September 27, 2006

9/27: The Last President First Elected In The Blogless Era

The WH invited bloggers involved in the passage of S. 2590 to the bill's signing 9/26 and even allowed Pres. Bush to be photographed shaking bloggers' hands. And yet nary a mention in Bush's remarks about the bloggers present, let alone words of praise for their efforts. As MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) sits down with RedState on 9/26 and NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D) provides a major sponsorship for MyDD, it's clear that WH '08 candidates are courting the blogosphere in their own ways. Whoever is the next Pres., it's a safe bet that when he or she invites bloggers to the WH, the transcript will reflect that they were actually there.

Townhall's Mary Katharine Ham was one of many bloggers "at the bill-signing ceremony for S. 2590, the Coburn/Obama transparency bill" 9/26. Ham has photos of Pres. Bush from the event and comments: "I kinda wish I'd gotten a more handsome one of him -- I do love it when he smirks -- but I didn't want to spend the whole time taking pictures." The event wasn't all smile for Ham though: "The President didn't mention bloggers or Internets or even people power in his remarks, which I thought was silly. One sentence and he would have been talked about all day."

Ham later attended a panel on partisanship sponsored by Pajamas Media at the National Press Club. Power Line's Paul Mirengoff was a panelist and reports: "The panel reached no consensus on 'how partisan is too partisan,' but most panelists agreed that the mainstream media is too partisan for an institution that purports not to be. My remarks focused on partisanship in the blogosphere. I argued that bloggers are too partisan if they are dishonest as to factual matters or are intellectually dishonest. Beyond that, it's a matter of taste."

Not all in attendance were impressed, Hit and Run's David Weigel thought the event felt like "a fringe political meeting" and didn't appreciate the tangents on "how the partisan MainStream Media was losing readers to the blogs because it was so very partisan, and so very mainstream, and they'd better watch out because bloggers are going to leave them choking on their bloggy dust trails. And this set the tone for the rest of the discussion, which turned to how quickly the liberal media and liberal professoriat could be upset by the soaring power of blogs/citizen media." Weigel did like the food though.

DemFromCT at DailyKos tells readers 9/26's release of selected portions of the April National Intelligence Estimate: "doesn't stop the bleeding. The discussion remains squarely about Iraq, and how screwed up things are. This is not what the GOP and Bush wanted." AMERICAblog's John in DC adds: "there's even more in here that is bad news for Bush. He's nuts to release this and claim that it helps him. The only "good" news in the entire document is that it says Bush has caught a lot of Al Qaeda leaders. Yeah, we know that. But the document makes clear that the danger remains, and is increasing, and the war in Iraq isn't helping."

Still on the left, Matthew Yglesias is tired of righty misunderstanding of the left's plan for success in Iraq: "Does anyone -- anyone -- on the right genuinely believe that those of us who favor withdrawal from Iraq do so because we don't think it would be a good idea to turn the country into a shining success? Of course we don't think that. We favor withdrawal because we don't believe that indefinite continuation of an open-ended military presence in Iraq is likely to generate success."

Talking Points Memo Josh Marshall reminds readers of Bush's history with selective declassification of NIE's but Kevin Drum at The Washington Monthly hopes the NIE will spark a debate about the Iraq "dilemma in its starkest form."

Many on the right argued the Dems had fallen into a foreign policy trap. Conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt writes: "egged on by the brilliant lights at the New York Times and the paper's leaking pals who believe that their reporting on the contents of classified report by unnamed intelligence analysts will persuade American voters of something other than the paper's reckless disregard for anything but its fanatical Bush-hatred agenda" Dems "have charged off into a political box canyon." Others on the right approvingly citing the NIE include:

• National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez: "The New York Times Gets One Thing Right on Iraq ... In spite of themselves...."The current situation will get worse if American forces leave."
• Hugh Hewitt: "Read all of the declassified sections of the report. Nothing in it supports the Pelosi-Dean-Reid-Murtha Democrats' demand to cut-and-run from Iraq. Just the opposite in fact: "If democratic reform efforts in Muslim majority nations progress over the next five years, political participation probably would drive a wedge between intransigent extremists and groups willing to use the political process to achieve their local objectives."
• National Review Online's Mario Loyola: "So, in essence the NIE judges that the Democrats' proposal to leave Iraq's democracy to its own devices would eliminate the major opportunities it sees for diminishing the jihadi movement. Nice.
• Captain's Quarters: "First, the Democrats allowed themselves to get outfoxed on national security yet again by allowing themselves to get hysterical and seriously misrepresent the conclusions of the NIE. ... As the NIE concludes, a victory in Iraq would seriously damage the radical Islamist movement, perhaps even mortally. We have no chance to strike a blow against them by retreating. Democrats have badly misrepresented this report and offer the one solution guaranteed to result in making the problem worse -- as the NIE also concludes.

TPM Muckraker's Justin Rood reports Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) suggested "a second damning Iraq report" was "floating around the intelligence community." Rood continues: "Sources at the event say the document is not officially an NIE, although it was prepared by the National Intelligence Council, an community-wide intelligence body whose primary function is to prepare NIEs." Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall calls for both reports to be released: "The April NIE and this NIE that dare not speak its name too." Marshall later explains why the second report is not an NIE: "it's not been given the 'NIE' label because that would trigger reporting requirements to congress that the administration has wanted to avoid."

Many lefty bloggers have been approvingly linking to the feisty foreign policy floor speeches of Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH).

At TPM Cafe, Steve Clemons reports the cancellation of 9/26's 2:25 pm Senate Foreign Relations Cmte "business meeting" signaled the end of even "dimmest chance" John Bolton would be confirmed as UN Amb. Clemons writes: "Some have said that another effort could be mounted during a lame duck session of Congress, but there are several Republicans who will not feel bound by the White House in that circumstance; Dems as well -- who will vote against cloture on the floor of the Senate were it to get out of Committee then. So, it's over. Wow."

On the right, Outside the Beltway's James Joyner comments: "This is one of the more bizarre exercises in which we engage. The chief reasons to oppose Bolton for the post have little to do with Bolton but rather the fact that he an aggressive spokesman for the administration's foreign policy. Given that this is essentially the post's job description, not confirming him on those grounds is silly. Not at least going on record with an up-or-down vote is cowardly."

MyDD's Chris Bowers looks at Dem leads in CO-07, IN-08, AZ-08, IN-09, VA-02, IN-02, PA-10, IA-01, CT-02, PA-06, KY-04, NC-11, WA-08, and IL-06 and declares: "we are already winning in enough districts to take the House." Bowers then runs down polling data from more races and concludes: "And that brings us to a grand total of 35 districts. Overall, Democrats lead in twenty congressional districts. One district is tied, and Democrats are within striking distance in at least thirteen more."

Over on the right, John McIntyre at RCP Blog sees Dems only gaining 10 House seats due to: "the economy humming at 3%+ growth, unemployment below 5%, the Dow near all-time highs and gas prices back below $2.50, these are not exactly economic conditions associated with a "throw the bums out" type of election." TAPPED's Ezra Klein responds: "Much of that strikes me as plausible, if not correct. The House races tend to be harder to predict, if only because there's less polling and data flowing out of individual districts than whole states. Moreover, the GOP's GOTV advantage will likely make the difference in a number of marginal races where Democrats lack sufficient funds to power major turnout operations."

Lefty CT Bob is having fun with his editing software again. This time splicing clips from Ferris Bueller's Day Off with a Senate roll call vote to poke fun at missed votes by Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT). The video is an instant lefty fave.

At firedoglake Lindsay Beyerstein catalogues the GOP friendly fundraising sources Lieberman has been forced to hang out with while Atrios has a profanity laced response to Lieberman's Iraq position.

TAPPED's Sarah Posner argues Sen. Mike DeWine's (R) willingness to cozy up to the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) "shows not a toughness against the terrorists, but a spinelessness against religious fundamentalism." Posner is no fan of CUFI's support for Israel since the organization's motives "do not stem from a love of the nation of Israel, as Israel-supporting Jews in Ohio might expect. Rather, they seek a world-ending conflagration leading to the Second Coming of Christ."

Ex-Navy Sec. James Webb's (D) new ad on Iraq is receiving high praise throughout the lefty blogosphere. DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas writes: "On too many threads, someone says, "I don't see Democrats standing strong on Iraq". That's bull[excrement]. There are plenty of Democrats doing so. They just need to get elected to do anything about it." TPM Cafe's Eric Kleefeld adds: "It contrasts images of Bush and Allen separately insisting that we "stay the course" in Iraq with horrific images of violence from the war. It concludes with Webb speaking directly to the camera and hitting Allen very, very hard. He says: "The people who failed to prevent this disaster are not the ones you can count on to fix it." Webb concludes: "We need leaders in the Senate-not followers."

Not on the air, but still flying around the web, the "Young Virginians for Racial Equality" have a video out questioning Sen. George Allen (R) about his civil rights record.

Over at Raising Kaine Webb Netroots Coordinator Lowell Feld has pictures from John Edwards campaign stop with Webb at Mary Washington and includes these Edwards highlights:

• "This election is about transforming America."
• "We need a man of character, strength and honesty who "couldn't tell a lie if his life depended on it" - Jim Webb."
• "In these elections, the future of the world is at stake."

Raising Kaine also links to audio from the Gov. Tim Kaine, Stephen King, John Grisham, and Webb event at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, VA. Feld writes: "And yes, all those guys - except for Tim Kaine - are FICTION

WRITERS. Oh, the horror, the horror! :)"

VA SEN II: Target Sabato

National Review Online's Greg Pollowitz looks at UVA prof. Larry Sabato's recent Hardball performance and wants to know if "the "n" word is a character issue today," then why did Sabato not bring it up when he moderated a debate between Allen and then Sen. Chuck Robb (D) in 2000?

Scott Johnson at Power Line chips in with an email response from Team Sabato explaining: "I didn't know these things until the past few months. People I know and who are very credible contacted me and shared the stories. Then reporters checked them out: I am not a reporter. Based on everything they learned, they believe the stories and so do I. Other things will determine the election, though." Johnson concludes: "I was inclined to take Sabato's original comments at face value based on his Sabato's reputation. I was mistaken. Sabato's irresponsible conduct in this matter -- passing on the "hearsay" of unidentified third parties as of his own knowledge -- should disqualify him as an allegedly neutral commentator on contemporary politics."

Matt Lewis at Right Angle Blog also devalues his Sabato stock: "On another note, I think it is a career mistake for Larry Sabato to be personally inserting himself in this story. While it is true that he has a unique perspective (having known Allen at the University of Virginia), I can't help but feel that this further diminishes his credibility as an analyst. His critics have long said that Larry would never turn down any opportunity to get in front of a camera (or be quoted by the media). Maybe that explains it? It will be interesting to see if he will be able to continue being viewed as an unbiased analyst ..."

Chris Bowers at MyDD welcomed NM Gov. Bill Richardson (D) to the pages of MyDD as their new Governor Forecast 2006 sponsor. Richardson writes:

On Sunday, September 10th, I returned to New Mexico from Sudan after a successful mission to secure the release of imprisoned Chicago Tribune journalist and New Mexican Paul Salopek and his two Chadian colleagues. Our goal was accomplished through diplomacy, respectful face-to-face communication between me and President Al Bashir...

...That's why I'm committed to supporting and building the progressive online infrastructure we need to win now. It's why the Democratic Governors Association is stepping up our internet efforts to serve as a clearinghouse for information on races around the country and how people can get involved. It's why I've set up a page at ActBlue.com to highlight our candidates, and why it's so important to activate ActBlue fundraising for every state. And it's why I'm proud to partner with MyDD to sponsor the Governor Forecast 2006.

IA's Krusty Konservative announced state House Speaker Christopher Rants (R) signed on to MA Gov. Mitt Romney's Commonwealth PAC. Krusty writes: "Rants is the highest ranking Republican elected official in the state to sign on with a potential 08er."

Over at RedStateErick Erickson has audio from his interview with Romney and reports: "Governor Romney and I had a very engaging conversation about his transition from a guy who really did not put life issues on his front burner to a guy who now considers himself pro-life. We also talked about how his Mormon faith might affect people's votes in 2008. Governor Romney also explained his health care initiative in Massachusetts that uses free market approaches and individual responsibility to drive down government health care costs and we talked about governing as a conservative in a very liberal state."

Right Angle Blog's Matt Lewis surveys the scene and concludes: "Give Gov. Mitt Romney credit for a good week of assiduously courting conservatives. While many of his opponents are either ignoring traditional campaign methods (they are failing to raise money, build a team, etc.) -- or are offending conservative voters with their votes and/or comments -- Mitt Romney is going out of his way to do both. He is raising money, putting together a team, and wooing conservatives. This week, he gave a well-received speech at the Family Research Council, And his interview (posted today) with Red State is one more example of his willingness to court the conservative base."

Lefty bloggers are increasing the pressure on Senate Dems to filibuster the detainee treatment bill. TPM Cafe's Stirling Newberry calls on Senate min. leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to firm up his opposition and Newberry describes his fear of being personally kidnapped and tortured while traveling abroad in retaliation for U.S. prisoner treatment. AMERICAblog's John in DC debated Steve Malzberg on the issue for Paula Zahn Now.

Meanwhile, Atrios find the "Language of Religion" "utterly meaningless to me personally" but still links to torture debates at Faithful Democrats and Street Prophets.

On the right, Iraq war supporter and fierce Pres. Bush critic Andrew Sullivan sees the torture compromise as "one of the darkest hours for Western liberty in a very long time."

Chris Bowers at MyDD looks at polls from CO GOV, CO-04, CO-05, and CO-07 and notes:

• In 2002, Republicans held the trifecta in Colorado. They also held a 5-2 edge in the congressional delegation, and both of the US Senate seats. Colorado was not considered a swing state in Presidential elections.
• After 2006, Democrats will hold the trifecta in Colorado. We will also hold at least a 4-3 edge in the congressional delegation, and quite possibly pull off an even larger edge. The US Senate seats are currently split. Colorado is understood as one of the top swing states in the entire country. By now, it might even be lean Dem.

Bowers concludes: "Now that is a turnaround. In four short years, a decidedly red state has turned first to purple, and then to a light shade of blue. The key is that the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy sought by progressives around the country is already operational in Colorado. All advocacy groups work together--no more single-issue ghettos. There is a booming local blogosphere that is both internally organized and that receives healthy support from the establishment. Media Matters has set up in the state to counter local right-wing media. The silent revolution is not only under way, but actually completed, as grassroots progressives have taken over the state party."

Slate has posted "The George Allen Insult Generator" with insults for people who are "Arab," "Canadian," "A debater," "Fat," "Irish" and many more. Blogometer favorites include:

• Old people: "Hey there, Andy Rooney!"
• A gamer: "Hey there, thumb warrior!"
• A person with bad breath: "Pleased to meet you, Binaca!"
• A stamp collector: "How's it going, philateloser!"
• French: "Why, hello, Monsieur Caca!"

Posted by Conn Carroll at September 27, 2006 12:24 PM