March 02, 2007

3/2: Kossacks To The Right Of Rudy?

Rudy Giuliani will be speaking at CPAC as we go to press, but his past positions on social issues and gun control are sure to dominate discussion of him throughout the conf. The Brody File brings our attention to a YouTube video chronicling Giuliani statements for gun control, for partial birth abortion, against welfare reform, for civil unions, and for McCain-Feingold. Contrast Giuliani's statements in the video with this wildly popular pro-2nd Amendment diary at Daily Kos.

CPAC: Pajama Party!!!

A virtual 'who's who' of conservative and MSM bloggers have descended on the Omni Shoreham in DC to cover/participate in the Conservative Political Action Conference. RedStateErick Erickson was more concerned with who wasn't there: "Only 4 out of 168 Republican National Committeemen and women are attending CPAC. That's it. 2.3% of the voting members of the Republican National Committee are here. ... You want to get the pulse of the conservative grassroots? Then you want to be at CPAC. The media understands this. The left understands this. 4 RNC committee people understand this. The rest? Eh . . . not so much, it seems."

BROWNBACK: The Yellowbrick Road Comes To CT Ave.

Sam Brownback has unveiled an official campaign blog, with E-Campaign Coordinator and Redstate contributor Leon Wolf doing the lion's share of the posting. Wolf from CPAC: "The Sam Brownback Campaign is here in force at CPAC. The two campaigns who seem to have brought strong organizations are the Brownback campaign and the Romney campaign - although I would say that the people wearing Brownback stickers and carrying Brownback signs significantly outnumber the Romney people."

GINGRICH: Don't You Have To Be Old To Be An Elder Statesman?

In NYC visiting his daughter, Power Line's Scott Johnson reviewed Newt Gingrich's 2/28 Cooper Union performance including: "The crowd was seeded with friends of Newt, but even discounting that factor, it was incredibly warm toward him. Speaking as a man of ideas, an agent of history and an elder statesman, Newt stands in a league by himself right now. I hope he dissuades himself from the temptation of thinking that his status supports a run for the Republican presidential nomination. He is more valuable doing what he is doing at present." NRO's Stephen Spruiell has a lengthy article on the show as well.

GIULIANI: He's Pro-Freedom

There's no better indicator of Rudy Giuliani's frontrunner status than conservative blogs' sharp focus on his candidacy. At CPAC '02 CA Gov. GOP nom. Bill Simon told 'bloggers row' his one-word reason for supporting Giuliani: Leadership. RedState's Erick Erickson reports Simon sketched three more reasons for his support: 1) Freedom (Rudy believes in freedom, a belief that pushed him as mayor to champion education reforms, financial reforms, and tax reforms); 2) Fiscal Conservatism; and 3) The War on Terror.

Simon also got Cornerites blogging on Giuliani after telling NRO 2/28 that he had "an assurance" that Rudy was in favor of the Hyde amendment (prohibiting taxpayer-funded abortions). Ramesh Ponnuru wanted to know "from whom he received this assurance, and whether the candidate himself will address the issue so as to dispel all doubt."

Ponnuru goes on to question the dual arguments some Giuliani backers employing on his behalf: "Most of Giuliani's backers are making the argument that he would be a "functional social conservative," which is the best tack for them to take. A few, however, are making an argument in tension with that one: that Giuliani's nomination will help the Republican party by enabling it to get rid of its social-conservative baggage." Ponnuru responds: "I ... think that to sell Giuliani as a way of weakening the social Right's influence in the party is to do the candidate no favors."

In other Corner/Rudy blogging, Peter Suderman first quotes Rudy: "I'd like to see abortion reduced, I'd like to see it ended, but ultimately I believe that a woman has a right to choose," and then responds: "Now, obviously, abortion is a politically tricky issue, but that sort of slippery language shows that, at least in this particular insistence, Giuliani is willing to espouse a conviction without taking much action to back it up-not the most appealing trait for any politician, and certainly not for one running in large part on strength and decisiveness."

Later responding to emailer arguments that Giuliani's abortion stance mirrored national consensus on the issue, Suderman blogs: "It's true that the American public is somewhat muddled on abortion. ... Still, I'll agree that you might be able to make an argument that Giuliani's less than straightforward reasoning (hate it, want to end it, but, erm, won't) reflects voters' anxieties regarding abortion, and maybe even that his mirroring voter uncertainty on the issue will help him. But that doesn't mean that his have-it-both-ways language isn't worth pointing out or that it shouldn't give socially conservative voters serious pause.

More concerned with consensus opinion among GOP primary voters, The Brody File posts video of "a compilation of past Rudy sound bites from television that are not flattering to him. For anybody who thinks Giuliani isn't a conservative, then sit back, relax and enjoy."

GIULIANI II: Scalia ... Alito ... Sounds Like Judges In Giuliani's To Us

Politico's look at Giuliani's NYC judicial appointment history prompted Captain's Quarters to question Bill Simon on the subject at CPAC. CQ summarizes Simon's response: "Simon called this misleading. The mayor does not have a free hand in judicial appointments in New York City. An independent panel gives the mayor a choice of three candidates for each open seat, and the mayor has to select from those three. Rudy did not choose the candidates; he had to select one of three locked-in choices."

Identifying judges as the No. 2 issue for GOP primary voters behind the war on terror, Hugh Hewitt posts former Solicitor General Ted Olson's defense of Giuliani on the issue, including his assertion that Giuliani's "discretion was quite limited."

Politico's Smith responds: "The bottom line is that Giuliani chose not to turn the courts, as he had other areas of city government, into a battle ground of ideology or reform. He appointed candidates in his own image -- law and order former prosecutors with liberal social views. ... The strongest case here is simply that Giuliani says he'll appoint Scalia-like judges to the federal appellate courts, which are quite different from the local courts I wrote about. This may well be true. There's just nothing in his record to support it."

GIULIANI III: Target Us!

Noting that Giuliani has recently stepped up his IA operation, the Caucus Cooler argues the campaign's absence at the Iowa Christian Alliance's annual spring event 3/1 would cause speedbumps for his social conservative outreach efforts in the state. CC adds: "To rub salt in the wound the keynote speaker specifically mentioned the importance of supporting candidates that are pro-life. You would think this is a group Rudy would be targeting, not ducking."

MCCAIN: It's Hard To Say Your Sorry

Already upset over John McCain's choice of forum for his WH '08 pre-announcement, conservatives hit McCain hard for his "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives," comment to Letterman. Instapundit comments: "Is it my imagination, or is his campaign unravelling all of a sudden?"

RedState's Jeff Emanuel was even less impressed with McCain's 'apology' responding: "there was not one word of apology included in the Senator's "revised" statement. He's a veteran and a former POW - great, all continued due respect. While that affects his perspective and his experience, that does not in any way excuse him from the reality of his statement that lives have been "wasted" in Iraq, and such a remark at the very least necessitates a real, heartfelt apology directed toward the family and friends of every serviceman we have lost in this effort. ... And speaking as someone who has lost close friends and comrades in this conflict, Senator McCain, I am waiting for that apology now.

ROMNEY: MSM Enemy Number One?

The Brody File broke coverage of his 2/28 interview with Mitt Romney into nine separate posts, including entries on Mormons, stem cells, polygamy, and marriage.

Romney told Brody MSM attention on his record "proves that the media has determined who the conservative candidate is because they're going after me with hammer and tong and that's the way you would expect to go after the conservative candidate." Also from Romney on Giuliani: "He is pro-choice, he is pro-gay marriage, and anti-gun. That's a tough combination in a Republican primary."

RICHARDSON: Minimum Effort Required

At The Huffington Post Brennan Center Economic Justice Project co-dir. Paul Sonn identifies an opportunity for Bill Richardson to show "national leadership" on "probably the mostly urgently needed reform to provide economic security for working families: a minimum wage that is adjusted each year for the cost of living."

Sonn urges Richardson to support an indexed minimum wage bill currently working through the NM legislature writing about the alternative: "If, however, Governor Richardson endorses what is effectively a freeze on minimum wages in his state, he would be following the example of what the Republican-controlled Congress did for ten years. And he would be setting a terrible precedent for stifling the crucial role that cities and counties in his state and nationally are playing in tackling tough policy problems when Congress or states fail to act."

GUNS: It Can Happen Here

House Dems are not going to pass gun-control measures as long as Kossacks have anything to say about it. Daily Kos diarist Kenevan McConnon tells readers that he's convinced skeptical friends that Dems won't take away their guns. Those friends are now calling him a liar over an NRA flyer describing Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's (D-NY) new gun-control bill. McConnon writes after reading the NRA's material: "Looks like at least four weapons and every pistol magazine in my safe were covered by the ban, and we spent the next hour talking about how many of our guns would be or could be effected by this piece of legislation. I convinced a lot of these guys that this sort of thing wouldn't happen if we elected a Democratic House and Senate in DC. Looks like I lied to them. The coastal Dems obviously don't get it."

The diary currently has over 1500 comments (the next closest diary has only 380 comments), and the vast majority of them are positive. McConnon has received 352 positive recommendations for his comments and only two negative ones. While not disagreeing with the substance of his post one typical commenter still writes: "Diarist could make it a better diary identifying Rep McCarthy as the woman who lost her husband in a shooting on the commuter train to NYC. She got elected on her story." The NRA, however, does come under fire for being "right wing."

IRAQ: Lamont And Lieberman Again

Responding to Gen. Peter Pace's Senate Appropriations Cmte. testimony that his plan "would somehow be damaging on the battlefield" Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) responds at The Huffington Post: "General Pace is trying to shift the blame, when in fact it is this Administration's polices that are hurting our military. ... My plan calls for the restoration of our military readiness to what it was before the war. ... The intense strain that this Administration's policies have placed on our current military force is the problem. I am trying to fix what this Administration has broken."

Also blogging at HuffPo, Ned Lamont attacks Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) for recent Wall Street Journalop -eds on Iraq and concludes: "On November 8th of last year, while voters across the country were giving Democrats a mandate to change course on Iraq, you were able to muddy the real "Choice on Iraq" for the voters of Connecticut. They thought they were choosing between two candidates who anticipated "significant" troop reductions by the end of the year, who both wanted "to bring our troops home." Senator, one of us still believes in those words we spoke during the campaign. ... The American people and our military experts have already made their "Choice on Iraq" quite clear. It is now up to all of our elected representatives to follow their lead."

Not impressed with Dem leadership on the issue so far, MyDD's David Sirota notes the latest Dem capitulation on Iraq and writes: "I repeat my earlier assertion that Democrats are not serious about ending the war, or even trying to slow it down. The only thing they seem to be serious about doing is undermining the serious people like Jack Murtha in their midst, and doing a "kabuki dance" with the progressive movement whereby they pretend to be serious only to keep the progressive movement's resources flowing their way. In the process, they are very grossly embarrassing themselves and the people who worked so hard to deliver them a majority."

Also worried about future Dem majorities following fecklessness on the war Daily Kos' mcjoan blogs: "What's more, arguing on March 1, 2007 that a Democratic party that doesn't take serious steps to end our involvement in this war will retain the public's trust and will be competitive in 2008 might be asking for more than the Democratic base and swing voters can give. Are they going to vote Republican? Probably not. Is a sizeable segment going to stay home? Very possibly." Mcjoan then asks Kossacks: "Should Congress announce a date certain for when our troops will leave Iraq?" 87% said yes.

Tired of Dem "gyrations" and "Iraq proposal[s] of the week" The Left Coaster's Steve Soto again floats an idea (first seen by Blogometer 2/5 on dKos) of ending the war by demanding the immediate return of the National Guard. Soto writes: "Such a move would play well in each state and in local communities, even in Red State America, who want to see their weekend warriors return home to their jobs and families rather than have their lives ruined and potentially ended by an illegal war that the GOP refuses to curtail. And any move by the Democrats to demand a return of the Guard will put vulnerable GOP incumbents next year in the bad position of defying the wishes of their local communities back home for the sake of propping up an unpopular president and his unpopular war."

On the right, Right Wing News surveys more more than 240 right-of-center bloggers and finds 97% of respondents "think the surge should go forward."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: New Media To The Rescue

Countering emailer assertions that declining MSM budgets and the rise of new media spell death for second tier candidates following frontrunner victories in IA and NH, Kausfiles writes: "Surely it should be easier now for a non-frontrunning candidate denied MSM "oxygen"--Richardson, say--to get some "oxygen" outside the MSM (through a vigorous Web campaign that raises money for paid media, or a reverse-macaca YouTube moment) in a way that attracts voters in one of the primaries and gets the candidate back on the MSM's menu?"

LEST WE FORGET: The Blogometer Is All For President Tequila

Writing at Kung Fu Quip ex-RNC eCampaign Director Michael Turk throws water on TechPresident's MySpace and Facebook friends counter writing:

Judging a candidate based on the number of garage bands and Girls Gone Wild wannabes they can attract is laughable. If the number of MySpace friends was actually an indicator of electability, then Tila Tequila would be our next President. Her total of 1.7 million friends is 17 times the collective total of the entire Presidential field.

Posted by Conn Carroll at March 2, 2007 11:37 AM