September 14, 2006

9/14: Game On!

Part of the reason progressive bloggers beat Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) in the 8/8 Dem primary was Lieberman's complete lack of presence in the blogosphere. Sure, Marty Peretz et al chipped in occasionally at TNR, but they were never nearly as focused, or partisan, as Ned Lamont's camp to mount any significant push-back. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) has learned that lesson. In the past week a new blog The A-Team has popped up, and it's completely devoted to pushing Allen's case online. The Blogometer has no inside information on the extent of Allen's New Media Coordinator Jon Henke involvement in the new blog, but as todays VA SEN items demonstrate, the blog will be a force in the days to come.

Lefty bloggers are in love with a new independent group, "Vote Vets," and their first ad targeting Sen. George Allen (R) on protecting troops in Iraq. The group describes itself as committed to electing candidates "critical of the execution of the war in Iraq." DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas calls the ad "more relevant and hard hitting than anything else I've seen this cycle" and "brings home the 'body armor' problem like nothing else." TPM Cafe also has video of the ad and reports that Vote Vets plans to run the ad "in major markets through Sunday." Atrios, firedoglake, MyDD, and Raising Kaine also all have video of the ad.

Playing off of the lefty bloggers "swiftboating" meme, righty bloggers have dubbed the ad the "Rusty Tugboat attack" and are playing up UVA center for Politics Dir. Larry Sabatocomments to the AP that the ad goes "way to far" and could boomerang on ex-Navy sec. James Webb (D). Allen's A-Team commenter John adds: "What the most comical thing about this is that Allen did vote to appropriate funds for body armor and better equipment in an emergency supplemental appropriations later that year (vote #400). That vote #400 is the same vote that got Kerry into so much trouble. He voted "no" on #400, and later told a crowd that "I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it."

Righty bloggers also moved on the offensive 9/13 playing up an APreport on five female U.S. Naval Academy grads hitting Webb for "creating a pervasive air of sexual discrimination at Annapolis in the early 1980s." Allen's A-Team argues the story is not surprising since: "Webb did write that admitting women to Annapolis would turn the dorm into "a horny woman's dream" and he referred to the Tailhook sexual harassment scandal as a "witch hunt."

Chad Dotson at RedState looks at a 1992 TNR article on "Webbites" that shamelessly practiced bigotry at the Naval Academy and adds: "I'll say it again: if Webb were running as a Republican, the lefties in the blogosphere would be screaming at the top of their lungs that he's not fit to serve in the United States Senate. Watch and listen, though ... all you will hear from the left about Webb's shameful conduct will be silence."

Webb's Netroots Coordinator Lowell Feld quickly fired back at Raising Kaine pointing to this Allen quote from his fight to keep VMI all male: "But if VMI admitted women, it wouldn't be the VMI that we've known for 154 years. You just don't treat women the way you treat fellow cadets. If you did, it would be ungentlemanly, it'd be improper." Feld asks: "Question: Does George Allen still believe we shouldn't treat women the same as men at the military academies?"

Feld also hit back under a header "Allen's Pathetic Record on Womens' Issues" and includes short graphs on: Choice, Discrimination Against Women, Sexual Assault in the Workplace, Family and Medical Leave Act, Human Rights for Women, and Protecting Children. Feld finishes: "Great stuff, huh? And George Allen's campaign has the gall to talk about something Jim Webb wrote almost 30 years ago? Amazing."

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo isn't buying Allen's latest Macaca story from the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot: "...let's review. We know that not only is "macaca" a widely used racial epithet in American crypto-racist and white supremacist circles. Its apparent origin is among the colonial population of francophone North Africa -- where Allen's mother was raised. Now, call me ungenerous, but given those facts, the idea that "macaca" was simply three syllables Allen randomly strung together when digging at a dark-skinned young man who was getting on his nerves just doesn't strike me as credible. ... he's practically begging for renewed attention to this transparent lie by weaving it, again and again, into his strained apologies."

James Joyner at Outside the Beltway looks at the same story and sees progress: "He'll have to do more of this if he's going to win back swing voters in time for re-election, let alone become a viable contender for the White House." Joyner then looks at a quote from an African-American in the story calling Allen a "good guy" and concludes: "If Allen can convince people that he's "a good guy" and not a closet racist-both of which I believe to be true-then he's back in the game."

Greg Sargent at TPM Cafe notes that Rep. Al Wynn (D) is "up four points, 50%-46.12%" on attorney Donna Edwards with 92.40% reporting. Matt Stoller at MyDD, however, is not ready to give up: "This primary isn't over. And if Al Wynn hadn't cheated, he would be giving a concession speech right now. ... First of all, there's a lot to be counted, and there are possible legal challenges depending on what happens. ... Second of all, don't trust the numbers that are out. They aren't real."

Stoller has emails from voters claiming their vote was suppressed and he doesn't believe incompetence is to blame: "I want to first address the 'oh this wasn't stolen it was incompetence' line. If you steal an election, you first figure out how to make it look like incompetence so that you don't go to jail. If possible, you design incompetence into the operation so that there's no way to tell who would have won had the voting operation gone off smoothly."

TradeSports lover and National Review Online contributor Larry Kudlow is excited about pro-GOP movement on the "House GOP 2006 contract" up to a "flat even 49.9." Kudlow claims "the afterglow of President Bush's strong national-security speeches-especially his evening speech on 9/11-along with falling gas prices and a strong stock market" all help explain the GOP resurgence. Michael Crowley at TNR is unconvinced: "But so far that's a short-term blip (partly fueled by 9/11 remembrance mania). And if I'm reading the long-term graph correctly, the GOP's odds are still down a mammoth 45 percent or so from last October. ... My best guess right now is that an enormous amount will ride on how grim the Iraq headlines are in the campaign's closing weeks; if the violence there is relatively contained and we're talking about terror plots and Osama bin Laden videos, Kudlow's hopes might be realized after all."

Atrios has excerpts ex-Pres. Jimmy Carter from CNN's Larry King Live on Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) including: "He's joined in with the Republican spokespersons by saying that Democrats who disagree are really supporting terrorism. ... So for all these reasons I've lost my confidence in Joe Lieberman and don't want to see him re-elected." Crooks and Liars has the video. When Lieberman spokeswoman Tammy Sun issued a statement including: "[I]t is entirely false to suggest that Joe Lieberman in any way equated dissent about the war with supporting terrorists," Atrios shot back under the header "Tammy Sun Calls Carter a Liar" quoting Lieberman: "If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England. It will strengthen them and they will strike again."

TRex at firedoglake looks at the go between and finds an unflattering comparison: "Is it me or are there some marked similarities between the campaigns of Joe Lieberman and Katherine Harris? Both candidates are certified White House enablers. Both campaigns hemorrhage staff members every two months or so. And both the Lieberman and Harris campaigns seem to have some serious problems distinguishing between fact and fantasy."

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas looks at Butte Montana Standard and Helena Independent debunking od Sen. Conrad Burns (R) claims that state Senate Pres. Jon Tester (D) miss used a "constituent fund" and writes: "Montana may have the best press in the nation. They don't suffer [Michael Jordan excrement] kindly."

Chris Bowers at MyDD looks at Sen. Bob Menendez (D) new ad attacking Pres. Bush on the Dubai ports deal and likes what he sees:

This is a pretty good ad. Not only does it pick a fight with the Bush administration, it actually details a fight that Senator Menendez picked and won. This is a good tactic for a Democratic incumbent. Instead of trying to claim that things are going great, ala Stabenow, it points to a very specific moment when one of Bush's many bad policies were stopped. It also does a good job of connecting homeland security to jobs, something which should play well in New Jersey.

Greg Sargent at TPM Cafe notes ex-AG Sheldon Whitehouse (D) first television ad doesn't mention Sen. Lincoln Chafee's (R) name even once and the ad finishes: "A Republican Senate continues the Bush policies and its failures. A Democratic Senate changes the direction of America. Think about it." TPM reader KF from Rhode Island, however, thinks Whitehouse is a lost cause: "Whitehouse, has the whiff of a loser, he's lost every race he's run and will not beat Chafee. So don't get excited about his ads going after Bush. Or his possibilities. Remember you heard it here first. He's a good man and would be granted the RI lifetime appointment but he's stuck."

Meanwhile Michael Crowley at TNR looks at a Chafee Providence Journalquote on the definition of GOPness (fiscal discipline, environmental protection, individual liberty, aversion to foreign entanglements and "a willingness to use the tools of government to help the poor and the vulnerable") and writes: "Does Chafee realize how funny this definition sounds in 2006? And I still haven't heard him explain how voting for Bill Frist (or, next January, Mitch McConnell) as Senate majority leader can possibly advance these ideals."

On the right John Hinderaker at Power Line tries to see the glass half full: "But there are two possible silver linings to yesterday's Chafee victory. First, given the major effort that the national party made on his behalf, it seems reasonable to suspect that they extracted a commitment that he would not pull a Jeffords. Second ... Chafee's victory shows the power of the Republicans' turnout machine!"

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas quotes a Hotline On Call (go team!) on Denver's trouble landing the Dem '08 convention: "Others confirmed that the general impression among site selection members of Denver was not positive. The city also lacks a union hotel, and even though the city's labor leaders voted to table its outrage, it remains an obstacle."

Kos reacts: "Get the frackin' convention out of the coasts. I know many Democrats forget that there's a whole lot of country in between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but that's no reason for the site selection committee to make that same mistake. ... Colorado is a purple state moving our direction. Minneapolis is a blue state threatening to go purple. We get nothing out of having it in indigo-Blue New York."

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) takes to The Huffington Post to praise VoteVets.org head Jon Soltz and his efforts "to hold our nation's leaders accountable for the decisions they make that impact our soldiers, their families and our veterans."

Machiavel at RedState collects the latest results of the GOP Bloggers straw (numbers in parenthesis are from August straw poll)

Giuliani 23.3% (23.6%)
Gingrich 23.2% (21.2%)
Romney 15.9% (13.0%)
Allen 11.1% (11.2%)
Tancredo 8.0% (7.0%)
McCain 4.4% (6.7%)
Brownback 2.5% (2.6%)
Huckabee 1.2% (1.6%)
Hagel 1.2% (2.7%)
Frist 1.1% (1.1%)
Pataki 0.2% (0.3%)

Machiavel then analyzed the results:

• Romney's Post-Khatami Bump: His numbers are up across the board, and he's now tops in net acceptability (percentage who see him as acceptable, minus unacceptable). Conservatives like him, his base is improbably pro-life, and he does well amongst pro-immigration conservatives, but he has generally had trouble "closing the sale" (first in acceptability, third in poll position).
• Giuliani and Abortion: Now, this is interesting. They ask the abortion question, and though Giuliani clearly has a base with the 19% or so who think of themselves as pro-choice, he runs a strong second with pro-lifers (trailing Newt 19% to 25%)
• Conservative Ground Shifting to Newt. No big developments or strides in the Newt camp this month after his big jumps in July and August, but he is consolidating slightly more first place votes, likely at the expense of Allen.

Brendan Nyhan at TAPPED was offended by the willingness of some lefty blogger brethren to politicize the suicide of the American Airlines ticket agent who checked in Mohammed Atta on 9/11 to attack Pres. Bush and called Atrios' Avedon Carol approving link to the post "vile." (note: Nyhan first indicated Atrios himself posted the item). Fresh from his sit down with ex-Pres. Bill Clinton Atrios took to TAPPED's message board and wrote: "Leaving aside your other usual reading comprehension issues, I didn't write the post. God you're an idiot Brendan." Atrios later made Nyhan his Wanker of the Day.

Nyhan shot back in an update to his original post: "it was a guest post by Avedon Carol; I apologize for the error, which is corrected above. Regardless of who wrote the post, however, my point about its content stands. Note that Atrios offers no substantive response to my criticism, but instead named me wanker of the day. It's classic." Carol then jumped in to TAPPED's comment board to explain her pro-suicide politicization: " You know, I've been feeling guilty because I did not defend Gore or critique Bush forcefully enough during 1999-2000, and if more of us had been on the job then, we might not be here now. ... It breaks my heart to know that poor kid committed suicide for something that was Bush's responsibility. You really are a jerk if you don't get that, Brendan."

Nyhan again responded sans name calling: "In short, neither addressed my central claim about the politicization of a suicide. I do "get" that Carol is upset because she thinks the agent "committed suicide for something that was Bush's responsibility" (a claim for which we have no direct evidence). But that doesn't make it appropriate to use the suicide to attack the President. " Atrios responded by asking TAPPED hire ups to silence Nyhan: "Uh, TAP? Maybe you should rethink things a bit. This is getting sillier. I believe Brendan's older than 14. I'm not sure why he's not capable of acting like it."

Chris Weigant at The Huffington Post notes that if Dems pick up only five seats in Nov., the battle for the Sen. would be far from over. Weigant targets four possible GOP converts including "long shot" Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Weigant notes Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) has a 12 ranking from the American Conservative Union this year and a 75 ranking from Americans for Democratic Action and adds:

You may be wondering why he's even a Republican in the first place. The answer is he was appointed to the seat his father (John Chafee) held, and took the seat for the Republicans in his father's honor. ... He has even publicly flirted with the idea of switching parties before, right after the 2004 election. He decided not to, because "he will be able to serve the state better as a member of the political party that controls Congress and the White House." Interesting. This could mean that if the Democrats control the House -- and if he was the key to Democrats controlling the Senate -- he might well be persuadable."

Lisa De Pasquale at Right Angle Blog notes MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews suffered a minor mix-up 9/13 running a picture of Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) while talking about Sen. Joe McCarthy (R-WI). Matthews quickly noticed the error but De Pasquale laments that "a photo of Jenny McCarthy was not readily available."

Posted by Conn Carroll at September 14, 2006 12:42 PM