April 04, 2007

4/4: Raising 'The Rock Star' Bar?

While reports of IA crowd reaction to ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) are good, reports on the size of those crowds are underwhelming. Unfair or not, Giuliani is being cast as the 'rock star' candidate in the GOP field, and while that may have been a choice position to be in past cycles, this year it invites comparisons to the Dems rock star, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). So far Giuliani is simply not measuring up to Obama when it comes to turnout. The Giuliani camp never said they planned to make IA central to their strategy, but if Rudy plans to take the big 2/5 states, he better hope his rock star rises.

GIULIANI: 'Rudy The Baptist'

Rudy Giuliani received a few catcalls from grumbling patrons of Cedar Rapids, IA's First Ave. HyVee (known to the Krusty Konservative as the Ghetto-Vee). KK reports GOP precinct rep. Sarah Henderson was not notified of the event "til she read it in the morning paper."

More KK on reports Giuliani's Des Moines stop only attracted 400 to 500: "That size of crowd is comparable to what McCain had a few months ago, but it seems like some people thought he would be able to attract a much larger crowd. ... Overall it seems like it was a good trip, but I really thought he would have packed that gymnasium like Hillary and Obama did on their first visits to Iowa."

Townhall's Mary Katharine Ham also found the Des Moines crowds "smaller than [she] was anticipating" but those that were there were "enthusiastic" including a lady who told MKH Giuliani sounded like "a good Baptist preacher." Quips Ham: "Rudy the Baptist? Well, that's one way for him to get the evangelical vote."

Blogging from NH, The Corner's Rich Lowry files these tidbits:

• The Rudy Paradox: One thing I noticed last night was that almost all the questions were on national security-people consider Rudy the national security guy. But his answers on foreign policy and military affairs aren't deeply informed to my ear, making for an odd disconnect.
• Rudy the Good-Natured: "ne notable thing about him on the campaign trail is what a happy warrior he is. He pokes fun at New York constantly, and people love it.
• Overall Rudy Impression: "He's going to be a good candidate on the stump. He's likable, and has authority and star power. What he's going to have to worry about (no big surprise) is his positions on key issues, his past record, and his personal life-those things he doesn't have so much control over."

And in SC, The Daily Chaser reports that three GOP statewide officials and clients of consultant Rod Shealy will all soon be endorsing Giuliani.

MCCAIN: Guess This Friendship Is Officially Over

Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) MyDD claims that John McCain's staff approached him about a spot as VP in '04 drew a quick denial from McCain aides John Weaver and Mark Salter. Salter tells Townhall's Matt Lewis the suggestion is a 'fantasy' and Lewis recounts: "Out of respect for Senator Kerry (they worked together on the POW MIA issue), McCain allowed Kerry to talk with him on three occasions (sometimes this was on the floor of the Senate and sometimes it was over coffee). ... According to both men, Kerry ultimately offered McCain the Vice Presidency and de facto Secretary of State authority to join ticket. What is more, the offer did not involve McCain switching parties."

Some McCain critics couldn't resist the bait. The Right Angle's Matt Naugle writes: "So if this story is untrue, then what would motivate Kerry to lie? ... And regardless of if this story is false or true, the bigger problem for McCain is that this story is entirely believable."

Most conservatives doubted Kerry's version of events, reminding readers that just because something is "seared" into Kerry's "doesn't mean it occurred."

In Iraq related McCain blogging, NH's GraniteGrok's Doug Lamborn shares Team McCain's assessment of the war given to a blogger conference call: "The surge appears to be working. In Anbar province, McCain reports through his advisors, 16 of the 24 Sunni tribes are working directly with us to fight Al Quada."

ROMNEY: Still Working On Step One

Still talking about Mitt Romney's impressive Q1 totals, Townhall's Matt Lewis shares a Romney consultant's explanation of their importance: "Romney has proven his trump card that he's the only viable conservative in the race. ... They apparently feel that if Romney can make this a three-way race, Romney will be able to "out-conservative" McCain and Rudy. They believe these numbers do the trick. So step one was to make it a three-way race. Step two will be to be the most conservative frontrunner. And step three is the nomination."

The Corner's Rich Lowry filed these Romney reports from NH:

• On fundraising: "Two things I hadn't heard before: California was his biggest state for fundraising; and he had 32-33,000 individual donors. He mentioned the California factoid by way of arguing that he hadn't met most of the donors-they're just people who believe in the message of his campaign, he says."
• On CoH: "I'm told that that number will be "at least" $11.3 million, and could go a little north of that. I'm told that would make his "burn rate"-i.e., the percentage that he has spent of the money he has raised-51%. The $11.3 cash on hand would be in the ballpark of what McCain raised in the quarter."
• On Romney generally: "Seeing him on the trail reminds me of something Ramesh said in his McCain cover piece, that all three of the top GOP candidate are, in their own ways, strong. ... Romney is the guy everyone has been writing off and who has had a very tough year (until lately). But he is a very impressive guy-articulate, smooth, likable. If this is the worst of the top candidates, they are a strong bunch indeed."

Lowry also notes movement by Romney in IA polling which K-Lo quickly dubbed "MoMITTum." K-Lo also links to Romney's new "I Like Vetoes" ads up in IA and NH.

CLINTON: 'Bushian' Ideas Abroad, And Wal-Mart At Home

Hillary Clinton's internet dir. Peter Daou took to The Huffington Post to promote HRC's new petition calling for "President Bush not to veto the will of the people on Iraq." From the petition: "Join Hillary in telling him to listen to the will of the people and to Congress, withdraw his veto threat, and begin phased deployment of the troops out of Iraq."

Also focussing on Iraq, Matthew Yglesias argues Clinton's foreign policy don't really differ from Bush's that much: "Hillary Clinton laid out a reasonably clear vision in her January 2006 speech to Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. The way I read the speech, Clinton has very serious tactical disagreements with the Bush administration, but on some level agrees with the basic Bushian idea that actively seeking the political transformation of the Arab world ought to be America's key priority."

Not on Iraq, DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas chose 4/3 to remind readers that Clinton "was once on Wal-Mart's Board of Directors," linking to an '00 Village Voicearticle on the subject.

DODD: Passing The Iraq Test

Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat thanks Chris Dodd for stepping up and supporting the Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) bill mandating redeployment of troops in Iraq. BTD adds: "Thank you Senator Dodd. Senator Clinton? Senator Obama? And how about some statements of support from Edwards and Richardson?"

Bob Geiger is also a fan: "Kudos to Senator Dodd for again showing this kind of leadership and joining Senators Feingold, Reid and Kerry -- who endorsed the bill yesterday -- in fighting Bush's goal of stranding American troops in Iraq forever."

EDWARDS: No Trumping Him

Daily Kos' MeanBone trumpets Univ. of IA's new numbers showing 89% of caucus goers found John Edwards electable followed by Barack Obama at 87%. MeanBone comments: "Edwards holds the trump cards in Iowa, both in terms of actual support and potential gains. He already leads among likely caucus-goers, and more of them believe he is electable than they do either of the other top two candidates. He is well-positioned to claim the media's mantle of "winner" at the very start of the race and receive the free coverage that entails."

In other Edwards blogging Matthew Yglesias defends Edwards' health plan from libertarian attacks that it "would deny families the right to choose their own doctor." Yglesias responds: "This is just straight-up false -- nothing in Edwards' plan would do that. Nor, of course, do very many people have the right to choose their own doctor if they want their health insurance to cover it. Under Edwards' plan, however, there will be the choice of "a public insurance plan modeled after Medicare" which would offer such a right."

OBAMA: Bigger Than Jesus

TAPPED's Adele Stan is impressed with art student David Cordero's explanation for his paper mache Barack Obama as Jesus statute. Says Cordero:

All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins. ... In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped.

Stan finds Cordero's analysis "on target" adding: "we all want a shot of redemption, and the nomination of Obama would seem to offer that. ... For those who know there's something wrong with the fact that a black person has yet to grace a Democratic presidential ticket, an Obama candidacy relieves us of that guilt. ... And he's so brilliant and adaptable and, so far, unflappable that it's hard to make a case against him. The prospect for superhuman expectations of such a leader do run exceedingly high."

Also in Obama loving, The Huffington Post's Thomas de Zengotita hopes Obama finds "a really smart, funny white woman" to be his spokeswoman and blogs: " He represents a whole new possibility in our politics, in world politics--and possibility is, by its nature, indefinite. ... If Barack holds himself in reserve, he can emerge toward the end of 2007 in a form that could capture the unpredictable contours of that moment.

OBAMA II: He Keeps Good Company

Obama's once impeccable anti-war credentials continue to be assaulted. David Sirota points MyDD readers to a Radar Online tracking off-message past Obama statements, including: "Fast forward to 2006 when he told the New Yorker's David Remnick that senators who saw intelligence reports on Iraq may have been justified in voting for the invasion. 'I didn't have the benefit of U.S. intelligence,' he said. 'And, for those who did, it might have led to a different set of choices.'"

Matthew Yglesias, however, pushes back against claims Obama has not distinguished himself from Hillary Clinton on Iraq, dismissing a TPM Cafe study comparing Obama's and Clinton's voting records by saying: "voting records don't tell you all that much about where politicians' stand." Yglesias argues instead that a candidate's campaign hires tell you more about their foreign policy vision than their actual votes: "Obama appears to have an advisory team drawn disproportionately from the ranks of Iraq War opponents whereas Clinton is the reverse."

BLOGGERS VS. MSM: So What Are We, Chopped Liver?

Eric Boehlert's Media Matters piece attacking ex-ABC News pol. dir. Mark Halperin's stewardship of "The Note" is being widely linked to in netroots circles. Boehlert blogs: "the simple truth is that with Halperin at the helm, The Note went all-in on the Bush White House." First though, Boehlert tells readers why the Note mattered:

An inside-baseball daily for a readership dubbed the "Gang of 500" (politicians, lobbyists, consultants, and journalists who help shape the Beltway's public agenda), The Note was labeled in a lengthy, laudatory 2004 New Yorker feature "the most influential tip sheet in Washington." Few disagreed. The Note, committed to obediently reflecting the Beltway's chattering class, remains a central engine that drives conventional wisdom, which The Note clearly idolizes.

With Halperin now gone, Boehlert urges: "Indeed, if The Note wants to maintain its relevance, and if it wants to erase its already-established reputation as a laughingstock among increasingly influential progressives and Democrats, The Note will throttle back on its rampant, worshipful coverage of Republicans before it's too late."

Kos piles on: "Not only were Democrats taking their advice from this crap, but so was the rest of the DC press corps. A single partisan Republican at ABC News (and one that obsessively refreshed the Drudge Report for material) set the tone of the beltway punditry and straight media reporting."

BLOGGERS VS. BELTWAY: Can't We All Just Get Along?

DLC Chair Harold Ford Jr. went into the lion's den that is TPM Cafe in an attempt to remove the group's "bogey-man status" it has attained "in some parts of the progressive blogosphere." Ford writes: "In fact, the DLC's real political base is among state and local elected officials from around the country--many hundreds of them have gone through our policy development training and attended our annual National Conversations. Contrary to what many think, DLCers are often as frustrated with D.C-based political consultants and pollsters as anyone in the Netroots."

TPM's Josh Marshall notes: "If the comments are any indication, it'll be an uphill battle."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Real Change Has Real Costs

Noting that the John Edwards campaign, Al Gore, Brad Pitt, the Rolling Stones, Coldpay, the Olympics, and the Super Bowl are all claiming to either be carbon neutral now or soon, The Huffington Post's Scott Page shares "an inconvenient truth. ... Like most simple solutions to complex problems, the attempt to balance carbon with offsets is more symbolism than substance." Page explains:

If we all went the way of John and Al, then we'd have to balance out all of the carbon that we're spewing into the atmosphere, not just a few puffs of smoke at the margins. To do that, we couldn't just plant a few thousand acres of trees or open a few wind farms. We'd have to retrofit or shut down all of our coal-powered plants. We'd have to switch to more costly sustainable energy sources. We'd have to replace our gas burning cars and trucks with some alternative mode of transportation. And, we'd have to cut way back on air travel. Those fossil fuels that we did use, we'd have to burn in such a way as to sequester the carbon. These changes would be costly. ... Strong effective leaders take symbolic acts. So like many, I'm proud that John Edwards has chosen to go green. However, if he wants to change America, he must speak truth to power: real change will have real costs.

LEST WE FORGET: Punishment Enough

Picking up on stories from Sweden (where tax authorities refuse to register a couple's child as 'Metalica') and Germany (where the interior ministry is fighting to prevent a couple from naming their child 'Jihad), Michelle Malkin writes: "Ok, while I'm not a fan of either of those names, I am even more creeped out by these European laws regulating what parents name their babies. If they want to name their kid "Pilot Inspektor" or Kal-El, it's certainly cruel and ridicule-worthy. But illegal? Earning the lifelong resentment of their ill-named progeny should be punishment enough."

Posted by Conn Carroll at April 4, 2007 01:04 PM