Dean Barnett suggests that in one decree from Kos that lefties record every move and utterance Republican candidates make, ”Markos has laid down the rules of the engagement for the next political cycle.”

I’m not so sure. The “Macaca” statement from George Allen defined YouTube and web-based politics last year, but it represented something of a perfect storm. Would it have had even remotely the same impact if A) the Washington Post had not mentioned it in, what, 100 stories? B) it had not fed into previously-established lines of criticism against Allen (he’s mean, he’s insensitive to minorities, etc.)? C) if the Allen campaign had any idea on how to respond for a long while afterwards — was it a big deal? do we apologize? — etc. D) If the Allen campaign had recognized that the demographics of Northern Virginia had changed dramatically between 2000 and 2006?

In other words, we will see various campaigns trying to persuade the media and the voting public that they’ve recorded the next big “Macaca Moment” on the part of their opponent. But each successive “shocking moment” will make the previous one stand out less. I suspect that after a while, voters will be less surprised or interested in a candidate stubbing his toe and dropping the F-bomb, or flipping off a hostile reporter or whatever.