1/25: Flexing Their Muscle?

Pressed on their relevance, conservative bloggers are to point to their roles in Rathergate and the Swift Boating/Kerry-in-Cambodia-on-Christmas stories to demonstrate their impact on elections. More recently though, the conservative blogging community looked substantially weaker when almost all of their chosen candidates in GOP cong. leadership elections lost. Now, led by Hugh Hewitt, many on the right are joining a new campaign to influence GOP senators to oppose anti-surge legislation. They already are claiming Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) as a recent convert. How many will follow?

GOP FIELD: Embracing The Suck

In a post The Corner's John Podhoretz calls "Right-Wing Crack-Up, Sign 8,437" RedState's Erick Erickson writes about the entire GOP field: "They all suck. Let's just admit it."

Erickson continues: "From the lecherous adulterer to the egomaniacal nut job to the flip-flopping opportunist with the perfect hair to the guy who hates brown people to the guy we've never heard of to the guy who has a better chance of getting hit by a meteor while being consumed by a blue whale being struck by lightening. They all suck. (Well, okay, Brownback doesn't suck at all, but I perceive no viability for his candidacy.)

BROWNBACK: Everybody's Got A Past

Responding to Sam Brownback's recent questioning of ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney's past positions on abortion Townhall's Matt Lewis suggests that Brownback might not always have "been 100 percent solid on the Life issue" and goes on to cite a New Republicarticle on suggesting "Brownback co-opted his conservative opponents' pro-Life stance, in order to win his the Congressional primary in '94."

Christian Broadcasting Network's The Brody File posts video of Brownback addressing his pro-life position in the '94 race.

GINGRICH: Can Wonkdom Go Mainstream?

Intrigued by Fortune's Newt GingrichprofileDaniel Drezner explains: "He's far more complex and interesting a thinker than the nineties stereotype of him suggested." Drezner is not, however, optimistic about Gingrich's chances: "However, I can't shake the feeling that because I'm so interested in a Gingrich, he's doomed to fail. Can someone who scores well in the blogger wonk demographic really develop mainstream appeal?"

GIULIANI: Conservative Enough For Some

Power Line's Scott Johnson thanks City Journal for their Rudy Giulianiprofile arguing that the ex-NY mayor is an electable conservative in the GOP field. Captain's Quarters picks up on the same piece and touts Giuliani as having "the most consistent public record of accomplishment." CQ adds: "Given his history of turnaround in New York, his executive experience outweighs anything offered by Mitt Romney and especially John McCain."

Addressing concerns about Giuliani's social conservative credentials CQ concludes: "Those positions rightly make conservatives worry about what a President Giuliani would do once in office. However, he has also consistently spoken against judicial activism, and as a former federal prosecutor, knows first-hand the damage it does."

IA's Caucus Cooler is now "quite confident" that Jim Nussle political director Andrew Dorr "will in fact head-up Rudy's fledgling Iowa organization."

MCCAIN: Eyes Wide Open

Screen shots of John McCain looking as though he had fallen sleep during the SOTU were widely discussed in righty circles. The Corner's John Podhoretz admits "This Is Not Good for McCain" and Right Wing News asks "Is he really still energetic enough to handle a job as important and demanding as the Presidency?"

No fan of McCain, RedState's Erick Erickson, quickly sought to "Kill This Urban Legend In The Crib" writing: "this whole 'he fell asleep at the SOTU is garbage."

ROMNEY: Live, From Israel ...

RedState's streiff gives Mitt Romney's Five Step Plan of Action to Prevent a Nuclear Iran a 'C' writing: "How many times is Israel mentioned this proposal? How much sense do you think it makes to advertise that you are getting your ideas on sanctions from a meeting in Israel and that you want Arab states to make peace with Israel to prevent Iran from getting nukes?" Streiff also lists all of Romney's foreign policy advisors including: Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, ret.-Gen. Barry McCaffrey, ret.-Gen. Anthony Zinni, Amb. Paul Bremer, and ex-SoS Henry Kissinger.

Dem Field: Maybe Why Kerry And Gore Aren't Running

Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal uses recent CNN survey data to debunk suggestions "a larger number of Democrats" would prefer an "anybody-but-[Hillary] Clinton" WH '08 candidate: "Notice that Clinton is the second choice of roughly a third of those who initially support [John] Kerry, [Al] Gore, [Barack] Obama and [John] Edwards. So, for the moment, should other candidates drop out, her share of the vote will increase. ... The CNN survey also includes some questions that test the "anybody but" theories directly. When asked about Clinton, 75% would like to see her run, 23% would not. The "anybody but" sentiment looks to be more pronounced for Kerry (51% would not like him to run) and Gore (40% would not)."

Dem Field II: Whistling Past Gary

CaliticsBrian Leubitz implores Dem WH '08ers "to stay away from [Gary] South" since CA voters are "sick of his apparent disdain for the base of the Democratic party." Leubitz does not want "to make idle threats" but warns "there is no surer way to writing off the support of the netroots in California than hiring Garry South."

CLINTON: An Online Also-Ran

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas wants to make sure the world knows Hillary Clinton campaign aide suggestions in the Wall Street Journal that she has won "the Netroots Primary" are completely unfounded. Kos links to a 1/17 Daily Kos straw poll showing Clinton running 5th with only 4% of the vote and writes: "Daily Kos isn't the entire netroots, and sure, it's still early. ... But Clinton isn't by any stretch of the imagination scoring the early points online. In this world, she's an also-ran."

At MyDDMatt Stoller also hits Clinton, this time for telling the New York Times: "We know that we're not likely to stop this escalation. But we are going to do everything we can to send a message to our government and the Iraqi government that they had better change, because the enemy we are confronting is adaptable." Stoller calls the position "pathetic" and writes: "Progressives know she hasn't dealt with Iraq, and will cripple the Democratic Party badly as Iraq gets worse in 2007 and 2008."

Clinton blog advisor Peter Daou tells Blog P.I. their initial blog ad buy "was for the webcasts" while their "second round" buy "was for inviting supporters and potential supporters to submit guest blog posts." BPI reports: "According to Daou, future buys will focus on particular issues Sen. Clinton wants to highlight, and in states and regions where she will be traveling." Blog PI also details other lefty bloggers who were not included in HRC's original buy, but now all feature HRC ads.

EDWARDS: He Was For Bombing Iran Before He Was Against It

John Edwards is taking netroots heat for telling a conference in Herzliya, Israel "ALL options must remain on the table" when confronting Iran on their nuclear program. MyDD's Matt Stoller satirically titles his post "John Edwards in 2011: "I'm Sorry for My Vote on Iran" and writes: "The issue for John Edwards has always been credibility. Why should we trust a man who sold us out on the war vote? His answer is that he's changed. But has he? It's hard to say. I mean it's a really bad idea to pretend like attacking Iran is a viable option. It's not. It's a horrible, horrible idea, and it's what we shouldn't let Edwards get away with."

Matthew Yglesias also questions Edwards sincerity: "It's not quite as bad a talk as I was initially led to believe. That said, with the United States and Israel drifting in the direction of a disastrous Iran policy Edwards is rather clearly choosing not to push against the drift. How much of this is political expediency and how much is convictions?

WEBB: A Proud People Person

Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) SOTU response continued to draw significant netroots attention. TAPPED's Mike Tomasky suggests Webb would make a great Dem VP choice. The Huffington Post's Al Eisle argues the top of the ticket would be an even better spot for Webb, and MyDD's Matt Stoller claims Webb's two central themes "inequality and Iraq" could make '08 "the reverse Reagan for us" ushering in a new progressive era.

As far as the VP nod goes, The Plank's Jason Zengerle sees Webb's appeal as "a proud Scots-Irish white guy" broadening a Dem ticket's appeal under Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, but argues Webb's populism would better fit on an John Edwards campaign.

TAPPED's Ezra Klein begs to differ arguing Webb's "evident sense of conviction, damn-the-torpedoes plain-spokenness, clear beliefs about the state of the world, willingness to state unpopular political truths, etc -- make him almost uniquely unsuitable for the second-banana slot." Specifically Klein claims Webb "deep ideas about economic fairness that veer far more towards protectionism than any major Democrat is comfortable with, and that includes Edwards, who occasionally flirts with the rhetoric without substantively embracing the policy platform."

Finally, in a "memo to the media" DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas reminds the MSM it was "bloggers like Daily Kos, Raising Kaine" that "dragged [Webb} into the race." Kos continues: "Jim Webb is a people-powered candidate. He's one of ours. He's not a product of the political or media establishments, but of the people. It's something of which Webb himself is quite proud."

IRAQ: Pledge Or Die

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt is spearheading a right blogger effort encouraging readers to pledge not to support any GOP senator who votes to oppose the surge. Hewitt explains: "Yesterday General Petraeus testified that the Biden/Warner resolutions and those like them encourage the enemy. What does it mean, "to encourage the enemy?" It means that the enemy gathers will and strength from the prospect of a collapsing political will to seek victory in Iraq and stability in the region. ... In short, it means that more Americans will die." The full text of the pledge can be read here.

Captain's Quarters supports the pledge writing: "If Congress really wanted to stop the surge, they would defund the war. Congress has that power. ... Instead, the Senators involved in these resolutions seem content to indulge in ankle-biting without bothering to provide any useful alternatives other than capitulation and defeat, and studiously ignore the leading American expert on counterinsurgency. That's why I'm supporting the pledge."

Instapundit "think[s] that Hugh's right to start this drive" and describes GOP opposition to the surge as "political suicide for the Republicans."

In other righty-Iraq news, Michelle Malkinvideoblogs from the streets of northern Baghdad with the Dagger Brigade" and Corner readers dispute Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) claims that "the majority of our military" does not support "the way this war is being fought" noting the same poll of military service members that shows while "only 35 percent of the military members polled this year said they approve of the way President Bush is handling the war, "only 13 percent said we should have no troops in Iraq."

IRAQ II: Who "Owns" Iraq?

Under the header "Ensuring the GOP owns Iraq" DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas links to a Salonarticle on the Vietnam War and writes: "It's frustrating that despite the lessons of history and the GOP's own actions, so many Democrats are still afraid to actually lead on Iraq. They couch their "opposition" to Iraq in so many layers of caveats and rhetorical fluff that clarity and force of conviction are sacrificed."

Kos then praises Webb's SOTU response and concludes: "The contradiction between the parties is stark -- one wants to end the war in Iraq and focus on truly battling international terrorism, the other doesn't. We want out, they want to escalate. ... As such, they own the war. Our side can focus on doing everything to end it. It's a moral imperative that also, fortunately, happens to be good politics as well."

Atrios sees it a little differently: "Kos has some discussion of Republican attempts to make this a bipartisan war. I think they all missed something. Bush doesn't want to share his war. It's his war. His baby, his mission, his quest."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Apparently, Harvard Is Liberal

The Corner's Jonah Goldberg does not draw any conclusions but does share the political leanings of his academic email correspondents:

Of all the email I receive from elite university addresses, I'd say the email from MIT is the most conservative (Princeton and Cornell are close with Columbia and Penn following behind) while Harvard is the most liberal. I get very, very, little from Brown, and with one or two exceptions the stuff I get from U. Chicago is pretty mushy middle of the road. Most of the email is from grad students and academics, which may completely screw-up the sample. This is all extremely impressionistic. But I think it's mildly interesting.

LEST WE FORGET: The Blogometer Has No Self-Respect

Deadspin points us to a blog dedicated just to 'round mound of rebound' Charles Barkley quotes including:

• "I can be bought. If they paid me enough, I'd work for the Klan."
• "If push came to shove, I could lose all self-respect and become a reporter."
• "I don't create controversies. They're there long before I open my mouth. I just bring them to your attention."
• Charles Barkley on his thoughts about retiring before the season: "I remember sitting down with the Rockets and saying, 'Yeah. I'm going to retire.' They said, 'Well, we'll give you $9 million.' And I said, 'You got a pen on you?'"
• "You can talk without saying a thing. I don't ever want to be that type of person."