment since they raised doubts last months about the 5.4% surtax, among other problems in the House bill. The DNC immediately targeted the districts of 12 Democratic Members of Henry Waxman’s Energy and Commerce Committee with a “‘It’s time for reform” television ad. MoveOn.org also called out its troops to pressure Blue Dog Democrats not to miss “a once-in-a-generation chance to pass real health care reform.” The pressure seems to have worked because enough Blue Dogs fell in line to pass the bill with only token changes through committee last week.

Even the Democratic National Committee is trashing Democrats, presumably with a green light from Mr. Obama and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Mr. Obama’s political arm, Organizing for America, which is officially a wing of the DNC, is running ads to press Democratic Senators in Arkansas, Indiana, Florida, Louisiana, North Dakota, Nebraska and Ohio. The outfit has also staged demonstrations outside Senator Bill Nelson’s Florida offices. The campaign is heavy-handed enough that even Majority Leader Harry Reid denounced it as “a waste of money.”

This intraparty smackdown is all the more remarkable because, by winning in swing or GOP-heavy districts and states, these Members have given Democrats their governing majorities. If there’s a voter backlash in 2010, these Members will also be the first to be washed out to sea. Yet it’s becoming clearer by the day that Democratic leaders view these moderates as mere cannon-fodder footsoldiers in the great liberal revolution of 2009. And if you have to shoot a couple of them yourself to keep them all marching straight, so be it.