10/12: Is It 2008 Yet?

The first item featured at Daily Kos' Online Store is a "Is It 2008 Yet?" asphalt tee. That exact same sentiment could be felt at National Review Online's 10th Anniversary bash 10/11 in DC. The only pol making an appearance: MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA), the WH '08 favorite of The Corner's "den mother" Kathryn Jean Lopez. Romney is still trailing ex-NY mayor Rudy Giuliani in most righty blogger straw polls, but nights like 10/11 may help him close that gap.

LANDSCAPE: It's Gonna Be A GOP Landslide!

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt claims "The High Water Mark for the 2006 Democrats Was A Week Ago" arguing "the Foley effect had begun to dissipate as the reality of the choice before the country broke through even the MSM's fascination with the destruction of the Republicans because of the notorious IMs." Hewitt sees "strong momentum" for "Santorum in Pennsylvania, DeWine in Ohio, and Corker in Tennessee." Hewitt also suggests "in Missouri ... Democratic nominee McCaskill's remarkable ability to churn out gaffes might make it a breakaway."

Also on the right, RCP Blog's Jay Cost questions MSM censuses that the GOP base is "dispirited" and Erick Erickson identifies the winner of RedState's "I will vote Republican in 2006 because" contest. The winning entry:

1. I want a prosperous America, where the poorest can achieve wealth, if allowed to save instead of pay high taxes, while benefiting from low unemployment and limited regulation. 2. I want a freer America, where my rights-- to own a gun, to determine my own healthcare arrangements-- are not infringed in the pursuit of an abstract common good. 3. I want a strong America-- one that does not cower when threatened by its enemies, which defends its interests, and exists as a beacon of hope to all who wish to be free.

Finally, Pat Cleary at RedState notes that Dems are already posting job vacancy notices for "possible expanded Democratic committee staff in the 110th Congress."

CT SEN: In Your Heart, You Know He's Last

Writing from CT, MyDD's Matt Stoller links to a New York Timesarticle quoting Dem office holders quietly admitting "they would be satisfied to see their longtime colleague returned to Washington." Stoller comments: "After the primary, DC Democrats dissuaded Lamont from attacking Lieberman, essentially promising him that they would talk Joe out of running. This was of course a lie, but it worked. They lied not only to Lamont, but to us, and to regular activist Democrats who work for the party and play by the rules." Stoller, however, holds out hope the debates will turn the race around: "Though the electorate is beginning to pay attention, the three debates haven't happened yet, and according to these numbers, if Lamont were to just bump up his percentage of Democrats from 62% to 75%, he'll be dead even with Lieberman, and it'll come down to the ground game."

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas is even more bullish on cable exec Ned Lamont's (D) chances: "Seven points down? The Connecticut CW is that if Lamont is within 5 points on election day, his superior ground operation can make up the difference. So seven, if accurate, would be getting close to that mark. Unfortunately, there are no trend line for this poll so we can't gauge momentum. But things feel much better these last two weeks than they have in a while."

Finally, TRex at firedoglake has the winners of their competition to help Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) find a message to remind voters that he can be found at the bottom of the ballot:

• Joe Lieberman: I'm on there somewhere!
• I'm Joe Lieberman and I approve this mess
• No candidate is lower than Joe Lieberman!
• In your heart, you know he's last
• It's a short ride to the bottom of the ballot

MO SEN: But Who Will Represent The Dead If They Can't Even Vote?

Paul Seale at RedState links to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story on the St. Louis Election Board finding "1,492 "potentially fraudulent" voter registration cards - including three from dead people" and writes: "So how many of those registrants are fraudulent? How many will be voting for Claire McCaskill? I hope our supreme court decides to let the law requiring IDs to stand firm. Otherwise the dead will truly vote for Claire."

On the left, TAPPED's Scott Lemieux looks at Sen. Jim Talent's (R) 10/9 Meet the Press on abortion and writes: "Which serves to remind us, again, that the policies generally favored by the American pro-life movement display considerably more commitment to regulating female sexuality than to protecting fetal life."

TN SEN: A Cut Above The Rest

The Plank's Isaac Chotiner was turned off by Rep. Harold Ford's (D-09) "unfortunate and unseemly rhetoric" on immigration, but found the rest of his performance to be a "virtuoso act ... cut above the rest."

VA SEN: Not Yard Sign Stealing!!??!

Totallynext at Daily Kos reports "a massive theft of Webb yard signs throughout the Woodley, Westgate, and Straftford precincts." TN finds this especially important since: "Westgate precinct is where the home of George Allen is located. Yes folks he is in our backyard."

Meanwhile, ex-Navy sec. James Webb's Netroots Coordinator and Raising Kaine founder Lowell Feld links to audio from Young Turks radio of Rev. Jesse Jackson's thoughts on Allen:

Question: "George Allen has been in a lot of trouble for reference to some of the history that you just mentioned...Macaca comment..."n word"...The part that really struck us... was the "noose that was hanging from a tree at some point in his office. He says that it was Western memorabilia. Do you see it as Western memorabilia?" Answer by Jesse Jackson: "No. It is a pattern of sick behavior, born of a certain cultural orientation. He seems not to have risen above those...dimensions of our culture. And I suppose the people of Virginia will judge him and judge themselves by their vote at election time."

GOP FIELD: What Did Pataki Do Recently?

GOP Bloggers is running their monthly straw poll, again asking which possible '08ers are "acceptable" or "unacceptable" as nominees. MA Gov. Mitt Romney is the most "acceptable" candidate at 53.6% followed by ex-NY mayor Rudy Giuliani at 49.9% and Newt Gingrich at 44.4%. The three most "unacceptable" nominees: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) at 53.6%, Gov. George Pataki at 44.9%, and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)at 44.5%.

Giuliani is the "first choice" of 29.7% of righty blog reader participants followed by Gingrich at 21.8% and Romney at 19.3%. Giuliani bests Romney in a three way race with McCain 47.7%-42.7%-6.5%, and head to head 51.1% to 45.1%.

ROMNEY: A Hit By All More Objective Reports

Kathryn Jean Lopez thanked everyone who turned out for National Review Online's 10th anniversary bash 10/11 including: "Charles Krauthammer, Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Lucianne, Jim Angle, Scooter Libby, Tony Blankley, Ralph Reed, Mark Salter, Mary Matalin, Cesar Conda, (watch me spread the '08 love around now), Rep. Marsha Blackburn, White Housers, Hill Guys, and so very many more who joined us."

For Lopez though, only one guest really mattered: "A governor. A Republican governor. The Republican governor of Massachusetts was at our party tonight. And he was a hit by all more objective reports. In short: You know what early straw poll I care about..." RightsideRedux has pics and some video.

GIULIANI: Go Ken!

Wizbang has video of ex-NY mayor Rudy Giuliani's new ad for OH Sec/State Ken Blackwell.

OBAMA: Jeebus Knows

Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher looks at Ezra Klein's American Prospectarticle on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and writes: "Obama is charismatic and a powerful speaker, and Jeebus knows the Democrats are in dire need of those. But despite the eagerness of many to place their hopes for the future in him, he has done little to merit it beyond earning high marks for presentation - he has a tendency to regularly repeat GOP talking points in a way that damage the party, an unfortunate quality in someone who has hopes of leading it."

KERRY: Biggest Regret Of His Public Life

On the anniversary of his vote to give Pres. Bush the authority to use force in Iraq, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) writes at The Huffington Post: "There's nothing - nothing - in my life in public service I regret more, nothing even close." Kerry argues that "it is not enough to point out that we were grossly misled. ... But it is also not enough just to look backwards. ... That's why I have proposed a deadline for Iraq and a comprehensive plan to end the civil war. At each step along the way, the Iraqi leaders have responded only to deadlines. So why not a deadline to extricate our troops? Read about my plan at http://blog.johnkerry.com."

BLOGGERS VS. MSM: On The Plus Side, He Didn't Make Wanker Of The Day

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas describes AP's John Solomon as "being dishonest or an idiot" for his article on Sen. Harry Reid's (D-NV) failure to properly report a land deal to the Senate Ethics Comm. Kos writes: "Ultimately, there might be a technical violation of Senate rules -- Reid has asked for clarification from the ethics committee. But bottom line is that Reid followed the spirit of the law." Atrios, AMERICAblog, and firedoglake all have unkind words for Solomon as well.

On the right, Instapundit reader Anthony Calabrese sees "no real tax issue. The only issue is that Reid might have been hiding his ownership of the property, but holding investment property in an LLC is fairly common in order to protect the owners from torts or bankruptcy. I think this is simply an issue of someone forgetting to file a form." Power Line's John Hinderaker doesn't necessarily see anything wrong with Reid's actions but: "It does appear, though, that Reid clearly violated Senate ethics rules by failing to disclose the existence of the LLC and his partnership with Brown." Captain's Quarters, however, argues Reid is trying to down play his connections to "lobbyist and real-estate investor" Harvey Whittemore.

BLOGGERS VS. MSM II: A Non-Fake Person Wrote This Subhead

Daily Kos' JR Monsterfodder (Co. State. prof. Jonathan Rees) calls attention to the identifies of Wal-Marting Across America's "Jim" and "Laura." Rees calls Jim and Laura "fake people" for a Business Week article on the campaign, and now he has nailed down their real identities including Jim who is "James Thresher, a photographer for the Washington Post." Rees writes:

If you look in the bottom right-hand corner you'll see that their blog is sponsored by "Working Families for Wal-Mart. "Working Families for Wal-Mart is a front group funded by Wal-Mart and run by the Washington p.r. firm Edelman. It was created in order to spread positive stories about Wal-Mart in the media. Thresher, in other words, just shot and co-wrote a gigantic ad for Wal-Mart in exchange for a free RV trip, paid for by Wal-Mart. Your "liberal" media at work. The Post has gotta have rules about this sort of thing, right?

BLOGGERS VS. BELTWAY: Hastert's Gonna Love This

MyDD's Matt Stoller picks up on Jewish Telegraphic Agency story: "A top staffer for billionaire philanthropist George Soros met recently with senior representatives of the dovish pro-Israel community to discuss setting up an alternative to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, JTA has learned." Stoller comments: "AIPAC is deeply unrepresentative of the mostly liberal Jewish population in this country. It's good to see them getting some possible competition. Actually, it could be game-changing."

BUSH: Relentlessly Negative

On the left, Talking Post Memo's Josh Marshall had the most posts (including this one on North Korea) on Pres. Bush's 10/11 presser. Marshall writes: "And evaluating it as objectively as I can, it really sounds like a train wreck. The last question had a line in it asking the president if he feels 'like the walls are closing in on him' with declining support for his Iraq policy. The other questions have been pretty relentlessly negative. And the more pointed ones the president hasn't been able answer, even with effective bamboozlement."

Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) blogged a response at The Huffington Post: "A press conference is a rare event for this administration. It appeared to be a tortuous event for Mr. Bush. More than any other President in recent memory, his inability to frame and articulate the issues is embarrassingly obvious. ... It has been three and one half years since the President boarded an aircraft carrier and declared "mission accomplished." Staying the course is no longer a viable option for accomplishing the mission. The President mentioned relying on his generals, but too many of his generals are saying that we have to change course in Iraq."

The Plank's Bradford Plumer was stricken by Bush's response to the Lancet study on Iraqi casualties: "I am, you know, amazed that this is a society which so wants to be free that they're willing to -- you know, that there's a level of violence that they tolerate."

Few on the right had lengthy thoughts on Bush's performance. RedState's Academic Elephant thought Bush "was perhaps most impressive when talking about why he believes the Republicans will maintain majorities in both houses of congress. Over the past six years you might have noticed that the President comes on strongest when he's faced with a stiff challenge and his chances have been written off by the powers that be."

FOLEY: Heroes And Zeros

It's another day, and the left continues to track fallout from scandals involving ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R). In a running tally aided by the DCCC, John Aravosis points out that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is just the latest to cancel appearances with Rep./NRCC chair Tom Reynolds (R-NY), following on the heals of several other embattled Reps for whom, until two weeks ago, a Reynolds visit would have been a boon.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the story, as many have pointed out, is the lack of cohesion with which the GOP is approaching it. Kevin Drum watched "The Chris Matthews Show" 10/9 and noted Tucker Carlson's "contempt" at the GOP's "pandering to the base in the most cynical way." Drum also checks out a new book by ex-WH aide David Kuo that purports to claim the GOP isn't exactly friendly to evangelicals, either.

MSNBC's Olbermann looked at Kuo's book last night as well. Olbermann claims the Foley matter is just the latest example of the GOP not actually standing up for Christian Conservatives. Have a look, courtesy of Crooks and Liars.

Andrew Sullivan points to GOP problems in the South, courtesy the Southern Political Report's Hastings Wyman.

A surprising hero of Foley-gate: Dep WH CoS Karl Rove -- at least according to TPM Cafe's Eric Kleefeld and the AP.

The right, though, isn't willing to let the scandal go without a fight. Strata-Sphere thinks the Washington Post and others have practically admitted to reading off Dem talking points: "What other evidence do we need," he asks, pointing to this article, "other than the admissions by Harpers and the WaPo that they dealt with democrat operatives and used democrat sources bent on impacting the coming elections?" == Dean Barnett at TownHall is thinking about the scandal in an entirely different manner: "Kos proclaims today that the Foley scandal isn't going away. I hope he's right. I hope he and the Democrats are misguided enough to pound on it every day. That way they'll leave the impression that they have nothing to offer of substance. That happens to be true, so give them a couple of points at long last for showing intellectual honesty."

Citing the same WaPo piece Strata does, TPM's Josh Marshall notes: "It occurred to me that you can't really cover or follow a scandal unless you know who the key players are." The post then offers pictures and two-second backgrounds on top players, including Hastert CoS Scott Palmer, counsel Ted Van Der Meid and others.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: A Trial Balloon In CT?

MyDD's Matt Stoller advises '08 Dems to pay attention to Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-CT) campaign since he is running "McCain's strategy." Stoller reasons:

Lieberman's hope is that economically populist working class white ethnic voters, combined with conservative voters, make a majority, and the key driver in bringing the first group of voters is perceived independence from both parties, while the key driver in bringing the second group is allegiance to a far right agenda. McCain's 'Straight Talk Express' in 2000 drew in a huge number of these relatively low information voters, though he couldn't bring in the conservative base because Bush locked him out of the establishment. With no Bush in the 2008 race, McCain can make this coalition possible.

LEST WE FORGET: White Guys In Their 30s Love NRO

National Review Online's Jonah Goldberg shares one of his "favorite moments" from 10/11's NRO 10th anniversary bash:

One women came up to me and asked "Are you Jonah Goldberg." I replied, "I am. It's nice to meet you -" Completely unfazed that she guessed right, she cut me off and said, "Then you must know what John Miller looks like!" I laughed. And told her I did indeed know what he looks like. "He's a tall white guy in his mid to late thirties," I said laughing. All you had to do was look around the room to know that this was next to no help at all, which she immediately appreciated.