12/12: The Curse, Or Blessing, Of Campaign Experience

Last year at this time, few took the WH aspirations of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) or MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R) seriously. Now both are positioned as credible alternatives to their parties' putative frontrunners, Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and John McCain (R-AZ)). There are plenty of differences between Obama and Romney, but the most glaring this week might be how their histories are helping or hurting their WH ambitions. While Obama has served 2 years in the Senate in 6 more in the IL legislature, he has never really faced a competitive election. Romney, on the other hand, has won 1 and lost 1 bitterly contested statewide race in MA, famously hostile territory for GOPers. At first glance, it might appear that Romney's experience was the better bet. But while Obama coasts on blogger critiques of his Monday Night Football promo, Romney is knee-deep in the fourth straight day of blogger haggling over past campaign statements. Perhaps Obama's relatively blank slate is his biggest asset.

ROMNEY: Romney Revelations Day 4

Reacting to more coverage of Romney's '94 statements The American Scene's Ross Douthat asks: "Is Romney Finished?" Douthat doesn't think so, but does the revelations as a blow to Romney's efforts to establish himself as a social conservative alternative to McCain: "If Romney were the establishment candidate, and social conservatives were planning to support him out of political expediency, ... then being a flip-flopper wouldn't hurt him that much, so long as he's flipping in the right direction. But he's not the front-runner - McCain is ... And if you're trying to get people excited about you, they need to actually, well, believe in you - and people don't like to believe in a flip-flopper, for pretty obvious reasons."

AmSpec Blog's James Antle outlined the same dynamic: "Romney isn't running as a candidate who is "acceptable" to social conservatives. He is trying to prove that he is a better candidate on social issues than front-runners John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani. It seems to me that social conservatives aren't asking very much when they demand that Romney's record square with a major rationale for his candidacy. His social-issues conversion story is a significant part of his attraction, so it needs to be convincing."

National Review Online's Ramesh Ponnuru later questioned if social conservatives were "doing themselves any favors" by attacking Romney's past: "Certainly Romney is going to have to offer an explanation of how his thinking has changed over the years. It may be that in some cases, it hasn't changed all that much. ... Surely [Paul] Weyrich and [Tony] Perkins don't mean to cast out anyone who has come over time to agree with them? That doesn't seem like a recipe for the success of their causes."

Responding to Ponnuru RedState's Leon Wolf digs out another 1994 Romney quote, this time distancing himself from Ronald Reagan, and writes: "The issue with me is not that Romney has changed his mind on these positions - it is not even that, for the most part ... he has diametrically changed his position with no explanation offered for the change. The problem for me is the cynicism of it all." Ponnuru offered back: "Look, guys, I'm not ruling out the possibility that Romney has made a series of entirely cynical decisions to tack first this way and then that on the social issues. I'm just saying that we don't know that to be true."

It wasn't all bad news for Romney 12/12. The Corner's Warren Bell described Romney as a "CEO-President and Reaganesque rugged-leader-in-troubled-times" after meeting him at "a reasonably small gathering at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills" 12/11.

On the left, TPM Cafe's Eric Kleefeld was moved to call James Dobson for his take on Romney's past: "Election Central has just spoken to a ministry representative for the organization who asked for anonymity, and this person told us that there will be no public statement forthcoming from either Dobson or his group regarding Romney. ... Dobson's decision to stay silent on the issue - should it last - will give Romney one less thing to worry about."

In non-Romney/'94 SEN news The Corner's Jonathan Martin reports Foundation for Florida's Future ED Mandy Fletcher will soon sign with Team Romney. Martin explains the significance of FFF: "Close followers of Gov. Bush's career will recall that the foundation was the think tank he originally set up after losing his '94 run against then-Gov. Lawton Chiles (D). The entity gave Bush a platform to speak out on policy issues in between his initial loss and successful '98 gubernatorial bid."

BROWNBACK: Spoilers Not Wanted

While hitting Romney for not being a credible social conservative alternative to McCain, The American Scene's Douthat also raises serious doubts as to Sen. Sam Brownback's (R-KS) ability to fill that role: "Whereas Brownback has, well, Darfur and . . . oh yeah, support for campaign finance reform (ouch) and comprehensive immigration reform (double ouch). Which is not going to be enough to get him past a McCain or a Giuliani, I suspect."

Ponnuru piles on: "I don't think Ross Douthat quite does justice to the argument for the negative. Douthat doesn't think that Brownback can get the nomination. If that's the case, as I believe it is, and if his support is going to come almost entirely from the social Right, which is also almost certainly correct, then it follows that the more successful he is, the less influence the social Right will have on the actual nominee, whoever he is." Ponnuru also points readers to a TNR profile on Brownback's social conservative record.

CLINTON: A Woman's Place Is In Her Pajamas

Pouring over his Visa bill after a busy '06 of online Dem campaign giving, The Huffington Post's Paul Loeb is not happy to learn that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is "sitting on a $13.5-million-dollar war chest" after spending $36 mil "on a race that she could have won staying home in her pajamas." Loeb adds: "When Bill Clinton first surfaced as a leading Presidential contender, I asked a mutual friend what he thought. "He's smart," said my friend. "He reads good books. He wants to do the right thing." Then he paused and said, "But he won't go to the mat for anything except his own political future." To me, that was Bill's core flaw ... Hillary seems to share Bill's hunger for power."

EDWARDS: A Woman's Place Is In The Blogosphere

Picking up on Political Insider reports of Elizabeth Edwardsrecent activity at Archpundit, Atrios writes: "One of the never-picked-up-on stories of the 2004 election was the fact that Elizabeth Edwards actually spent quite a bit of time hanging around blogs and online forums. I kept waiting for the fake "Elizabeth Edwards posts on a forum where some other commenter once said something bad..." controversy, which mercifully didn't happen."

KUCINICH: Extremely Amusing

The Plank's Isaac Choitner welcomes news Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) entrance into the WH race: "I've always thought of Kucinich as the Democrats' Gary Bauer: diminutive, ideological, and extremely amusing.

OBAMA: What Would Mahmoud Wear?

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall takes issue with CNN's Jeff Greenfieldfor comparing Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) no tie dress to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's style: "But if Barack Obama goes around wearing a jacket, collared shirt and no tie, do I figure he's trying to look like a happening dude from a GQ spread (maybe, ok, check), trying to appeal to the youth vote (sure, check), looks like your average tech executive (sure), just likes to dress that way (sounds right)? Do I think he reminds me Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Wow. I've got to say I really didn't see that coming. ... I'm not saying I'm outraged exactly. It's more like curiosity. Kind of like I want to sit down with Jeff and a few Rorschach cards. Bizarre."

The Plank's Jason Zengerle was underwhelmed by news Obama landed the intro segment for Monday Night Football: "This might have been cool, oh, 25 years ago--when Monday Night Football was actually a major event. But these days, the game's an afterthought: its broadcast is relegated to basic cable and its "celebrity" guests tend to be C-list types like Brian Bosworth and Christian Slater. C'mon Obama, your last media stunt was so perfect. But Monday Night Football? What's next? A walk-on cameo on Desperate Housewives?"

EMANUEL: Things Nancy Would Never Do For $100, Alex

Glenn Greenwald's argument that Rep. Rahm Emanuel's (D-IL) Foley-scandal-related-behaviour falls below "minimal ethical standards" Dems must maintain "if they are to avoid becoming indistinguishable from the rotted and corrupt GOP tyrant" continues to draw left and right blogger attention. MyDD's Matt Stoller writes:

One of the main arguments that progressives must make to a cynical electorate is that both parties are not the same, that Democrats hold ourselves to high ethical standards and can be trusted to run the country. It's much harder to make this argument when people like Emanuel are highly regarded figures with esteem and power within the Democratic Party even as they cynically lie to a national audience. ... the level of cynicism and credibility that Democrats deserve from the electorate will ultimately relate to the level of integrity and honesty with which we conduct ourselves. And in that sense, Rahm is a problem.

Firedoglake's Pachacutec calls Emanuel "Unfit for Leadership" in a post where he describes the "inside machine illegality and thuggery brought to bear to get Emanuel into his congressional seat in the first place." Pachacutec adds: "Rahm Emanuel does not belong in a leadership position in the House. Voters cited corruption as their top issue in this election, along with Iraq. Democrats need to be better than Republicans to sustain any governing majority, and more importantly, to change the direction of our country. If Rahm Emanuel won't resign his leadership position, Speaker Elect Pelosi, then he should be removed."

Townhall's Dean Barnett links to a post he made immediately after Emanuel's This Week and explains his method for predicting that Emanuel was lying: "I have a two-pronged test that helps me determine when a former Clinton apparatchik is lying. First, I look to see if his or her lips are moving. If they are, then I know something might well be afoot. Then I listen to hear if they're evading direct questions by answering unasked question as opposed to talking like normal people with nothing to hide. When the former is the case (as it usually is), you can be pretty sure they're lying."

MN SEN: Because He's Good Enough, And Strong Enough, And Doggonit It, People Like Him

Linking to a Roll Callstory on the possibility of a ex-SNL cast member Al Franken challenging Sen. Norm Coleman (R) in '08 MyDD's Jonathan Singer says he is "less pessimistic about Franken's chances than many." Singer adds: "Franken would come in with relatively high name recognition, which carries positives and negatives though might not be as detrimental as some politics watchers think. True, Franken does have a long record from which opposition researchers could pull potentially damaging quotes. Still, alternative weekly publisher John Yarmuth did, too, but that did not stop him from defeating incumbent GOP Rep. Ann Northup in Kentucky this fall."

MS SEN: Scared Into Retirement?

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas picks up on Blue Sun Belt thoughts on Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) delayed decision to seek reelection and writes: "The worst that could happen would be for the top-tier Democrats to sit around and wait for Cochran to make his decision. If we get Mike Moore early, raising money, and looking as though he'd give Cochran a run for his money, it might push him more toward retirement. ... So let's be aggressive in Mississippi. Let's see how hungry Cochran is to remain in a Senate minority with little chance of reversal in 2008."

BLOGGERS VS. MSM: The Blogometer Is Not Related To John

Lefty bloggers are swarming over a WBGH "Beat The Press" segment by Boston University Assistant Professor John Carroll that errantly reports MyDD founder Jerome Armstrong is actually the person behind online pseudonyms Matt Stoller, Chris Bowers, and Scott Shields. TAPPED's Tom Schaller writes: "As anyone who actually spends time in the blogosphere -- you know, instead of cruising through for a drive-by "expose" chock full of high dudgeon but skimpy on reportage -- knows, all three men actually exist. A one-minute Google search would have turned up any number of photos of them." Schaller later updates: "Carroll has emailed me to say that he believes the program will address the problem of last Friday's episode, both on-air and on the blog."

Others on the left were not as kind. DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas takes the opportunity to label the whole "Beat the Press" panel "losers" and demands accountability: "Who is going to be held "accountable" for messing up this blogger story so bad? Is John Carroll going to be fired? Docked a month's pay? Flogged in public? How, exactly, will he and his little band of yes-men and women be held accountable for what is essentially a slanderous piece?" Atrios adds: "Whenever journalists scoff at the undifferentiated mass that is "the bloggers" they inevitably bring up the issue of "accountability" or, more specifically, the lack of it. ... In any case, I doubt John Carroll is going to resign in shame from his media and faculty gigs, so I suppose there's no accountability in his world either. Whatever that means."

BLOGGERS VS. MSM II: Solomon The Biased?

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall reports that "GOP oppo research push-over" John Solomon is moving from the AP to the Washington Post. Marshall quips: "Apparently they're going to set him up with his own investigative unit. Presumably in addition to the one he has at the RNC." TPMmuckraker rounds up the lefty blogger caseagainst Solomon.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Maybe The Boy Was Known To Have Bad Aim?

The Agitator begs readers to "have a look at this photo." The caption reads: "A member of the Durham Police Department Selective Enforcement Team escorts a child to use the bathroom after serving a search warrant at a suspected drug house." The Agitator writes: "Believe it or not, there was a time when people would have doubted a picture like this could have been taken in America. No one would believe it -- probably some third-world despot or Eastern European dictatorship. In fact, it was taken in Durham, North Carolina by a college photojournalist, and recently won in the "Spot News" category of the College Photographer of the Year competition."

LEST WE FORGET: A Spirted Debate Indeed

Lefty bloggers and Keith Olbermann are all pointing fans to tomdelay.com, a tribute site to the 75-minute period that Tom Delay.com hosted an unedited comment section. Reprintable comments for this family publication include:

• What a magnificently, terrifically boring and irrelevant blog. Honestly, who on earth cares what you have to say?
• The fact that you are trying to keep your name alive by starting a stupid blog is actually kind of pathetic and sad. Please just go away.
• Tom, you corrupted the conservative cause and brought disgrace to our party. We can never forgive you for that. Please crawl back into your hole.

Suburban Guerilla finds some surviving comments just as funny as those deleted: "I am a liberal left-y, and I am delighted to have your voice contributing to the debate. While I'm guessing we'll rarely agree, I welcome the spirited debate to come as we all work to the common goal of all Americans (not just conservative Americans): a better tomorrow for America."

LEST WE FORGET II: Shameless Promotion

Be sure to catch the latest episode of HotlineTV featuring discussion on blogger favorites for '08. Also feel free to drop by YouTube to leave your comments on the segment.