March 14, 2007

3/14: How Blog Outreach Is Done

WH '08ers can't seem to agree on how to title their official blog advisers (eCampaign Adviser, Blog Outreach Dir., and Dir. of Online Communications are a few choices), and most campaigns also have trouble defining how exactly their blog experts fit into their campaign. Each candidate's strengths in other areas ought to inform how they handle blogs, but Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) aide (he doesn't even have an official title) Patrick Hynes' push-back efforts 3/13 are a textbook example of how the job should be done. After a flurry of posts hit McCain for skipping the Club for Growth's winter conf., Hynes went to work emailing bloggers to let them know CFG only offered McCain dates to speak that coincided with a previously planned trip to Iraq. The retractions and updates Hynes netted his candidate both tampered down implications that he was dissing conservatives and reinforced McCain's strength on just about the only issue conservative bloggers back McCain on. This one episode is not going to magically swing bloggers to McCain's column, but it is an example of the vigilant defense WH '08ers must be prepared to play online.

DEM FIELD: If Only 'Unnamed Democrat' Could Be Talked Into Running

After reading the latest New York Times/CBS poll TAPPED's Paul Starr is still "not yet convinced that Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama can overcome the obvious obstacles to their election." Starr explains: "Americans would choose an unnamed Democrat over an unnamed Republican by a 20-point margin. Nonetheless, both Clinton and Obama have run behind in polls first to John McCain and now to Rudy Giuliani. Are Democrats so sure the country has put sexism and racism to rest that they want to bet the future of the country on that proposition?"

DODD: Surprisingly Cool

Chris Dodd managed to stretch positive buzz about his Daily Show appearance into a second day of blogging. MyDD's Jonathan Singer points readers to Dodd's backstage blogging of the event, and Comedy Central Insider promoted the effort with these words:

Well, here's a first: Last night, Senator and 2008 Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd appeared as a guest on The Daily Show, and blogged the entire experience (including green room video of the Senator and Jon) on his website. This was a fascinating look behind the scenes of the show even for us, and a surprisingly cool thing for a Presidential candidate to do. Senator Dodd, we salute both your commitment to fiscal responsibility and your web-savvy.

EDWARDS: WH Dems To Plant Entire New Forest

IA Progress labels John Edwards 'carbon neutral campaign' announcement part of an effort "to fill the 'Vilsack Vacuum'" since ex-IA Gov. Tom Vilsack was the first to make the promise. IAP adds: "He is trying to recruit as many former Vilsack supporters as possible at this point, and this was one of the Vilsack campaign's more novel ideas - although the Vilsack folks seemed to want to use it more for fund raising than anything else."

TAPPED's Ezra Klein calls the effort "sort of cool" and guesses: "I'd expect to see the other campaigns follow suit, too. Currently, it's understood that all merchandise from a Democratic campaign must be union made, I wonder if it'll now become the norm that all campaigns must be carbon neutral."

On recent revelations that Bob Shrum's new book claims Shrum was involved in convincing Edwards to vote for the Iraq war, The Plank's Michael Crowley blogs: "A random survey of opinion at one of the more archetypal "Washington cocktail parties" I've ever been to finds several people, including ones who know Shrum, suggesting that Shrum thinks he's doing his former client a favor (by revealing that Edwards had the right instincts about the war, I suppose). Nor does it sound like there's any bad blood between the two that would explain it as malicious."

OBAMA: Not Doing Enough To End War

Blogging on Al Sharpton's recent criticism of Barack ObamaDailyKos ' founder Markos Moulitsas comments: "Obama talks a great 'anti-Iraq War' game. But when he had a chance to help do something about it -- help get rid of its biggest cheerleader in the Senate, he decided to campaign for Lieberman instead. Obama might wish we had poorer memories, but those of us actually trying to end the war can't forget."

GOP FIELD: Victory Or Bust

Under the header "What Conservatives Want" Townhall's Dean Barnett tells readers the GOP will not win WH '08 "if things remain rotten in Iraq." Going on to advise WH '08ers, Barnett claims that even if there is a positive turn around, it will not be adequately covered by the MSM. Barnett says GOP candidates must "put honor and duty above personal ambition" and "support the war effort, commit to victory, explain the correctness of their actions to their constituents, and politically let things fall out as they may."

GINGRICH: You Can Stuff Your Sorries In A Sack, Mister!

Commenting on Newt Gingrich's "not-a-softball" interview with James Dobson on his marital infidelities, The Corner's Rich Lowry says "there is a limit to how much Newt can do to minimize the damage from that time in his career." Lowry concludes: "I have a keen appreciation of Newt's talents and strengths, but if he runs, he's probably going to have to find a way to win despite those high negatives. There's no way to "inoculate" himself from them, certainly not with one radio interview."

GIULIANI: And You Thought Publicly Funded Abortions Were Bad...

Commenting on a Concord Monitorarticle that examines the record's of some Rudy Giuliani judges appointed in NYC (including a Judge Sheldon Rand who "ordered taxpayers to foot the bill - up to $20,000 - for a sex-change operation") The Brody File writes: "Rudy talks tough on judges when he says he's looking for the Scalia, Roberts and Alito type. ... Giuliani must make the judges issue stick for him. If not, you might want a put a fork in him. He'll be done."

The Corner's Peter Suderman says "It's a waiting game, pure and simple" as GOPers wait to see if Giuliani's campaign will falter "as his views on social issues become more widely known." On that 'waiting game', Mystery Pollster's Mark Blumenthal throws water on suggestions the latest NYTpoll showing a 50%-29% Feb. Rudy lead slipping to 43%-34% in March is evidence of a fall: "Given the sample sizes, the seven point drop for Giuliani (from 50% to 43%) is just barely statistically significant at a 95% confidence level ... [Also], remember that four other surveys conducted over the last 10 days - including the just released CNN/ORC survey - show no comparable Giuliani decline."

MCCAIN: 'In Spite Of Everything Else, John McCain Is A Great American'

While he told readers that John McCain was skipping Club for Growth's conference because he'd be "overseas in a 'war theater,'" RCP Blog's John McIntyre plays up "the contrast of McCain's rivals being in Palm Beach while Senator McCain is with the troops in Iraq."

Team McCain efforts to inform conservative bloggers of McCain's schedule netted positive updates to previously negative McCain postings. Not everyone was impressed however. AmSpec's Quin Hillyer calls McCain a 'scoundrel' for resorting to patriotism as a refuge to escape criticism over his CFG skip.

Not citing McCain's Iraq trip, Townhall's Dean Barnett follows through a previous promise to write one positive McCain post: "This link goes to an interview where the Senator movingly discusses his captivity. While on most days we focus here on the other two thirds of Hugh's formulation regarding McCain, this video reminds us of the first part - in spite of everything else, John McCain is a great American."

IRAQ: Your Official Iraq-Netroots Enemies List

Netroots frustration over Dem capitulation on Iraq war funding is being channeled into pressure on Blue Dogs and other Dems identified not in favor of a date certain for withdrawal. With help "from a source close to the House Democratic caucus" MyDD's Matt Stoller posts a list of Blue Dogs (and other Dems) "that don't want to vote for this bill because it has a certain date for withdrawal" including:

Michael Arcuri (NY-24) John Barrow (GA-12) Melissa Bean (IL-08) Dan Boren (OK-02) Jim Cooper (TN-05) Bud Cramer (AL-02) Brad Ellsworth (IN-08) Kirsten Gillibrand (NY-20) Baron Hill (IN-09) Tim Mahoney (FL-16) Jim Marshall (GA-08) Mike McIntyre (NC-07) John Peterson (PA-05) John Salazar (CO-03) Joe Sestak (PA-07) Heath Shuler (NC-11) Gene Taylor (MS-04).

Stoller adds: "It's sad to see some freshmen we supported on the list. Joe Sestak, Kirsten Gillibrand and Michael Arcuri had some online support from the progressive netroots."

Particularly frustrated over Sec. 1901. (d) of the Iraq appropriation Daily Kos' BarbinMD is calling Blue Dog offices and asking: "Does the Congressman support requiring that all troops are properly rested, trained and equipped before being sent to Iraq?"

Progressives are also unhappy at news Dem leadership does not intend to whip the legislation. MyDD's Chris Bowers blogs: "In other words, progressives get whipped into voting for a compromise, and Blue Dogs get to "vote their conscience." Progressives are expected to compromise their beliefs, but then the leadership won't even stand up and fight for a compromise they wrangled out of the progressives."

Bowers promises: "I am not going to fight for Dems that don't fight for themselves, and I am not going to waste my energies on a foregone conclusion (well, sometimes I will, but not in this case). Another thing I definitely won't do is raise money for any Democrats who are too squeamish to even vote for a fixed withdrawal date eighteen months down the road. Democrats like that can use their political cowardice to secure re-election in 2008."

Daily Kos' mcjoan urges progressives to "vote their conscience" and "kill" the bill. Looking forward, she advises: "Give us more time to put pressure on the Blue Dogs to support the original Murtha proposal, the proposal that the majority of Americans think is an absolute no brainer."

PROSECUTOR PURGE: Get Fitz On The Next Flight Back To DC!

Netroots talking points on the recent US atty firings is coalescing around charges the WH has undermined US law enforcement by politicizing DoJ corruption investigations. Former San Diego US Attorney Carol Lam has emerged as the poster child for WH malfeasance. Talking Points MemoJosh Marshall writes:

Lam's firing has always been at the heart of this. I've had a lot of people ask me why we devoted so much virtual ink to this story so early. But the truth is that by rights Lam's dismissal should have sounded alarm bells for everyone on day one. ... Lam's investigation (and allied ones her probe spawned) were uncovering a) serious criminal wrongdoing by major Republican power players on Capitol Hill, b) corruption at the CIA -- which reached back to the Hill, c) and as yet still largely hidden corrupt dealings at the heart of the intelligence operations in the Rumsfeld Pentagon. Nothing matters unless the investigation gets to the heart of what happened there.

All of the major netroots hubs are on message:

• Eli at firedoglake: "'We need to get rid of Lam before she takes down Foggo' is probably not the sort of communication that you want to have on record anywhere. What I personally believe went down is that Dubya told Harriet and Gonzo "Get rid of any Attorneys who aren't playing ball, but keep me out of it."


• Daily Kos' Kagro X: "The Department of Justice, as it is now constituted, cannot be relied upon to protect Americans from the corrosive effects of real public corruption, due to their own outrageous politicization and overreaching. There is, once again, a cancer on the presidency.


• MyDD's Jonathan Singer: "As is now evidenced by emails and other documents, the decisions to fire Iglesias, Lam and Charlton followed almost immediately after reports of their investigations of Republicans or after complaints by Republican officials that they were not going after Democrats."

MyDD's Singer adds: "At this point the evidence, as I noted above, is largely circumstantial, but we are quickly getting to the point at which the preponderance of evidence suggests that there was a causality between the the reports/complaints and the firings. Certainly a preponderance of evidence is not enough to convict in a court of law. But it is probably enough to warrant the appointment of a special prosecutor to begin an official investigation."

Not openly advocating for a special prosecutor yet, Andrew Sullivan still was ready to see heads role: "It seems to me pretty obvious that they've been caught trying to rig the justice system to perpetuate Republican control of the House and Senate. It seems to me that this originates with the president and Karl Rove. And it seems more than obvious to me that Alberto Gonzales should resign."

On the right, The Corner's Jonah Goldberg reminds readers he is "no fan of Gonzales" and argues the firing of CoS Kyle Sampson was just another Gonzalez move "to shift all the blame to Ashcroft and his crowd." Rich Lowry adds: "I wouldn't be surprised if the White House is furious at him. He and his team have managed to mishandle the U.S. attorney controversy into a major scandal."

Captain's Quarters and Kung Fu Quip have also turned on Gonzales with eCampaign Director for Bush '04 and Kung Fu Quip author Michael Turk blogging:

The public relations disaster in which the Administration finds itself is entirely of its own making. The Justice Department screwed this up terribly. ... I am pleased to see Sampson resign, but I do not believe his head should be the last to roll. Anyone in the Department of Justice or the White House who has willingly misused the power of law to pursue political goals should be run out as well. When they're fired, by the American people, they'll truly know what it means to lose your job for poor performance.

Still defending the Administration, Mark at RedState is "tired of Democrats and the media blowing everything that the Bush Administration does into an earth stopping scandal, like no US Attorneys were ever fired for political reasons and no Congressman ever contacted any US Attorney to check on his potential opponent's legal liabilities. What's next? A Congressional hearing into Bush's choice of tie color?

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: That's Not All Drugs And Politics Have In Common

Blog Herald's Darnell Clayton asks, "What Do Drugs, Politics And Web 2.0 Have In Common?" and answers: "They all promise to bring fulfillment to their users in life, but they can often leave a bad after taste in ones mouth." Clayton explains:

Although virtually most of the (smart) politicians have started a weblog and/or have established profiles on all the popular social networks, very few of them have decided to create social networks of their own, which is quite surprising (at least to me). ... Thus far, these seem to be the only political sites embracing web 2.0 to the fullest measure (or at least beyond a blog, a site feed and "please donate here" link). Hopefully we will see politicians on both sides adopt more measures within their "own backyards," as hooking up via Facebook, MySpace and YouTube is the last thing I want to do, as there are more entertaining items within those respective sites.

LEST WE FORGET: Fettuccini Alfredo Is Macaroni And Cheese For Adults

Reminding readers the two-year anniversary of Mitch Hedberg's tragic death is approaching (3/29), Comedy Central Insider links to a list of delis that serve 'Mitch Sanwiches' (two slices of banana bread, pastrami and cottage cheese) and offer up a list of lesser known sandwiches named after comedians:

• The Jerry Seinfeld: A bowl of cereal on marble rye.
• The Patton Oswalt: A failure pile of Black Angus steak, Paas Easter eggs and Stella D'ora Breakfast Treats on a sadness bun.
• The Sarah Silverman: A racist joke baked inside a fluffy crust made of sunshine and kittens.
• The David Cross: Gefilte fish and bacon between two slices of iron

Posted by Conn Carroll at March 14, 2007 12:32 PM