April 23, 2007

4/23: The Other Netroots Issue

According to the netroots faithful who track these things, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) is the last remaining WH '08er who has not yet pledged to end all permanent military bases in Iraq. Even Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has received a passing grade on the issue. Since Obama's early opposition to the war probably inoculates him from criticism on the issue, it's worth looking ahead to another issues where the netroots may be ahead of their party on public opinion: trade.

Netroots faves Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT), James Webb (D-VA), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) all made re-thinking Beltway consensus on trade part of their critique of inequality in America. And as David Sirota notes, John Edwards has made it clear he intends to separate himself from Obama and Clinton on the issue. If all the Dem '08ers come out equal on the war, Dem base skepticism of DC trade policy might just help Edwards steal the Dem nod from Obama and Clinton.

CLINTON: Celebrity Only Goes So Far ...

MyDD's Chris Bowers is finding more takers for his "inflated poll theory" that most nat'l polls are unintentionally over-representing Hillary Clinton's support by not adequately targeting Dem primary voters for questioning. Justin Guillory of Public Policy Polling explains:

For example, if you were to sample 1,000 voters for a national survey, you might get 400 Democrats and 400 Republicans. Then the primary questions would be asked among those 400 from each party. However, the primary voting population is much smaller than that. ... Primary voters are more ideological and better informed, and would be less inclined to be affected by the draw of Hillary Clinton's celebrity according to Bowers. ... I tend to agree, theoretically.

DODD: No McDonalds For Iraq

Blue Hampshire's Mike caught up with Chris Dodd 4/22 and got him to commit to opposing any permanent bases in Iraq. From Dodd: "Well, my view is you don't need American bases in Iraq. We've got plenty of base capacity in the region."

My Left Nutmeg's Matt Browner Hamlin applauds Dodd: "Senator Dodd and Governor Richardson are moving the discussion to where it needs to be. ... The discussion on permanent bases being held within the Democratic primary field will help determine how the country on whole thinks about what a withdrawal of American forces would look like. Inevitably pro-war Republicans will be driven into a sputtering fury over the thought of not getting to have permanent bases, complete with Halliburton run Pizza Huts and McDonalds.

EDWARDS: He's Screwed No Matter What

Maureen Dowd drove the lion's share of John Edwards related blogging this weekend. The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum ably rounds up netroots reaction:

• 1. Edwards is an idiot. He knows perfectly well that a $400 haircut is exactly the kind of dimwit story our modern media loves to pile on. He never should have put himself in this position. See, e.g., Ezra and Garance.
• 2. It's not Edwards's fault. If he gets an expensive haircut he's a sissy. If he gets a cheap haircut he's pretending to be a working stiff when everyone knows he's not. He's screwed no matter what, so he might as well get any haircut he wants. See, e.g., Matt Yglesias.
• 3. Maureen Dowd is an unbearable prig and should be banished from American journalism. See, e.g., Paul Waldman.
• 4. Edwards did the right thing but then blew it. He should have taken a page out of Karl Rove's handbook and turned the $400 haircut into an attack on Republicans. See, e.g., Gar Lipow.

Drum then weighs in: "In the end, though, I vote for #4."

EDWARDS II: Wedge Issues

In non-Dowd related blogging, David Sirota argues Edwards keynote address to the MI Dem J-J Day Dinner announcing his opposition to a South Korea trade deal will "drive[] [a] wedge between Dem opponents and K Street." Sirota explains: "Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are surrounding themselves with and relying on Bob Rubin's Wall Street machine - a machine that exchanges massive amounts of campaign cash for candidates' complicity in a trade policy that includes stringent protections for corporate profits, but no protections for human rights, labor rights or the environment."

Sirota adds: "Edwards knows, in other words, that the trade issue is going to be a major point of contrast for him in the Democratic primary - not unlike it was for Dick Gephardt when he pulled off his Iowa primary upset in 1988."

Also on trade, MyDD's Matt Stoller writes: "Talking about free trade is like talking about deregulation or the free market. It doesn't exist without context. NAFTA was an agreement to create giant prison camps of slave labor South of the border to compete with American union jobs, and prevent either the Mexican or American governments from interfering. Period. It had little to do with tariff reductions. Even Paul Krugman, at the time a free trader, called NAFTA a 'foreign policy' agreement not a trade agreement."

GORE: The Complete Package

Sunday Telegraphreports that Al Gore advisers are preparing for a possible WH '08 run were met with mixed netroots reactions. Sen. James Webb's (D-VA) campaign Netroots Coordinator Lowell Feld writes at Raising Kaine: "I'll tell you, Gore-Obama and Gore-Clark sound really good to me. Bill Richardson as Secretary of State and John Edwards as Attorney General? Those work for me too." Anoodle at Daily Kos was also excited: "I believe he is running. I don't care what he says publicly. ... There is no question, though, that he offers the closest thing to the complete package for the Dems."

TPM Cafe's Greg Sargent received swift denials from Gore's camp, including spokesman Michael Feldman: "Pure fantasy." The Huffington Post's David Roberts speculates: "To me this smells like an Edwards guy who's seized on an opportunity to make Hillary look bad. Gore's people don't think Hillary can win! I'll be surprised if there's anything more to it than that."

MyDD's Chris Bowers is also skeptical: "Extremely thin news reports in conservative English newspapers notwithstanding, I have always thought his entry was highly unlikely. ... If he doesn't start the race in front, it is hard to imagine that he would want to enter at all, given that he would already face a significant monetary and organizational disadvantage, on top of a polling disadvantage, to multiple candidates. What would be the point of a late entry if his odds of winning the nomination are low, especially given that a defeat in the 2008 primaries would end any future chance of winning the nomination?"

OBAMA: Sunday Green Sunday

In Iowa City, IA, on 4/22 John Deeth reports the soundtrack for Barack Obama's campaign stop "sounds like the [U2] "18" singles compilation since we're hearing greatest hits." On the crowd Deeth shares, "The organizers I chitchatted with expected roughly 6000. Crowd looks really young, very, very student. Feels more like October of election year than April of the year before."

Later Deeth highlights the Earth Day "chunk" of Obama's speech: "Global warming not open for debate. It's not irreversible - we know what we need to do. Low-carbon fuel standard like California would lower emissions 10% by 2020. We could increase fuel efficiency - 43 MPG would mean 0 oil imports from mid east. Just those two things could reduce greenhouse gases = to getting 90 million cars off road. Cap power plants and reduce emissions 80% by 2050. We can do these things now."

OBAMA II: The More Things Change ...

MyDD's Matt Stoller tracks MSM articles on Alan Solomont who "heads Obama's New England fundraising" and "was registered as a federal lobbyist as recently as ... 2006" who "argue[d] against tougher regulations of nursing homes" and "isn't exactly surrounding himself with the most ethical people ever."

Stoller comments: "I'm not a purist and I know that this is what you have to do to garner the huge sums of money to run for office. ... It's also wise to recognize that people who have profited immensely from the status quo do not necessarily believe that changing the status quo means what we think it means. There are lots of ways to make change happen."

OBAMA III: Nothing To Prove

TPM Cafe's MJ Rosenberg makes the case Obama need not be defensive about any lack pf experience on hi resume: "What you need is intelligence, character and humility. Our greatest President, Abe Lincoln, had a pretty thin resume. Two years in the House and a few more in the Illinois legislature. ... A great President also needs self-confidence. ... We need a President who will not feel that he has to prove anything (like to his father) and who understands that simply by becoming President he/she is, by definition, more accomplished than the rest of us non-Presidents!"

BROWNBACK: Trailing The Toms

IA's Krusty Konservative takes issue with Chris Cillizza's claim that "It's hard to find any neutral Republican observer who doesn't think Brownback will run stronger than expected in next year's Iowa caucuses." KK argues: "while Brownback has been working it in Iowa, I just don't know many people who are excited about his campaign. If Brownback was exciting social conservatives I don't think there would be such an appetite for Fred Thompson or Newt Gingrich to enter the race. Tom Tancredo and Tommy Thompson have more going on in Iowa than Brownback currently has."

ROMNEY: Pretty Much Every Pre-2/5 State Or Bust

SC's Daily Chaser and Race 4 '08 report Mitt Romney picked up victories in Richland and Greenville Co. GOP straw polls. The Chaser on Richland: "Attendants say that at least 200 more people attended the meeting but left after waiting for over 3 hours for the straw poll." On Greenville: "Romney and Huckabee showed strong ground game today in South Carolina's most important county. It's also important to point out that earlier this week we learned that McCain is paying State Senator Mike Fair $7000 for 'Get Out The Vote Consulting.' It looks like Fair was only able to turn out 17 folks to vote. We guess he's a pretty bad investment."

Race 4 '08 comments: "These two wins give Romney first place finishes in 10 out of 16 straw polls for which we can find results. McCain has 4 first place finishes, Hunter has one, and Cox has one."

Back in IA, Krusty Konservative reports: "Apparently the Romney campaign mailed out over 70,000 Mitt Romney DVDs which including commercials, background info, and interviews potential Iowa caucus goers. Then next week they plan on mailing over 200,000 pieces of literature to Iowans. ... It's obvious that the Romney campaign wants to move their Iowa numbers. It will be interesting to see if this investment pays off for the Romney camp. They already have assembled the largest staff in the state. It seems as its Iowa or bust for Romney.

THOMPSON: WSJ Against Charity

AmSpec Blog's John Tabin was unimpressed with Fred Thompson's WH Correspondent efforts to work the room: "Thompson's annoyed-to-be-here demeanor made me think that, in the end, he may decide not to run; if you don't like shaking hands and schmoozing, a presidential campaign probably isn't for you. ... the contrast with Mitt Romney, who I caught up with as he was jovially holding court at National Review's pre-dinner reception, was quite striking."

Pushing back against Wall Street Journalreporting on Fred Thompson's sons role in his father's PAC, RedState's Erick Erickson writes: "Notice they had to lump it all in to make it a really big number because saying they paid him about $48,000.00 a year for five years just doesn't sound as scandalous ... And what is more scandalous? Fred Thompson has given more money to charity than to candidates for public office! Oh, the horror."

IRAQ: Just Doing His Job

Maj. Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) "This war is lost" comment drove blogger commentary on Iraq throughout the weekend. Criticism from the right included:

• via Michelle Malkin, J.D. Johannes from Outside the Wire: "Just back inside some civilized wire (Camp Fallujah) and am reading Harry Reid's declaration on the war in Iraq being lost. The odd thing is that I think there are parts of Al Anbar province where the war may be over and we just don't realize it...
• Power Line's John Hinderaker: "If we have already lost in Iraq, then it is irrational to continue funding the war for another year. ... So why do so many Democrats persist in defeatist rhetoric which alienates millions of voters, has little empirical basis, and is inconsistent with their own policy prescription? I think this is another case where the Democrats' Bush-hatred has gotten the better of them.
• RedState's Jeff Emanuel after linking to positive coverage of Reid's comments from Al-Jazeera and Iranian state TV: "Very well done, Mr. Senate Majority Leader. Anything else you'd like to say to your people? After all, it's just between you and your anti-war base - and the whole world."
• NRO's Mark Levin: "Harry Reid ... by word and action is actively undermining our fighting men and women in Iraq. His legislative efforts to starve our armed forces in the middle of a war are as contemptible as anything I've witnessed in my 25 years in Washington."

Reid had plenty of defenders in the netroots though:

• Atrios: "CNN spent all day Friday hyping this "controversy," parading a series of Republicans - with no rebuttals - to talk about Harry Reid's dastardly statements. Keep doing it. People hate Bush and hate this war and the more the Democrats are associated with that view the more support they'll have.
• Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat: "Exactly and this applies to funding the Debacle as well. If Democrats will embrace Reid-Feingold it will be a political boon to their fortunes. Let the GOP and Bush wail that Dems want to end the war, or in the false rhetoric they will use - "abandon the troops." The American People want to abandon IRAQ."
• Daily Kos' mcjoan: "Some have questioned his rhetoric and his choice of words, calling it a gaffe. But what if Reid had carefully chosen his words? ... Maybe what Harry Reid is doing is his job as Senate Majority Leader. ... Maybe Harry Reid is forcing the Iraq debate into what the pundits will call politically risky territory because it's where the debate has to go. Maybe, Harry Reid is doing the bidding of the American people, and his patriotic duty, and is trying to lead the way out of Iraq.

MSNBC also came in for criticism, but CNN's Kyra Phillips drew the most negative netroots attention for her reporting on Reid's statements from Baghdad. TPM's Greg Sargent wrote: "Look, given CNN's abysmal coverage of the bogus Pelosi-to-Syria story, you'd think CNN would be trying a little harder this time to avoid complete capitulation to the White House/GOP spin on this story. But the network appears prepared to blow this one, too. In addition to Phillips, the Lou Dobbs show also let a battery of administration apologists unload the most fanciful of GOP talking points at Reid -- that Reid was appealing to the "antiwar left" and that Reid was saying flat out that Al Qaeda had won. No Dems were allowed to rebut these charges.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: A Million Nights

At The Huffington PostBarry Scheck shares his thoughts as Jerry Miller, who served 26 years for a rape, robbery, and kidnapping he didn't commit, became the 200th person freed by the Innocence Project:

I'm in Chicago for Jerry's exoneration today, and it's impossible not to think about all the other people who have walked out of prison after serving years or decades for crimes they did not commit. These 200 people are a remarkably diverse group - they include a rich man's son in Oklahoma, homeless people, school teachers, day laborers, athletes and military veterans. But mostly they are African-American men without money to hire good lawyers (or, sometimes, any lawyers). Combined, these 200 people have served about 2,500 years in prison - that's roughly a million nights in prison.

LEST WE FORGET: At Least He Didn't Blame Don Imus

Prompted by Newt Gingrich's refusal to back off '99 comments blaming the "liberal political elite" for school shootings, The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum writes:

I think Newt Gingrich has finally died and been replaced by a Newtbot. You know, one of those computer games where you type in a few initial subjects and it spits out some related nonsense prose in the style of a famous author. In this case, the author is Newt Gingrich. Or maybe, as in one of those old Superman comics, Newt has died and been replaced by a full-blown Newt robot. Except the power supply is running down and the poor thing is reduced to spouting nonsense in a vaguely Newt-esque style. Or....maybe Newt is still alive, but thanks to an alien virus even he can't talk like Newt anymore. He can only produce a parody of 1994-vintage Newt. That's probably it.

Posted by Conn Carroll at April 23, 2007 12:40 PM