January 19, 2007

1/19: A Twofer

As a general rule, the Blogometer does not report what each side says about the other's primary candidates, but we do track who they are attacking as a general measure of whom each side truly fears in the general. By far, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) receives the most negative lefty attention and that's on full display 1/18 as MyDD updates their readers on Day 6 of their anti-McCain Googlebomb efforts. The right has long targeted Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) going back to her WH days. But negative posts on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) are rapidly rising. Kudos to Insight magazine, therefore, for coming out with an article that both hits Obama for attending a Madrassa in Indonesia as a child and then blaming Team Clinton for raising the issue.

DEMS: A Gutsy New Direction

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) opened her post-100 hour Huffington Post entry with a quote from Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ): "Bully for the Democrats. ... They did what we didn't have the guts to do when it matters." Pelosi explained: "That is what one of my Republican colleagues had to say about the first act of the Democratic majority, clamping down on corruption, lobbying, and earmarks. His sentiment was echoed in editorial pages across the country, along with many Republicans and millions of Americans, who are fully awakening to the optimism and possibility of a new direction in our government."

The netroots were full of praise for the speaker, including DailyKos' Mcjoan, "To recap the first 100 hours, in addition to today's action the House passed bills to Implement the 9/11 Commission recommendations, increase the minimum wage, expand stem cell research, lower prescription drug costs, and cut student loan interest rates. Speaker Pelosi, take a bow," and AMERICAblog's Joe in DC, "The House Democrats finished the First 100 Hours agenda in just over 40 hours. Nice work. They did more for the American people in a matter of hours then the GOP did in 12 years. Elections matter. A lot."

GOP: Thank Blog For Small Victories

Righty bloggers were not left out of the victory circle 1/18. Townhall's Matt Lewis urged readers to call their Senators to protest sec. 220 of the ethics bill which American Center for Law and Justice Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow described as "[s]o draconian ... that it would actually impose registration and reporting requirements on churches and other nonprofit organizations." The Right Angle's Amanda Carpenter reports Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC) told bloggers in a conference call that the section "would make just about everyone a lobbyist, including people who wrote their senators a couple of times. The penalties would be enormous, $100,000 fine and 10 years in prison, and that could affect bloggers urging people to call their congressman."

Instapundit, however, linked to the doubts of UCLA law professor Stephen Bainbridge including: "Section 220 probably was a bad idea and the effort to remove it from the bill is probably a good idea, but treating Section 220 as a "measure to silence any critics of the government, like us and other bloggers," undermines the blogosphere's credibility when it comes to real efforts to do so." RedState's Brad Smith responded to similar arguments: "The bottom line really is this: should any citizen have to register with the U.S. government before communicating with other citizens about public issues, and then report to the government about their activities?"

When section 220 was finally stripped from the bill, RedState's Erick Erickson described the effort as "a victory for the grassroots."

No one on the right, however, was happy with WaPo coverage of the bill's passage. Redstate's Erickson called Jonathan Weisman's article "obnoxiously partisan" for buying into Dem talking points that the legislation was "bipartisan" but was being held up by GOP demands for a vote on "an unrelated measure." Power Line's Paul Mirengoff sasy the story "might as well have been written by Harry Reid's staff."

CLINTON: Experts Love Hillary

TPMCafe's Eric Kleefeld reports "expert on government" Professor Stephen Wayne of Georgetown thinks Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) "Iraq Proposal Is Good Politics." Wayne explains: ""I think in the short run, there isn't a whole lot Congress can do ... You can do position taking, which they're doing now. You can force some of the Republicans to go on the record, as they're doing now."

Further toward the center, Andrew Sullivan continued to signal his openness to supporting an HRC picking up on the New York Timesquoting HRC: "I am cursed with the responsibility gene." Sullivan riffs: "I've followed Senator Clinton's positions on the war these past few years and since they've pretty closely tracked my own, I'm not going to attack her for caution and prudence. ... Americans often pick a president repairing the glaring flaw in the last one. The most powerful theme of Bush's presidency has been wanton irresponsibility ... If Hillary frames herself as the school-marm disciplinarian, she'll find an opening. It's also an image more suited to her actual personality than anything resembling charisma."

EDWARDS: Trying A Little Too Hard

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas issued a warning to overzealous John Edwards supporters 1/18. Admitting "there will always be a number of people who aren't happy that I don't worship at the altar of their favorite candidate" kos bemoans "every election there's a crew that screams about biases and the like."

Kos continues: "In 2008, the prize for "most annoying" is a close race between the "Talk about Gore running even though he's said he's not running!" crowd and the "Why is everyone always dumping on John Edwards?" crew." Kos admonishes: "those people aren't doing their candidates any favors. Being obnoxious, whiny, and wearing tin foil hats don't reflect well on the object of their adoration. ... Really, all the whining does neither you, nor your favorite guy any favors. It does the opposite -- it turns people off from your guy."

OBAMA: Narcissists Named Barry For A Hundred Alex

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas may not have a favorite WH '08er yet, but he is a fan of Sen. "Barry" Obama's (D-IL) high school senior page. Kos comments: "Nice 'do. (Really.)"

In less laudatory netroots Obama related musings, Firedoglake's Swopa is less than pleased with the observation that Obama's 1/16 video announcement did not include the word "Democrat" once. Swopa writes: "Ummmm which party's nomination for the White House is he hoping to win? I think someone's been spending too much time with Joe Lieberman and Bob Kerrey ... learning how to campaign for the not-so-coveted narcissist-American vote." Also, Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat reiterates his doubts as to whether Obama can influence the withdrawal "phased or immediate" of troops from Iraq.

The Plank's Jason Zengrle picks up on righty efforts to "shamelessly smear Barack Obama and then blame the smearing on Hillary Clinton" noting an Insight article linked from the Corner asking: "Are the American people ready for an elected president who was educated in a Madrassa as a young boy and has not been forthcoming about his Muslim heritage?"

Zengrle expands: "The attribution on all this is broad enough ("political opponents within the Democratic Party"; "researchers connected to Senator Clinton") that I suppose this information about Obama could have originated with people in Clinton's orbit. But let's not forget where this information appeared. And let's be on the lookout for who goes on the cable shows and wonders whether "Barrack Hussein Obama" is "The Manchurian Madrassa Candidate." Something tells me it isn't going to be Hillary, or any liberal for that matter."

Also more towards the center, Andrew Sullivan asks "Does he have a James Frey problem?" and links to a Blotter post quoting a '04 Lynn Sweet column titled "Obama's Book: What's Real, What's Not." Sweet wrote: "I was dismayed ... at what I found when I read Dreams from My Father. Composite characters. Changed names...Except for public figures and his family, it is impossible to know who is real and who is not."

Finally Right Wing News posts PTI video of ex-Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints head coach Mike Ditka on Obama.

HUNTER: Terri Schiavo II

Right Wing News posts a Duncan Hunter press release announcing the introduction of legislation pardoning two CBP agents for convictions "deriv[ing] from an incident involving their efforts to apprehend a drug smuggler on the international border with Mexico."

RWN comments: "Wow. Can they do this? ... You could also certainly make a case against this bill along Terri Schiavo lines, "Right, wrong, whatever, Congress shouldn't be involved." Of course, I was for intervening in the Terri Schiavo case and I'm for intervening in this case, too."

MCCAIN: Googlebomb Target Number One

Christian Broadcasting Network's Brody File reports John McCain "just scored some brownie points" in his effort to win Evangelicals for the GOP nomination. BF explains: "In a major reversal, he came down on the side of conservative grassroots groups like Focus on the Family when he said he would support an amendment to the Senate Ethics bill that strips out language unfavorable to these groups. ... In the last Congress, McCain supported this type of language. Not now. He needs James Dobson and his millions of listeners. This would seem to indicated a step in the "right" direction for a guy who plays down the middle pretty well."

On the left, Chris Bowers updates MyDD readers on progress six days into his anti-McCain Googlebomb campaign: "The targeted article from CBS News, John McCain, is now 11th on Google searches for John McCain. Six days ago it was not in the top 100."

ROMNEY: Gentle Mitt

The Brody File tells Christian Broadcasting Network readers Mitt Romney is the "buzz" candidate after talking to "in the know staffers who are handling 2008 Presidential candidates." Brody reports: "They point out how he's at ease when he talks, gentle on the eyes, has a great staff working for him and is already seems very presidential in the way he acts and talks. And this talk is coming from rival campaigns!"

RNC: It's 80 Degrees in Miami Today

The Right Angle's John Gizzi looks at the competing efforts of MI RNC member Chuck Yob and MA RNC member Ron Kaufman on behalf of their chosen WH '08 candidates during the RNC winter meetings (Yob for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Kaufman for ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R)). Gizzi also reports that ex-MD LG Michael Steele is still undecided in the race despite "severe doubts about McCain's campaign-finance legislation that limited the amount and shape of money in national campaigns and in the national Republican Party."

In RNC chair election news, Gizzi reports NC state chair Linda Daves will not be voting for Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) and quotes another undecided member: "I want a full-time senator from my state and devoting time to the chairmanship means you don't have a full-time senator. Besides, as a senator, Mel Martinez can already go on the Sunday talk shows without having to be party chairman as well."

Not at the meeting, Townhall's Hugh Hewitt offers: "I think Senator Mel Martinez will be a fine RNC chair, but an inspired choice would have been Newt."

HOUSE '06: PACless GOP?

James at Swing State Project continues his analysis of '06 House spending this time looking at "the 22 races where a Democratic challenger beat a Republican incumbent." SSP notes: "total expenditures from all sources gave the Republicans a nearly $20 million edge ($89M to $69M) in these 21 districts. Also note how the mediocre fundraising of former New Hampshire Reps. Bass ($1.2M) and Bradley ($0.86M) foreshadowed their surprise defeats last November. Another interesting fact: in this top tier of House races, Republican-allied PACs were almost nowhere to be found--in fact, if it weren't for the $1 million spent by the National Association of Realtors PAC in support of Anne Northup (KY-03), Democrats would've enjoyed a 7-to-1 non-party IE advantage in these districts. Instead, they settled for 7-to-2."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Myth Busted

Blog P.I. follows up on the purported suicide of the American Airlines agent that checked in Mohammed Atta on 9/11. The Oprah Winfrey Show assertion by US Airways employee Michael Tuohey that the suicide happened had been the, basis for an '06 dust up between lefty Brendan Nyhan and Atrios.

Blog P.I. didn't buy the story from the beginning and scoured Nexis looking for confirmation but all signs pointed back to the Tuohey Oprah appearance. Blog P.I. admitted his absence of evidence was not strong evidence Tuohey made the story up, but on 1/18 an American Airlines spokesman emailed Blog PI after stumbling across the blog and wrote in: " Because of privacy policies, I can't give you a ton of information. However, I can tell you that the American Airlines agent who checked in Mohammed Atta is alive."

Blog P.I. concludes: "Despite his first writing that Tuohey "fabricated the rumor" as mentioned above, he doesn't know what Tuohey's motivations were for telling this story about Atta's alleged suicidal ticket agent. One would have to ask Tuohey. ... So, I still don't know whether to properly categorize this as "urban legend, hoax or mistake," but now I do know it is one of the above."

LEST WE FORGET: Everyone's A Comedian

Emptying his inbox of the usual "less than complimentary" emails all popular bloggers receive, Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal copies a publication we know and love:

A shot ...

Who are you polling? The bush family. If you are, you aren't asking George W because that idiot would not have a clue how to respond. Maybe you are polling retarded people like yourself, or those in mental institutions, like your inbred family, who can't respond on their own. -- Charming email from a "reader," January 12, 2007

And a chaser...

If you were to take it and put me in an opinion poll and said do I approve of Iraq, I'd be one of those that said, no, I don't approve of what's taking place in Iraq. -- President George W. Bush, The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, January 16, 2007

Posted by Conn Carroll at January 19, 2007 12:12 PM