November 15, 2006
11/15: For Those Of You Keeping Score At Home
For the most part, the netroots have chosen to enjoy their role in the Dems' victory 11/7 instead of focussing on settling scores related to the bruising primary and general-election battles between Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and cable exec Ned Lamont (D-CT). Don't pretend for a second, though, that bloggers weren't keeping score of which Dem leaders went to bat for Lamont and which stayed in the dugout. Lamont's official campaign blogger, Tim Tagaris, has a Daily Kos diary up on the race that includes takes on '08 hopeful performances. In short: Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), ex-Gen. Wesley Clark (D), and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) did well; Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), John Edwards (D) did not.
DEM FIELD: Results Of The CT SEN Primary
The netroots made it clear early on to '08 aspirants that they would be paying close attention to how potential candidates handled Lamont's candidacy. As part of a broader must-read post-mortem on the race, Tagaris includes a section "I know you all have been waiting for" on "The Democratic Party, What They Said, Who Was Naughty, Who Was Nice." Entries relevant to '08 include:
- Barack Obama: "Quite possibly the biggest disappointment ... period. While on his book tour, he was in NYC one day, had a scheduled day off, and appeared in Massachusetts the following day. Yet he couldn't make time to stop in the state between the two on his day off. We made it explicitly clear he was the single senator we wanted in the state above all others. He declined."
- Hillary Clinton: "No single senator was quicker to send out $5,000 check after the primary (accompanied by a press release). ... Whatever the reasons, Hillary as an individual was a net positive to our effort."
- ex-Pres. Bill Clinton: "President Clinton, on the other hand, probably provided the singular destructive post-primary moment of anyone outside the campaign. He provided every national Democrat the cover they needed to stay out of the race in one single moment on Larry King Live. He said he wasn't too concerned about who won the election between Ned and Joe. Mind you, this was post-primary, and he was pretty much the first big-name national Democrat to do so."
- Senator Edwards: "When the spotlight wore with time and more races claimed a share of the attention, there were a few people who stuck around and actually held Joe's feet to the fire on Iraq and other issues ... Senator Edwards just wasn't one of them. I'm sorry. I wish he was, but he wasn't."
- John Kerry: "One of two rock stars for the campaign. He refused to endorse Joe Lieberman in the primary. He basically made a mockery of Joe by saying he doesn't get involved in contested primaries despite campaigning for Jim Webb against Harris Miller a few days earlier."
- Wes Clark: "Another rock-star."
- Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer: "open and public discussions about Joe Lieberman remaining with the caucus and retaining seniority if re-elected really put a hamper on anything we could toss at his "experience/seniority" schtick. Tom Swan, the campaign manager who will have more on this soon, thinks the pair were two of the more destructive forces post-primary, but I don't have enough first-hand information to put out anything substantive."
DEM LEADERSHIP: Freshman Fave?
Netroots support for Rep. John Murtha (PA) over Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD) for majority leader continues to solidify and strengthen. MyDD's Jerome Armstrong even reports that his Hill Sources have Murtha "ahead by about 25 votes overall, which has come about from the standing members after Nancy Pelosi's letter." DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas explains his ambivalence about the race is due to Murtha's ethics perception problems and reports that his freshman sources suggest the in coming class "are gung-ho on Hoyer."
Rep. John Larson (CT) is the latest member to post their Murtha endorsement at The Huffington Post: "I will be voting for Jack Murtha for Majority Leader because of his outstanding leadership qualities developed in the Marines and honed during more than thirty years in the House of Representatives. I will also be voting for him because America has listened to Jack Murtha and embraced his message by electing a Democratic Congress." MyDD's Matt Stoller and Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat both voice support for Murtha on grounds that "The public voted for change in Iraq. Only Jack Murtha represents that change."
The Plank's Michael Crowley links to a list of Hoyer endorsements including: "Attentive House- watchers won't be surprised to learn that Jane Harman has also come out for Steny." On the impending choice between Harman and Rep. Alcee Hastings (FL) for chair of the Intel. Cmte. TPM Cafe's Kenneth Baer argues that after supporting ABSCAM tainted Murtha, Speaker elect Nancy Pelosi (CA) can not afford to choose "a former federal judge who was impeached by an overwhelming vote of a Democratically-controlled House and Senate for taking a $150,000 bribe." Baer adds: "The optics of backing Hastings over the eminently qualified Harman are horrendous: Democrats elected to clean up Washington, and the only senior member passed over for a chairmanship is pushed aside for an impeached judge."
Matthew Yglesias, however, wants no part of a nominee with "all the wrong friends -- AIPAC, liberal hawks like Ken Baer, Marty Peretz." But Yglesias also forwards a more substantive Harman objection: "Harman is, generally speaking, a foreign policy hawk. What's more, like all people who voted for the Iraq War, she has a problem investigating the administration's pre-war manipulation of intelligence. In short, it's hard to fully expose this story without also exposing the extent to which the pro-war Democrats on the intelligence committees botched their own oversight jobs."
In other netroots leadership thoughts, MyDD's Jonathan Singer is happy to have Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY) back at the DSCC and AMERICAblog's John Aravosis celebrates Rep. Rahm Emanuel (IL): "The guy is an asshole, to be sure. But he's our asshole. And it's about time we had one."
GOP LEADERSHIP: A Firing Offense?
The Truth Laid Bear is the resource for tracking the blogging outreach efforts of GOP leadership candidates. Rep. Mike Pence (IN)leads the league in blogger related items including audio from a 11/14 conference call, a transcript of the call, and commentary from Extreme Mortman, RedState, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Right Wing News, and Josue Sierra. Reps. Roy Blunt (MO) and John Shadegg (AZ) also have plenty of material up, but for Blunt it is not nearly as positive. The Right Angle's Robert Bluey "Fails" Blunt on his conference call reporting that Blunt "just botched question after question."
National Review Online's Jonathan Martin debunks rumors of draft-Rep. Eric Cantor (VA) movement should Blunt stumble and identifies the leaders of Blunt's campaign team including: Reps. Roger Wicker (MS), Bob Goodlatte (VA), Lamar Smith (TX), John Mica (FL), and Jerry Weller (IL).
The righty 'sphere remains uniformly behind Pence's candidacy and other pro-Pence postings include:
- National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopezpostsaudioof Pence's appearance on Laura Ingraham radio show including: "He no longer supports the "Compromise Plan' that he did over the summer."
- Townhall's Dean Barnett: "One discordant note came when Pence insisted that there's "not a dime's worth of difference" between him and the president on the war in Iraq and the war on terror. Since the president's views on the war on Iraq and especially the larger war against radical Islam have become rather opaque over the last couple of years, I don't have a clue as to what he meant by this."
- Tim Chapman: " I have posted the video of today's meeting for anyone interested. I have made no secret of my admiration of Mr. Pence on this blog. He is a straightforward conservative with a gift for communicating. As usual, he lived up to his billing today. Whether or not he wins his bid for Minority Leader, he is an invaluable asset and the sooner GOP establishment recognizes that the better."
- Townhall's Mary Katharine Ham: ""This election is a lot more like running for Senior Class President, which is a race I won," [Pence] said. Don't let that discourage you, folks. Call your Congressmen and women and tell them you are looking for a change, for new leadership, for an understanding of the message voters sent last week. They need to hear what you think."
RedState's Erick Erickson follows up his Pence conference call coverage with a hit on Rep. John Boehner for having too "cozy a relationship with the K Street community." Erickson continues: "It is very important that Republicans and Conservatives learn the right lessons from this election. Make no mistake, losing 30 seats is a bad loss. Any CEO and his entire team would be fired if his company suffered such a loss."
In the race for Conference Chair, Townhall's Dean Barnett found Rep. Dan Lungren (R) to be a star: "Articulate, smart, humorous and well-informed, Lungren dazzled." Also, Captain's Quarters backed Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN) for Minority Whip.
BAYH: The Great Red Hope?
The KY Democrat sat down with Sen. Evan Bayh (IN) including this '08 exchange:
DS: A lot of pundits were saying that if you were able to help in turning over the 3 seats in IN that it would help your potential candidacy in 2008. Any thoughts on the matter?EB: Our victories in Indiana offer a great example to the Democratic Party of how to win in Red America. Brad, Joe, and Baron were able to convince independents and moderate republicans to put their trust in the Democratic Party. These are the exact same voters that we will need if we want to keep these majorities and win the White House in 2008.ROMNEY: There Really Should Be A Law Against This Level Of Stalking
National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez continued her unabashed love-affair with MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) noting Romney's efforts to "lock up the right-wing mag vote" with an address to the American Spectator's annual dinner and linking to YouTube of "a friendly profile on the evangelical 700 Club."
GINGRICH: We Didn't Know Gingrich Was Such A Project Runway Fan
RedState's Mark R reports ex-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) stole the show at a joint Allscripts Healthcare Solutions/Center for Health Transformation new conference: "When commenting further on the current state of the GOP, he referenced Ronald Reagan's 1974 speech to CPAC after a mid-term election defeat, where he stated that we need "bold colors - not pale pastels." ... As I was listening to Newt speak, I couldn't help but think further about the possibility of a White House run in '08. ... Newt said that he is working on the issues now, but if he felt that if it was right to run for the White House, then he certainly has not ruled out the possibility of heading back to the campaign trail."
RNC: Borders On The Absurd
At The Corner, Ex-Hotliner Jonathan Martin dissects the selection of Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) as RNC chair. "The message sent ... is that the WH wants the GOP to be seen as a big-tent party. But I'm not talking about the broader message they had in mind by picking a Hispanic, I mean the inside one, directed at the party's immigration hard-liners. Remember, Martinez was a key player in engineering the Senate immigration bill earlier this year." Michelle Malkin notes Martinez's saying "I was not going to be an attack dog, and I don't intend to, and I wasn't asked to be one." Malkin: "Okay, we get it. You won't be an 'attack dog.' You'll be a roll over-and-fetch dog. Just what we need going up against Howard Dean."Iowa Voice : "When did we become a bunch of feel good, granola-munching hippies?? Grow a pair and get out there and FIGHT, dammit!'"
TPM's Kiel notes that ex-Rep. Bob Ney's (R-OH) guilty plea includes a confession that he lobbied Martinez when he was HUD sec. "Just two months after he left HUD" to run for SEN in '04, "his campaign netted $250,000 from a fundraiser co-chaired by Abramoff."
Defending the pick, Wizbang Politics' Jim Addison: "I am distressed by the vitriol from conservative bloggers at his nomination. This comes from two sources: those who believe Michael Steele should have been chosen, and those who don't like Martinez' support of comprehensive immigration reform." On the Steele front: "Steele ... is not a conservative, not a supporter of the President, and not able to convert black voters. His attractiveness is . . . what, again?" And on immigration: "How awful he supported the President's position instead of a bunch of internet ranters! Oh, by the way -- WHO appoints the RNC Chairman? Hint: it isn't you."
Back at the CornerK-Lo spoke to a Beltway conservative who "was aggravated" by the pick, but has hope in Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) heading up the NRSC. "He will run that thing, not this part time crap from Martinez, and he is brilliantly conservative, great on fiscal issues, good on immigration, life, etc."
DEM STRATEGY: Somewhere, Howard Dean Is Smiling Softly
Noting Thomas Schaller's new book, "Whistling Past Dixie," which advocates for a lasting Dem majority while ignoring the South, MyDD's Jerome Armstrong compares the notion to the 50-State Strategy: "What makes the 50 state strategy so important and strong, is that it changes the paradigm that the Republicans have created in the last 4 decades. For Democrats to try and turn the table on them, using the same method, leaves me lacking. There's no reason to denigrate the south. As Schaller writes, the Republicans make it a point that it's liberals in the northeast, not the northeast, that they are attacking (just as Bush & Rove point out that its not Democrats' patriotism that they are attacking when they make treasonist-like accusations against Democrats). ... The national Democratic Party has an historical obligation to win the battle of ideas in the south, and to opt out of that, or to run against it, would constitute a moral failure."
Big Tent Democrat, though, takes issue with Armstrong's post: "The strategy is NOT to denigrate the South, it is to NOT kowtow to it. It is to paint the GOP as extreme and unacceptable. Not to paint the South as anything. It is to use the power of negative branding against the GOP, NOT against the South. Armstrong misunderstands the difference between national branding and the 50 state strategy of devolution of power to state parties. He really muddles the entire subject. Not his best by a long shot."
Speaking of 50 states, MyDD's dreaminonempty has some very cool maps of performance by party on 11/7.
Firedoglake's Jordan Barab credits labor with pushing Dems over the "finish line." Barab hails "the return to supremacy of labor's get out the vote effort, as well as labor's influence over the outcome of the election. For the first time in the last couple of elections, labor's get-out-the-vote effort apparently bested Karl Roves GOTV," according to post-election polling.
BUSH: Where Does The Buck Stop Again?
Hotline's Chuck Todd wrote in his "On The Trail" column last week that there is "plenty of evidence to suggest" that Bush "may have been the deciding factor that killed the GOP's momentum in some key Senate races." Some righties aren't totally buying it.
Real Clear Politics' Bevan: "Todd cites the exit polls for Missouri, which do indeed show late breakers going to McCaskill, though it's impossible to say that had anything to do with Bush's visit." On MT, Todd "cites 'anecdotal evidence' to support his argument that Bush somehow stopped Burns' momentum, when in fact those very same exit polls" show the opposite. "In any case, it's impossible to say how much Bush's last-minute visits had to do with the outcome in either of these races." At The Corner, John Podhoretz agrees on the MT front. "You can't say Bush was the reason Republicans lost in Missouri and Montana ... when you use one criterion for Missouri and an entirely different criterion for Montana. In that case, you're just using whatever you can to make a point you want to make."
Meanwhile, ex-House Maj. Leader Tom DeLay does his own post-election handicapping at Red State: "this election was not so much won by the Democrats as it was lost by the Republicans. Too many Republicans failed to continue an aggressive fight for the principles which bring us together as Republicans and as conservatives."
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: A 72 DPI Is Worth A Thousand Blog Posts
DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas has "a tip for all elected officials and campaigns -- please have a media section on your site with photos for download. You'll need the hi-res photos newspapers and magazines use, as well 72 dpi ones for web use. The web ones should be no bigger than 400 px wide."
Kos continues: "Elected officials and candidates wouldn't show up to events all disheveled and looking like crap. So why don't they offer media outlets the ability to provide pictures of them looking the best possible? If you want to see how to do it, check out Jerry McNerney's press photo page. Now there's a guy who understood the value of giving media -- online and off -- the ability to present him in the best possible light. So spring for a professional photog, not some campaign intern with a digital camera. That investment will pay huge dividends."
LEST WE FORGET: The Mile-High Bandits
Outside the Beltway links to an AFPstory on a Southwest Airlines passengers Carl Persing and Dawn Sewell arrests violating the Patriot Act. AFP's story includes:
"Persing was observed nuzzling or kissing Sewell on the neck, and ... with his face pressed against Sewell's vaginal area. During these actions, Sewell was observed smiling," reads the indictment filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On a second warning from the flight attendant, Persing snapped back threatening the flight attendant with "serious consequences" if he did not leave them alone.
OTB comments: "Let's stipulate that the seats of a commercial airliner filled with other passengers is an inappropriate venue for sexual exploration. Can we nonetheless agree that this is not what the PATRIOT Act was aimed at? ... Because flight attendants theoretically have extraordinary responsibility during certain emergencies, we have anointed them with extraordinary status in response to the 9/11 attacks. The problem with that is that, on 99.99% of all flights, they are essentially cocktail waitresses. They bring passengers pillows, snacks, and collect our garbage. Let us not transform them into Texas Rangers."
Posted by Conn Carroll at November 15, 2006 12:22 PM
The Watergate · 600 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400 · fax 202-833-8069
NationalJournal.com is an Atlantic Media publication.
