The blogosphere is now an essential part of any candidate’s campaign for any office higher than Dog Catcher in Dover, Delaware. So, when I saw my name mentioned in BlogAsheville, I replied. A group of almost entirely “progressives,” as they label themselves, invited me to meet them in a face-to-face, unscripted encounter. I had no delusions about the political beliefs of the group. As one of them wrote in advance of our get-together last Sunday, “we expect to beat you like a bass drum, come November.” That quote’s from memory and may not be precise. But it captures the spirit...