Democratic leaders tell liberal groups to lay off centrist Dems--but will Rachel Maddow listen?

Maddow beating up on what she calls "Conservadems"

Last week, I pointed out why it's really stupid for self-styled "progressive" groups to attack moderate Democrats like Evan Bayh for the crime of not marching in lock step on Obama's budget -- a campaign being fueled by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and a bunch of left-leaning bloggers who call Bayh and other centrists "Conservadems."

Democratic leaders in both Houses are asking The Campaign for America’s Future, MoveOn.org and the others involved to knock it off.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said a few days ago that "these groups should leave them [the centrist Democrats] alone. Now, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee told reporters that the attacks "could hurt potentially vulnerable Democrats in their 2010 races."

“What I’ve been warning people very clearly is, beware of forming a circular firing squad,” Van Hollen said. “We believe people should be focusing their efforts on expanding the Democratic majority, and that should be their singular focus."

Well, duh!

Now the remaining question is: did Rachel Maddow and the rest of the MSNBC team get the memo?