I'm open-minded also but you can place me in the "over-excited" camp. Tom Tomorrow, too: http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/1999/12/20/tomo/index.html
Think about it: such an effective protest against the obscure WTO. I don't think the right has pulled off anything remotely similar against the U.N., have they? The pundits who believe trade (read capitalism) = prosperity had hissy fits and threw tremendous tantrums. A police chief resigned over it.
I sorta agree with a lot of what's been said lately (except the anti-immigration stuff), moreover I think the battle of Seattle was just a start, the opening volley. Sure there's the chance that the Buchananites will highjack things, but the mainstream media barely mentioned his name in the coverage. Rakesh, what do you think the anarchists, the Ruckus Society, the campus anti-sweatshop organizers, the Lesbian Avengers and the environmentalists think of Buchanan? The mainstream media kept referring to the protesters as a bunch of people nostalgic for the Sixties. Do you think Buchanan shares this so-called nostalgia?
The "problem" as I see it is that a lot of young people on the left see little hope of mounting a serious challenge to corporate rule through conventional means, i.e. the Democratic party, so they're resorting to protest and hopefully digging in for the long haul. However, who knows what would happen if there's a serious downturn. Then you might see some serious xenophobia, but maybe much else. Hopefully the left will have become more integrated internationally by that time.
Peter K.