April 17, 2007

4/17: "Getting Beyond Issues" Like That

If you were expecting for the netroots to join more traditional Dem calls for increased gun control following the tragedy in Blacksburg, VA, don't hold your breath. At deadline, none of the top five netroots sites (Daily Kos, Eschaton, TPM, AMERICAblog, and MyDD) have called for any changes to gun laws (CLARIFICATION: AMERICAblog does ask for a 'revisit' of guntrol but nothing specific). And don't expect them to either. The VA Tech shootings are serving as an albeit tragic marker in demonstrating just how different Dems are in '07 than they were in '99.

With bloggers in the lead, Dems have gotten past the gun-control issue and helped reclaim majorities with help from netroots backed pro-gun candidates Sens. Jim Webb (D-VA), John Tester (D-MT), and Reps. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) and Heath Shuler (D-NC). As Rudy Giuliani faces heat from social conservatives for telling them they need to "get beyond issues" like abortion, one wonders how many elections the GOP has to lose before they embrace a similar evolution.

GIULIANI: Not The God, Guns, And Gays Candidate

Des Moines Registerreports that Rudy Giuliani's comments to activists about abortion, before his Lincoln Day dinner address ("Our party has to get beyond issues like that") drove heated blogger discussion.

The Right Angle's Nathanael Blake labels Giuliani a "pro-abortion extremist" and adds: "Apparently, we're supposed to just 'get beyond' the murder of 3,000 innocents every day in America and turn our attention to the really big issues, like, in the words of one GOP sell-out, 'fiscal responsibility and good management.' Let the babies die, so long as we can balance the budget. Maybe the left is right, and the GOP is just a collection of tightfisted worshipers of mammon."

The Corner's Rich Lowry shared some similar negative email reaction:

• Doesn't Giuliani's comment that "our party" needs to "get beyond issues like" abortion sound a LOT like Howard Dean's 2004 call for Southerners to stop focusing on "God, guns and gays?" Sounds like Giuliani and Dean are talking from the same script here.
• He's talking about people igunoring their core beliefs. I have respect for him and think he's a great speaker, but as a Christian conservative (ironically, from Iowa) I can honestly tell you that I will not vote for him. Period.
• As an up until now, pretty stalwart Giuliani backer, I must say that the Christie Whittman impersonation ain't gonna win him any points in my book. He better hope Thompson doesn't get in or I suspect he's gonna find out pretty quickly that his poll numbers are mostly a function of his weak opponents.

Cornerites Ramesh Ponnuru and Andy McCarthy then sparred over Giuliani's statement, including:

• Ponnuru: "So Once Again Giuliani is saying that he has deep respect for all those people out there who want to throw pregunant women in jail. Has the mayor actually met any pro-lifers?"
• McCarthy: "Ramesh, I don't want to fight again, but c'mon. ... Rudy's argument is not that the pro-lifers don't have a point. It is that we shouldn't have a stalemate among what he acknowledged were 'very good people' on both sides of the abortion issue that prevents Republicans and conservatives from considering the candidate vis-a-vis all the issues."
• Ponnuru: "I'm not offended by the remark that Giuliani allegedly made about letting other candidates divide up the social-conservative vote: Very few conservative voters who consider social issues top tier are going to vote for him. ... But, again, like you, I do wish he would drop the throw-women-in-jail rhetoric."
• McCarthy: "I don't think it's enough for Rudy to let other candidates divide up the social conservatives ... He's got to make socials understand that he hears and respects what they're saying, and he wants their vote because he's largely with them - and it can't be BS."

Slowly, though the anti-Rudy tide changed as people began putting the Giuliani quote in context. John Podhoretzwarned : "All we have to go on here is a single sentence quoted by a single reporter who assures us he was speaking about abortion and offers no context or elaboration. The reason I have doubts about Giuliani saying something like that so unqualifiedly is that it flies in the face of what he has been doing quietly for two years now, which is to speak respectfully and guardedly about social issues and indicate that while he might not be a pro-lifer himself, he understands how deeply and passionately others feel about the matter."

After reading the Giuliani quote in full some were assuaged:

• Captain's Quarters: "That isn't quite the same as what the Register described in its headline as "Get past social issues". ... Giuliani explained himself clearly enough for the audience member, but apparently not enough for the press. Surprise, surprise."
• Bryan at Hot Air: "That is much better. Soundbites can distort remarks out of all proportion, and that seems to have been the case here. I do dislike the part about being a party that's known for what it's against rather than for, though. Pro-lifers are for the right to life, period. The media has long cast us as being "anti-abortion" because that's a negative spin on our point of view. Fellow Republicans shouldn't use the MSM's shorthand when describing or addressing each other."

Other Lowry emailers seemed to unapologetically support the harsher sentiment played up by the Register:

• Giuliani's absolutely right. Abortion is an issue government should never have got into in the first place. It has destroyed conservatism and allowed leftists like GWB to take over the GOP.
• Personally, I like the direction that Giuliani is taking and support him more now based on those comments. I consider myself a Reagan/Rudy Republican and feel that our party is far too focused on the hot button social issues that cause more smoke than fire in the world of politics today. I understand that the Religious Right is one of the strengths of our party, but they are not the only strength in our party. I would like to see our party move back to our Reaganite roots and away from the compassionate conservatism of the Bush presidency.

GOP FIELD: Not So Rapid Response

Posting at 5pm ET, Townhall's Mary Katharine Ham wanted to know why the Dem big three all had "sensitive and sensible" and non-exploitative posts up on their homepages about the tragedy in Blacksburg, VA, while none of the GOP big three had updated their sites at all. From Ham: "It's not a huge deal. I'm sure all three Republicans will release statements on the events of today, if they haven't already, but not recogunizing a major national event on your website makes you look, at best, out of the loop, and at worst, insensitive."

GOP FIELD II: Seriously Conservative

Race 4 '08s Jason interviewed David Brody of the Christian Broadcast Network's The Brody File including:

• Jason: Is there a common perception you get from your readers concerning the current crop of candidates?
• Brody: The Brody File readers are really all over the place in terms of their views. We get the hard core life and marriage voters; we get the the evangelicals who love Rudy, we get the Romney lovers and haters. It's really a wide spectrum of ideas. The one common theme seems to be that the candidates better take religious conservatives very seriously.

SOUTH CAROLINA: April Straw Polls Bring '08 Primary Victories?

Race 4 '08 explains that "April in South Carolina means time for all of the Republican Party County Conventions" and recounts that "so far, 8 counties have had their GOP conventions, ... Mitt Romney has won 6 of them (Beaufort, Newberry, Charleston, Horry, York, and Orangeburg Counties) and John McCain has won the other 2 (Florence and Greenwood Counties)." R408 then lists dates and times for the 18 more county conventions slated for this week.

SC's Daily Chaser adds to those totals noting that Romney picked up another win in Pickens County while Duncan Hunter won big in Anderson county thanks to Hunter consultant Robert Cahaly who "worked his hometown crowd extremely hard."

The Daily Chaser also recaps funding totals for '08ers from SC, including: Mitt Romney - $174,525; John McCain - $127,565; Rudy Giuliani - $120,650; Duncan Hunter - $18,000; and Sam Brownback - $7,612.

BROWNBACK: He's Got Real Bones

Students for Brownback blogger Billy Valentine posts on Brownback "Gaining Momentum in Iowa" at Race 4 '08. Valentine quotes a good Brownback review from IA College GOP co-chair Don McDowell: "I can safely say that I do like Brownback a lot. He's a very genuine guy and very sincere. There's just not a fake bone in his body."

HUNTER: Ahoy, Matey!

Duncan Hunter talked about nat'l security and "his vision for America" on Captain's Quarter Radio 4/16.

MCCAIN: Against Byzantium

While the Club for Growth is no fann of John McCain's record on taxes, Captain's Quarters thought an overhaul of the "Byzantine" tax code was "a good topic for McCain" since "He has long been a proponent of fiscal discipline, and this flows naturally from his activism on pork and other spending issues."

THOMPSON: Blogger In Chief

Noting that popular interest in Fred Thompson's candidacy already led to two RedState crashes after Thompson posts, AmSpec Blog's Washington Prowler links to ABC Radio's new site devoted to Thompson's 'Opinion and Commentary' here.

DEM FIELD: Mo' Evidence Of Edwards Mo'

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas posted final results for dKos' 4/07 straw poll:

John Edwards 42%
Barack Obama 25%
Bill Richardson 12%
Other 5%
No Freakin' Clue 5%

Edwards and Richardson both gained 4% from their 3/07 straw poll totals, while Obama dropped 1%.

DEM FIELD II: All Donors Favor Dems

MyDD's Chris Bowers examines Campaigun Finance Institute data on Q1 reports and notes:

• First, while small donations to Democratic candidates have greatly increased over the past four years, large donors are still firmly in command.
• Second, Obama completely dominates the field in terms of small donors, as he brought in twice as much from small donors as any other candidate, and over half of all small donor dollars for all Democratic candidates.
• Third, the Republican grassroots, while small, are not keen on the "frontrunners."
• Perhaps the most intriguing, and somewhat saddening, lesson from all this is that Democrats managed to pull ahead of Republicans in fundraising, but they did so on the backs of very large donors. Our $4.2M advantage in small donors is nothing compared to our $16.5M advantage in large donors.

DEM FIELD III: Clinton Leads On Moral Issue

NYC teacher Dan Brown examines the educational policies of each Dem candidate at The Huffington Post and concludes: "Al Gore's line on climate change fits just as snugly for public education: 'It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue.' American children can do much better than they are in school; the under-funding and high-stakes testing yokes of NCLB must come off and some real support must come in. Obama's Innovation Districts and Edwards' Second-Chance Schools can be great things. Richardson's commitment to higher education and Clinton's comprehensive class size reduction and building renovation plans are steps in the right direction. ... In my opinion, of the leading candidates in both parties, Senator Clinton's comments reveal the most clarified, comprehensive, and clear-thinking agenda for the future of public education."

NEVADA: An Opening For Edwards?

Reno and Its DiscontentsMyrna Minx shares a discussion she shared with other Washoe Dem on local '08er campaigun staffing: "If I recall correctly, the Clinton, Richardson, and Edwards campaiguns all have staff working in Northern Nevada although Clinton gets the most bonus points for hiring locals. Everyone present agreed that the Obama campaigun has so far igunored Northern Nevada-a big mistake considering the state Democratic turnout in the 2006 election. ... The consensus of all present was that every hour a campaigun worker spends in Northern Nevada is probably worth at least two hours spent in Clark County. That makes us at least half as important. If Obama continues to igunore Northern Nevada, Edwards has a real chance of placing in second in the Iowa and Nevada caucuses."

PROSECUTOR PURGE: Which US Attorneys Don't Dems Want To Talk To?

Afforded more time by the VA Tech tragedy, the netroots see more more possible fodder in Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) new claims of AG Alberto Gonzalez contradictions, than in ABC News claims that new emails are at odds with previous Gonzales statements. TPM's Josh Marshall points out that the email cited by ABC News is not new and was already discussed in detail at TPMmuckraker.

Marshall gives kudos to ABC news for noticing the email contradicts Gonzales testimony, but then provides more context to the story ultimately concluding that the more pressing issue is not Gonzalez denial of involvement, but the identification of the real reason behind the firing of US Attorney Carl Lam: "The fact that the immigration issue was never raised with Lam by the Department of Justice points strongly to the conclusion that it was not the reason for her firing but the pretext for it."

TPMmuckraker's Paul Kiel explains the significance of Schumer's claims, ex-AG CoS Kyle Sampson privately testified that Gonzales told him about conversations Gonzales had with Pres. Bush about the firings despite Gonzalez claims he does not remember talking to Bush: "The White House has a different version of the conversation -- that it was broader, about three districts (New Mexico, Milwaukee, Philadelphia) where voter fraud wasn't being aggressively pursued. Sampson's version, which has the conversation focusing on Iglesias, implicates Bush much more directly in his removal. So who did Gonzales get this version from? Does he remember that?"

Marshall wraps up weekend talk show commentary in a video here and reports: "Rep. "Conyers (D-MI) wants to talk to USAs Steven Biskupic (Milwaukee), Rachel Paulose (Minneapolis), Larry Gomez (acting USA in New Mexico, Iglesias's replacement), Mary Beth Buchanan (Western District of Pennsylvania) and others."

On the right AmSpec Blog's Quin Hilyer makes hay of reports that Sen. Jeff Bingaman's (D-NM) CoS also called the DoJ to "inquire" about fired US Attorney David Iglesias. Also, Power Line's Paul Mirengoff makes the case the "alleged contradiction" in Gonzales testimony "is more apparent than real."

IRAQ: From Blacksburg To Baghdad

The shootings in Blacksburg, VA, may have failed to generate calls for more gun control, but they did inspire comparisons to Iraq. Daily Kos' LC Johnson rounds up tragic news in Iraq and concludes: "Let's total the score: At least 65 Iraqis dead in four attacks vs. 22 Americans shot at Virginia Tech. Whoops, forgot the 20 kidnapped policemen. Can you imagine? ... This is horrible and this is tragic and this gives us an idea of what it is like to live just one day in Iraq."

FiredoglakeTRex adds: "This is a terrible tragedy, one that will be haunting us for years to come. Still there is a part of my brain that absorbs this kind of sudden and senseless catastrophe and responds, "Welcome to what the people of Iraq go through every day."

At The Huffington Post, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) blogs in support of the Dems Iraq appropriation funding: "The American people have sent a clear message to Washington: it is time to start bringing our troops home from Iraq. ... Once again, President Bush took to the bully pulpit today and repeated his hollow claims that the provisions in this legislation would somehow undercut our troops. This is nonsense. ... The President will have to decide whether to sigun the bill into law or igunore the will of the American people by holding up this legislation with a veto. If the President chooses to work with Congress, we can reach a bipartisan solution that unites the country rather than divides it, while meeting the expectations and needs of the American people."

Also responding to Pres. Bush's 4/16 statements on Iraq, TPM Cafe's Greg Sargent cites Army times polling to rebut Bush claims "that a majority of the troops want to stay in Iraq until the job is finished." Sargent: "It suggests that the troops are ambiguous on this question, finding that only half thought the U.S. can succeed -- meaning that only half thought the job could be finished, let alone that they want to finish it. The other half, meanwhile, didn't think the "job" could be finished or didn't have an opinion on whether it could."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Death, Taxes, And Calculus

Matthew Yglesias celebrated Tax Day by making the case for a more complicated tax code: "In short, income tax brackets are a bad idea. The flat tax, of course, is a worse idea. What's needed is not a flat tax, but a curved tax, where rates are a smooth function of adjusted gross income. The total amount you owe could be calculated as the area beneath the curve -- an integral of the function. Back in the day, this was impractical because most people can't do calculus so the idea of a series of "brackets" was implemented as a mathematically tractable alternative. Thanks to computers, however, this is no longer a problem and calculating taxes owed according to a single function would be simple even if the function itself was very complicated."

LEST WE FORGET: Save LT

A group of San Diego Chargers fans have started an online petition beseeching EA Sports not to ruin LaDainian Tomlinson's career by placing him on the cover of Madden NFL 08, thus invoking the dreaded "Madden Curse." The site then recaps the fate of past cover boys including:

• Dorsey Levens - RB, Green Bay Packers: After recording 1,034 rushing yards in 1999, his production dropped severely. He only rushed for 224 yards the year after he appeared on the cover.
• Daunte Culpepper - QB, Minnesota Vikings: After appearing on the cover of the 2002 version, Culpepper struggled to a 4-7 start and eventually fell to a knee injury.
• Michael Vick - QB, Atlanta Falcons: Literally days after Madden 2004 was released, Vick injures his fibula and misses all but 5 games of the Atlanta Falcons season. The Falcons ended up with a 5-11 record.

Posted by Conn Carroll at April 17, 2007 12:40 PM