November 07, 2006

11/7: Mission Accomplished?

The diffuse nature of the netroots makes it more difficult to determine whether their influence is primarily responsible for pushing a story into the MSM (it's somewhat easier to tell when a Drudge flash has set the agenda). But it seems as though the netroots made significant progress 11/6 getting NRCC robo-calling stories covered nationally. CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Washington Post, and Keith Olbermann all ran items on the story, although lefty bloggers were not pleased with each outlet's coverage.

Plus, what's this second-hand rumor about Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) saying he might pull a post-election Jeffords?

CT SEN: Mmmmmmmmmm, Kool Aid Tastes Good

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas offers his final cable exec Ned Lamont (D) prediction: "And what about Connecticut? I'll probably live to regret it, but I've bought the hype of Lamont's ground operation and excitement. And I'm convinced that pollsters have no idea how to poll a three-way race with the dynamics we're seeing in Connecticut. So I'm going to go with Lamont by the thinnest of margins over Lieberman -- 43.1-42.9, with Schlesinger picking up 14 percent of the vote."

MD SEN: We Must've Missed That Mfume Endorsement

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas posts images of a flyer claiming to be paid for by the LG Michael Steele (R) campaign titled: "Ehrlich Steele Democrats." The front of the flyer features photos of African-Americans Wayne Curry, Kweisi Mfume, and Jack Johnson. Kos writes: "Did you know that those guys -- Mfume, Curry, and Johnson all endorsed Michael Steele? Well, except that they didn't." [Ed. note: Wayne Curry did endorse Steele.] Kos concludes: "These guys can't win honestly, so they're trying to lie and confuse their way through the election."

NJ SEN: They're Not Even Immigrants Any More

Blue Jersey has audio of robocalls for state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R), including: "Now he wants us to give your Social Security benefits to illegal migrants. New Jersey seniors deserve far better than having your money go to those who broke the law. You can stop the Menendez plan to give your money to illegal migrants by voting for Tom Kean."

RI SEN: Heck'uv A Job, Liddy!

The Plank's Franklin Foer passes along this nugget: "I have a friend in Rhode Island -- a Democrat torn between his affections for Lincoln Chafee and his desire to make Harry Reid majority leader. Over the weekend, my friend attended a Chafee event and cornered the senator. Now, my friend doesn't have a personal relationship with Chafee, but he put the question bluntly to him: Why should I stick with you in a race with so many national implications? Chafee pulled my friend aside, lowered his voice, and told him that he might not be a Republican for much longer."

VA SEN: Tripping Over Immigrants While Running Away From Terrorists On The Way To The Poorhouse

Ex-Navy Sec. James Webb's (D) Netroots Coordinator and Raising Kaine founder Lowell Feld posts video of ex-Pres. Bill Clinton's "riff" from 11/6's Alexandria, VA rally including Clinton imitating a GOPer:

'OK, we really messed up. I mean, this Iraq deal didn't work out too good and now we put Afghanistan at risk. And we probably shouldn't have put that horse show association guy in charge of FEMA. ... Yeah, we've got a lot of problems but you've still got to vote for us. 'Cuz my opponent is a slug. And they're going to tax you into the poorhouse. On the way to the poorhouse you'll meet a terrorist on every street corner. And when you try to run away from that terrorist you're going to trip over an illegal immigrant. You can't vote for 'em. I mean, is that it?'

RCP Blog's Jay Cost offers a Sen. George Allen (R) pre-mortem from "John in Danville" arguing Allen should have spent the campaign "on a tropical island." John writes: "While Webb literally did nothing on the campaign front (except for the occasional fundraiser or small "kitchen" event), Allen wasted 1.5 million dollars, alienated the press corps and made a gigantic verbal gaffe."

Back on the left, DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas shares audio form the Webb campaign showing voter suppression in Clarendon, VA. Kos reader Tim Daly received a call 11/6 with this message: "This message is for Timothy Daly. This is the Virginia Elections Commission. We've determined you are registered in New York to vote. Therefore, you will not be allowed to cast your vote on Tuesday. If you do show up, you will be charged criminally."

BLOGGERS VS. MSM: Maybe If The Calls Included A Botched Joke They's Get More Coverage

Talking Points Memo continued to lead left blogger coverage of NRCC robocalling 11/6. However, the main target of lefty ire focussed in on the MSM for not covering the story more, not the NRCC. Josh Marshall writes: "CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and Fox are each ignoring the GOP's nationwide campaign of false-flag robocalls meant to harass voters and fool them into thinking the calls come from Democrats. If it were Dem on GOP, if it were on Drudge, the cable nets would be on it wall-to-wall. As it is, they're content to ignore it."

Marshall then went on to track MSM coverage of the story throughout the day including CNN, ABC News, New York Times, Washington Post, and, of course, Keith Olbermann. Marshall also reports: "Seems a couple of the major dailies (the Los Angeles Times being one of them, I'm told) were priming to write up the robocall story then got cold feet. Maybe they'll run a considered analysis in a week, when the election is in the history books."

Even when the story did get covered, lefty bloggers often did not like the results. The Washington Monthly's Paul Glastris recaps 11/6 Diane Rehm Show coverage of the robocall story and comments: "I agree with Josh and Kevin and Atrios about the pathetic unwillingness of the mainstream press to cover the onslaught of abusive GOP robocalls and push polls as the big story that it is. But it's actually worse than that. Reporters aren't just loath to bring the subject up. They're actively dodging the subject when someone else brings it up."

Back at TPM, Marshall anticipates GOP defense of robocalling: "Everybody does it. Everybody does robocalls. Another lie. ... Both parties deliver millions of robocalls during election season. ... Only one party has a nationwide campaign to deliver millions of intentionally-harassing calls disguised to appear that they're from the opposite party. That party is the Republican party. And the calls are funded by the NRCC -- the House GOP election committee. It's the party of election subversion. Deal with it."

Indeed, righties did reach for the everybody-does-it defense:

• Michelle Malkin: "Democrats use them too. The firefighters union in Montana ignored state law and placed robo calls attacking GOP Sen. incumbent Conrad Burns. ... By the way, when GOP moderate Chris Shays pointed out deceptive robo calls, liberal critics ridiculed him for complaining about trivialities and mocked him for resorting to desperate diversions. ... These are only going to backfire, especially the deceptive ones. Tell the genius political strategists on both sides: Just. Knock. It. Off."
• Outside the Beltway: "I'm not sure, though, that it's any more despicable than myriad other "dirty tricks" that have been around for years, such as push polling. Or intentionally dishonest negative ads distorting people's voting records, positions on the issues, relationships with controversial groups, and so forth. ... One would prefer, certainly, that elections be about an honest comparison of the candidate's stances on the issues, their experience, and the like. Sadly, close elections seldom seem to be run that way. And most elections are close these days."

BLOGGERS VS. BELTWAY: Round Up

MyDD's Matt Stoller agrees with firedoglake's Jane Hamsher that "very clearly that NARAL needs to be de-funded." Stoller continues: "The leadership is corrupt and dishonest, and is simply no longer protecting women's rights. Every NARAL member I have spoken with is either outraged or unaware that they have endorsed Lieberman. If they knew that NARAL is also lying about Lamont, I think they would be more than outraged."

TPM Cafe's Greg Sargent has a "A Roundup Of 9/11 Exploitation By The GOP And Its Allies" and Andrew Sullivan links to sites where readers can track three "Anti-Gay Initiatives" in VA, CO, and AZ.

BLOGGERS VS. BELTWAY II: First, Blame All The Lawyers

Loyola Law School Los Angeles prof. Rick Hasen at Election Law lowers the "Election Litigation Threat Level" to orange, 11/6 rejecting suggestions that the biggest obstacle to knowing who will control Congress 11/7 will be lawyers: "In jurisdictions where many absentee votes have been cast (I just heard a report, which I have not verified, that up to 80% of Maryland voters are voting by absentee), it could take up to a few days for the ballots to be processed and a winner announced if the election is close."

Hasen does suggest that litigation is still possible in some battle grounds: "How likely is it that litigation would cause a delay in knowing which party controls the House or Senate, a sort of mini-Florida Debacle II? I would say that the chances are fairly small. Here's what would need to happen: control of the Senate or House would have to turn on the results of a single seat or a handful of seats, and those elections would have to be either (1) too close to call because the absolute margin of votes is very close (in the hundreds or low thousands) or (2) in dispute because of widespread problems or irregularities at the polls (such as a massive failure of equipment, shortage of ballots, etc.). I've predicted that the Missouri Senate race is the most likely site for such problems."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Nice Work, If You Can Get It

Following up on Beltway Blogroll reporting on campaign hiring of bloggers/advisers, Blog P.I. wanted to know: "Who is the best-paid campaign blogger? Which campaign spent the most? What would these bloggers make if prorated to a yearly salary?" His findings include the following top-five blogger/advisor prorated campaign salaries.

• Peter Daou, $60,000, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
• Michael Brodkorb, $55,200, Rep. Mark Kennedy (R-MN)
• Mindy Finn, $52,800, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
• Luke Bernstein, $51,600, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
• Laura Packard, $44,400, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

LEST WE FORGET: Vampires Vote Democrat, Zombies Vote Republican

The Huffington Post's Joshuah Bearman links to an Amazon Bookstore item noting 'Zombie Arts' zeniths now (28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, Shaun of the Dead, and Land of the Dead) and in the mid-80's (Day of the Dead, Re-Animator, The Return of the Living Dead, and The Evil Dead 2. Amazon writes: "You may have noticed that these two great zombie eras coincide with consecutive terms of Republican presidents..." Bearman responds:

In the spirit of non-partisanship, Amazon Bookstore's Jon adds that he also has a theory about Democratic administrations coinciding with vampire stories. But Jon's analysis forgets a third data point on the zombie graph helps his theory -- 1968: the simultaneous dawn of Nixon and Romero's Living Dead. Think about it, people.

Posted by Conn Carroll at November 7, 2006 03:52 PM