10/27: Is Drudge Still King?

Ex-Navy Sec. James Webb's (D) novel's graphic sex scenes are not news to regular readers of righty blogs. Right Wing News excerpted some of the same passages quoted by Drudge Report back on 9/29, yet lefty bloggers paid no heed, and the Webb camp did not feel the need to respond. Drudge may not write enough to be considered a blogger, but his ability to drive a story still makes him a power in the online world.

LANDSCAPE: Projections Are Like Noses

Pollster.com unveiled their latest House scorecard 10/26 showing "219 seats in the Democratic column and 193 in the Republican column, with 23 seats showing neither candidate with a statistically meaningful lead." On the left, MyDD's Chris Bowers currently projects: "a Democratic gain of 24-29 seats, an improvement from 21-28 in the previous projection. Most, if not all, of this improvement comes from Upstate New York."

National Review Online's Rich Lowry forwards "an insider's take" on 47 close house races including seven "seats that look like they're gone." Lowry later adds six more "goners" and three "almost gone"s. Also at National Review Online, Kathryn Jean Lopez taps her own "regular Smart Hill Guys" for this take: "On a bad night, we can lose 30 seats. But, if we have solid performance over the next 13 days and the news cycle doesn't kill us, it could be a night of very close wins maintaining a close majority of 2 or 3. One thing is for certain, Iraq is a devastating issue for most of these races, and yesterday's press conference gave away another news cycle."

At RCP Blog, Jay Cost argues that the more engaged candidates are, the better the GOP is doing: " This is the case even for when Democratic candidates become engaged. Democratic spending is actually helpful to the Republican. ... All in all, the district's attention shifts from the national to the local. This enhances the Republican position."

On the left, Talking Points Memo invites readers to "go on the record with your predictions for election day" at their Talking Points Memo Community Pool. And on the right, Captain's Quarters and Right Angle Blog urge readers to give "one final round of contributions" for "ten candidates that we feel have the best opportunity to win their races" including Michele Bachmann (MN-06), Mike Bouchard (MI), Max Burns (GA-12), John Gard (WI-08), Thomas Kean (NJ), Mike McGavick (WA), David McSweeney (IL-08), Ray Meier (NY-24), Peter Roskam (IL-06), and Michael Steele (MD).

LANDSCAPE II: What Are We Fighting For?

MyDD's Jonathan Singer notes "the post-election debate over what type of mandate voters have given the winning party is already being shaped" and points to Ipsos Public Affairs polling showing "Likely Voters Favor Dems overs GOPers On Every Issue." Singer presses Dems to spin the election results as a "rejection of failed Republican policies" and "a complete embrace of the Democratic agenda" so that Pres. Bush cannot "stymie" Dem bills "without being upbraided by the political press." Also on the left, TPM Muckraker's Justin Rood adds Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Rep. Ann Northup (R-KY) to a list of ten GOPers "saying Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should be gone."

Captain's Quarters has highlights from a roundtable discussion on the economy and the upcoming elections featuring Reason's Nick Gillespie, Think Progress' Judd Legum, hosted by AP's Otis Hart. Power Line's John Hinderaker also keeps the focus on the economy with a "classic horror movie" examining "the consequences of Democrat victory on our tax code."

CT SEN: From San Francisco With Love

Busy in San Francisco, CA on his Audacity of Hope book tour, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) "sent out an email to his CT list supporting" cable exec Ned Lamont (D) 10/26. The official Lamont Blog posts Obama's message including: "Ned earned the Democratic Senate nomination through his hard work and clear message. And his victory paved the way for an entire crop of Democratic challengers to stand up and fight for the common good." Atrios comments: "This is no small thing given Lieberman was who he chose as his mentor in the Senate. Not the hugest thing, but still."

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I) had Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) campaigning for him in Hartford, CT. MyDD's Matt Stoller wasn't impressed: "Landrieu is probably the worst Democratic Senator in the caucus, with the possible exception of Max Baucus. She's an utter Bush sycophant, even going above and beyond the reddish tinge of Louisiana. If you're looking for a reason that New Orleans is still devastated today, you have to look to her utter failure of leadership in forcing Bush to do anything to deal with the situation."

Over at My Left Nutmeg, Matt Browner Hamlin hopes the FEC will get movement going on the "Lieberman petty cash scandal.' Hamlin writes: "The FEC is required to let the Lamont campaign know if their complaint meets the required criteria for an investigation by their general counsel within five days of it's submission. The complaint was submitted on October 23rd, so the FEC is required to let Tom Swan know if the case will move forward by October 28tth."

MD SEN: Cardin Surrogateless?

Righty bloggers are excited about LG Michael Steele (R) performance in 10/26 debate with Rep. Ben Cardin (D-03). Ian at Hot Air has video highlights and writes: "The best doesn't come until the end, when Steele quizzed Cardin on plans for a metro system in the Baltimore area. Cardin failed miserably." Erick Erickson at RedState notes: "At a time when Ben Cardin should be sailing toward victory, he has yet to shore up his own base. The difficulty in doing so is compounded by the fact that he can't get black voters enthusiastic about him. It's a telling sign that none one of Maryland's black elected congressmen has appeared on TV or radio championing Ben Cardin."

MO SEN: Rush To Judgment

Michelle Malkin has dubbed this race "The Rush Limbaugh referendum" writing "if unhinged Limbaugh-haters want to make this election a referendum on the conservative talk radio right vs. the Hollywood left, Nancy Pelosi should toss her measuring tape and drape fabric in the trash can pronto. You will lose."

None on the left are giving any ground. Atrios looks at Katie Couricquestioning of Michael J. Fox on the issue and writes: "The conservative movement is sick, and I don't think there's anyone around willing to try to heal it."

National Review Online has video of Laura Ingraham arguing that Amendment 2 legalizes cloning and Erick Erickson at RedState claims: "There have now been three polls in Missouri taken during or after Michael J. Fox appeared on St. Louis television screens. ... Jim Talent is ahead for three polls in a row by three points in two polls and by two points in another, something that he hasn't seen in some time."

NJ SEN: Chris Matthews, Defender Of Ethnics Everywhere

Righty bloggers have Chris Matthews in their sites for his 10/26 suggestion that the GOP is "playing ethnic politics" with their Soprano's spoof ad attacking Sen. Bob Menendez (D) on ethics. National Review Online's Stephen Spruiell has video and writes: "Stop it Chris Matthews. You and people who share your weird, racial paranoia are poisoning the national debate and hurting the country."

At RedState, Liz Mair provides a non-racist explanation for the ad: "I guess they've have failed to notice that Menendez, their posterboy, is a grade-A scumbag plagued by allegations of corruption and, well, generally being a crook. ... Perhaps that's why the ad intimates a link between a mafioso crook and Menendez-- and not because Menendez is Hispanic and the mafioso is (presumably) Italian-American (i.e., both "ethnics")? Seems a pretty obvious point to me, but then I'm not a member of a party dumb enough to allow him in its ranks, am I?"

Captain's Quarters offers GOPers good news noting the latest CBS poll showing Menendez up 40%-39% over State Sen. Tom Kean (R) "underpolled independents and overpolled both Democrats and Republicans, especially Democrats. They increased Democrats by 48% of their actual standing and Republicans by only 21%, while reducing independents by 40 percent."

TN SEN: Welcome To The Jungle

Lefty bloggers are claiming to see "a racist pattern is emerging from the Republican consultants driving the anti-Ford campaign in Tennessee." TPM Cafe's Greg Sargent follows up on the ex-Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker (R) radio ad he claims uses "jungle drums." The Corker campaign responded to Sargent noting another pro-Corker ad used the same drums with out mentioning Ford. Sargent invites readers to listen to bothads and writes: "While it's true that the same music is playing in the ad, and it's true that there is some sort of drumming audible, it's still dramatically different from the radio ad, which pumps up the very loud rumble of drums every single time Ford's name is mentioned. They're just not comparable."

Sargent also links to a story in the Jewish Daily Forward on a TN GOP flyer which is about taxes and does not mention Ford but does use the phrase: "Vote early to preserve your way of life." The forward notes "in earlier decades, some white leaders used similar language in opposing civil rights for blacks." At Talking Points MemoJosh Marshall notes Corker's website refers to Ford as "an attractive young man" and asks: "What's Bob Corker's deal with Harold Ford's sex life?"

At The Huffington Post Arianna Huffington sees a silver lining in the "sleaze" the GOP is "raining down on TN" since it shows how desperate they are. Matthew Yglesias, on the other hand, thinks the Dems are playing into the GOP's hands.

Righty bloggers are not buying the racial element to the ad at all. National Review Online's Stephen Spruiell: "Only a racially paranoid moron could listen to this ad and concoct this loony "jungle drums" conspiracy."

Finally, RedState has another podcast with Corker.

VA SEN: National Review Not As Sensitive As They used To Be

At first Cornerites Rich Lowry and Kathryn Jean Lopez were dismissive of Drudge Report's Sen. George Allen (R) press release highlighting "graphic underage sex scenes" in novels by ex-Navy Sec. James Webb. But their in-boxes suggested the issue might matter. Lopez forwards this note: "Maybe you guys in Manhattan are desensitized to this filth, but the people of Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg, Fredericksburg, etc., aren't. And no way will these voters EVER accept the argument that it's only fiction." Wizbang also argues the story will hurt Webb.

Right Wing News reminds readers he exposed some of the same passages back on 9/29 and writes: "In case you're wondering, I did send an email to Drudge on Sept 29, 2006 and Oct 17, 2006. Whether he just didn't read them, read them and chose not to link, or whether he read them and waited for a timely opportunity to spring them, I don't know."

Lefty blogger reaction was swift and voluminous. The Huffington Post has entries from Steve Gilliard, James Boyce, Marty Kaplan, and Taylor Marsh on the subject.

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall suggests Dems respond by going after Allen's sealed divorce records and Daily Kos diarist thereisnospoon suggest Webb claim "that these passages were based on actual experiences from the hellhole of Vietnam."

In other news, Webb's Netroots Coordinator and Raising Kaine founder Lowell Feld notes Allen is using the same "racist" ad man that ex-Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker is using in TN.

National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez forwards "An Important Message from Dr. James Dobson" to his "Virginia Friend"s including: "Sadly, one of your candidates-James Webb-is a die-hard supporter of abortion.

Finally, Captain's Quarters has Part I of an interview with Allen including:

CQ: Republican leaders have spoken about the threat of Democratic control of the House in order to ensure a strong turnout from the GOP base. In your estimation, what are the biggest problems that would create for a Republican-controlled Senate and the White House?

GA: I am concerned that a number of the positive policies we've been working on will be threatened - tax relief for families and small businesses, measures to keep our homeland safe, and reasonable tort reforms just to name a few. If we don't make these tax relief provisions permanent, they start expiring in 2008.

BAYH: Striking Out In The Clutch

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall notes Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) recently ponied up $500k and asks: "What about Evan Bayh? He's sitting on a ton of cash. Have we heard from him yet? It's hard to imagine any Democrat taking a presidential contender seriously next year when they left the whole team hanging at the clutch moment."

ROMNEY: What Year Is It Again?

While manyrightybloggers are still approvingly passing around video of MA Gov. Mitt Romney's rebuke of a Boston Globe reporter, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) blogger aide Patrick Hynes is feuding with pro-Romney bloggers over Team Romney's response to Globe revelations that Romney intends to utilize Mormon Church connections as part of his '08 Wh run.

The Hedgehog Blog writes about an earlier Hynes post on Romney: "The Ankle-Biting Pundits piece is a breathtakingly nasty, disingenuous, and dirty slam. It clearly tries to gin up a story out of nothing-- recycling old quotes (at least one of them out of context) that were not even made in reference to the Boston Globe story. It really looks like something a political consultant for one of Romney's likely opponents would cook up.

Hynes responds with a timeline of the Romney/Mormon Church story highlighting his defenses of Romney throughout the matter. Hynes concludes: "So there you have it. Just the facts. Decide for yourselves. As for me, I continue to maintain that Romney has every right to seek the support of the Mormon community, though he should not use church resources to do it. The only question that remains is whether or not the Romney folks want to keep talking about this ... because I'll be happy to talk about it all year."

BLOGGERS VS. BELTWAY: Bombs Away

Due in part to a suspicion that some in the media "might want to use my very small campaign as a way to paint progressives and Democrats as a whole in a negative light" MyDD's Chris Bowers is done answering media inquries about his Google Bombing campaign, but does defend it:

There are three main differences between the campaign I started and other, similar campaigns. First, I did it out in the open with full transparency on my blog, using my name, and with my email in full view. Second, it is much more wide ranging, since it has multiple, simultaneous targets. Third, and most importantly, instead of targeting campaign talking points such as "flip flopper" or "miserable failure," this campaign worked to only use non-partisan media reports. No talking points. No opinion columns. A bare minimum use of alternative media. In other words, this campaign works solely to push news reports made by trusted, mainstream news outlets into the foreground during the final two weeks of the campaign season.

Right Wing News has no qualms about his parallel campaign ehich he updates readers on: "It's 3 days later -- which isn't very long -- and so far, 11 of the links to our first 45 targets have made it into the top 20. ... On the left, they had 52 targets and 18 made it in the top 20. ... Also, there tend to be a lot more negative articles about Republican candidates in the top 20 to begin with, so when you break it down, we're probably running about even." RWN then launches a new campaign, this time linking to negative YouTube videos. On RWN's target list: cable exec Ned Lamont (D-CT).

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: It's All Relative

Reacting to Kausfiles claims that gay rights have been progressing at "breathtaking speed" The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum writes:

The Stonewall riots happened in 1969. Domestic partnership laws started springing up in the 70s and 80s. Sullivan wrote "Here Comes the Groom," an article for the New Republic that defended gay marriage, in 1989. The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that the state needed to show a "compelling state interest" in order to continue denying gay people the right to marry. Vermont passed a civil union law in 2000. Currently, we're in the year 2006. Is this "breathtaking speed"? It doesn't seem like it to me, unless you want to make the case that broad social changes literally shouldn't happen until every generation that objects to them has died off. But where would that leave the Feiler Faster Thesis?

LEST WE FORGET: Speaking Of Waves

The APreports Krazy George Henderson is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the creation of the "wave" during game four of the Oakland Athletics playoff loss to the New York Yankees in '81. The AP quotes Krazy: "It's been really interesting ... I see it at the Olympics. There's a video of Fidel Castro doing it. If it had actually originated in New York at a Yankees game, they would have thought it was sent by the gods."