June 18, 2007

6/18: MyDeparture

During a relatively quiet news weekend, the two Is -- Iraq and Immigration, dominated the attention of the left and right, respectively. Meanwhile, we note with interest the departure from MyDD of two of its leading voices: Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers. Along with DailyKos, MyDD has been at the forefront of the so-called "netroots" effort in the Dem Party. After playing a role in some key victories in the '06 elections, the duo is apparently giving up electoral politics for a new project dealing more with social justice issues. We'll see what impact the move has on MyDD and the netroots effort in general.

And speaking of those netroots, we note with interest a poll tucked away at DailyKos asking readers if they've donated to any '08 campaigns yet. With fundraising in the WH race is off to a torrid start, it may surprise some that nearly 70% of Kos' readers have not yet given yet. In fact, 27% don't plan to give at all. With Dem candidates all trying to show great strength among Internet donors, one could argue that they have work to do to capture this interested group.

IMMIGRATION: Casting Your Lott

Pres. Bush is raising money for immigration bill foe Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) in AL today, and Kathryn Jean Lopez says the timing couldn't be worse. "The bad news (besides the awkward factor) is Senator Sessions will have to be missing some of the Senate debate on amendments to appear with the amnesty legislation's leading proponent."

Glenn Reynolds says the Bush admin "is still acting like Democrats -- even to the point of complaining about the 'Right-Wing Blathersphere.' Do they want whining from Michael Chertoff and Trent Lott to form the public image of the Bush Administration and the Republican Party? Apparently they do. Good luck with that, guys." More: "It's not really a case of bloggers vs. the Administration. Rather, it's a case -- like Harriet Miers, Dubai Ports, PorkBusters, etc. -- of the Bush Administration ignoring the clear warnings available in the blogosphere."

Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin noted Friday that www.trentlott.com redirects you to MoveOn.org. "How appropriate. It is most definitely time for Trent Lott to Move On. ... Trent Lott and his ilk are on a suicide mission. Will they bring the GOP--and the country--down without a fight?"

John Hawkins interviewed NRSC chair John Ensign on Friday. Hawkins asked about the feedback at NRSC HQ to immigration. Ensign: "The number of calls to our personal offices as well as to the NRSC are overwhelming and they are overwhelmingly against the bill. It's, I don't know, ... a hundred to one against."

F. THOMPSON: Polls. We Got Polls. We Got Lots And Lots Of Polls

Patrick Ruffini looks at Fred Thompson's lead in the latest Mason-Dixon SC poll. "Fred has to be considered the frontrunner in South Carolina, for the same basic reason Rudy is the frontrunner in Jersey and Rudy and Romney can be expected to do well in New Hampshire: identity politics. Being the lone Southerner competing in the 'first in the South' primary can rocket you to the top of the heap like nothing else."

At the national level, Thompson places second behind Rudy Giuliani. The Corner's KLo notes: "When the poll is narrowed to just Giuliani and Thompson, Giuliani's lead actually grows (53-41, 12-point gap)." But Captain Ed says: "That's a pretty impressive showing for a man who has not yet taken the wraps off of the campaign."

McCAIN: OverReacting.com?

Matt Lewis follows up on reports that John McCain's purchased the domain www.mittvsfact.com. A source says it "was merely one of dozens of URLs the campaign has purchased over the last several months, with no plans to launch these websites any time soon. As someone who has worked on political campaigns, it does not strike me as odd for a campaign to purchase as many campaign-related URL's as possible."

GOP FIELD: From The Left's Point Of View

TheCarpetbagger Report asks: "Who is the most genuinely scary Republican presidential candidate?" And since Tom Tancredo "won't win any primaries," he sticks to the top tier. Giuliani "is autocratic, thin-skinned, and self-absorbed. He's inexperienced, ignorant about policy specifics, and his only selling point (performance on 9/11) doesn't stand up well to scrutiny."

McCain: "A shadow of his former self, the senator appears to be a man who';l do anything to win. McCain is combative and intolerant of dissent. He defends the indefensible and lashes out angrily at anyone who dares to disagree with him." Romney: "The man appears to have no real convictions at all." And F. Thompson: "doesn't seem to have any real rationale for seeking the presidency, other than the belief he might win. Thompson is at least as phony as Romney ... and developed a Bush-like reputation for being lazy and incurious."

HILLARY: Unstoppable?

The aforementioned Gallup poll also shows Hillary Clinton expanding her lead over Barack Obama, with John Edwards in third. Oliver Willis: "The Obama campaign has not taken advantage of the momentum they had after his announcement and I think they've suffered for it. I still have some worries about Sen. Clinton's possible nomination but less so since I saw her campaign's tactical mastery and subsequent ability to stay on message. They're the closest Democratic campaign to the 2004 Bush campaign as far as overall strategy goes (and certainly not on the issues) and that's an appealing position considering the media and opposition environment we face."

DEM FIELD: Strength In Numbers?

DailyKos runs a poll asking readers if they have donated to any Dem candidate yet up in '08. As of 7 am, more than 9K people had responded, and the results were as follows:

Yes 30%
No 42%
No, and I 27%
don't plan to

BLOGGER TRACK: Exit, Stage Left

Late Friday, Chris Bowers announced that he was leaving MyDD, where he's been blogging for three years (1,141 days, to be exact). He is starting a new Web site with Matt Stoller and Mike Lux of Huffington Post. Why leave? Bowers: "As much as I have enjoyed writing about politics and elections from a partisan Democratic viewpoint, my political background is in the social justice movement and decidedly on the left. I want to write about more than just elections and political infrastructure, and I want to explicitly work toward building a progressive governing majority. However, to do so would be to take MyDD too far away from its longstanding purpose." Stoller writes: "I hope, as Chris Bowers, Mike Lux, and I go on to our new venture, that we are able to help more people understand the power of disagreement, the power of ideas, and the power of dissent. The notion of unity is a very powerful framework, and it's one I believe in strongly."

Jonathan Singer follows up: "Simply put, there are going to be great holes to be filled (possibly, probably, unfillable ones); Matt's organizational prowess or willingness to speak truth to power, Chris's profound insights into American politics and the progressive movement." He then asks: "Where do we go from here?" He has "some ideas," and notes a new stable of bloggers at MyDD, but throws it open to readers for input. Meanwhile, DailyKos' Eugene writes: "The liberal blogosphere needs to change, dramatically, its aims and orientation. While focusing on electing any old Democrat may have made sense in the face of a brutal Republican onslaught, the first 6 months of the Democratic majority prove that it is not enough to just elect Dems. It is now time for us to move to the second, more important phase of our political work: rebuilding the Democratic Party itself."

IRAQ: Wake Me Up ...

Discussion of Iraq on the Sunday shows again sparked discussion on the left about whether the September update on the surge will really open the door to a withdrawal. John Aravosis notes that General David Petraeus answered no when asked on Fox whether "the job would be done by the surge by September." And on NBC's "Meet the Press," Amb. to Iraq Ryan Crocker said that in Sept, "We'll also try to provide an assessment of what the consequences might be if we pursue other directions." Aravosis: "Petraeus' plan for September is to so scare the American people, and our politicians, about what will happen if we leave Iraq, that no one will have the nerve to say enough is enough." He notes that would put the GOP in a bind, as reflected by Senate Min. Leader Mitch McConnell's (R) statement on CBS: "Everybody anticipates there will be a new strategy ... and I don't think we'll have the same level of troops that we have now."

Pejman Yousefzadeh counters: "It should surprise precisely no one that a surge in troops will be needed for longer than September in order to bring order and stability in Iraq." But: "I have long ago lost faith in the ability of the Bush Administration to campaign on behalf of seeing the reconstruction effort through. ... Petraeus is surely right in saying that the surge needs to be extended past September. If he and the White House manage to pull off actually extending the surge, it would be nothing short of miraculous."

Also at RedState, Bluey does a point-counterpoint on Petraeus vs. Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid, in the wake up him using the word "incompetent."

Several blogs on the left note today's New York Times report, that "the search for Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction appears close to an official conclusion, several years after their absence became a foregone one." Also of note the latest Washington Post report on the treatment of Iraq veterans. This one focuses on mental health. AMERICAblog posts under the header: "War vets are still being treated like dirt." And finally, after reading Seymour Hersh's story on ... Steve Soto wants the Abu Ghraib inquiry reopened.

As he often does with things like these, Atrios notes when a GOP timeline has expired. Six months ago, Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said: "We're spinning our wheels, and we've got to turn the corner on this thing, and we've got to do it, I would say, in the next six months." Atrios: "Approximately 490 US troops have been killed since then, and it does not seem that we have turned the corner." Miss Laura at DailyKos adds: "When will the traditional media start holding feet to the fire over these ever-shifting deadlines?"

LIEBERMAN: No Resolution

DailyKos' Kagro X writes about the potential effects if Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) decided to caucus with the GOP. Though it would move the Senate from 51-49 Dem to a 50-50 split, VP Cheney's tiebreaking vote would not make it a GOP-controlled Senate. That's because cmte leadership is set by an organizing resolution passed at the start of Congress, and that resolution contained no provision for a power-sharing agreement if somebody switched parties. "In order to change the way the Senate was organized, they'd have to pass a new resolution to supersede the old one, and while they'd have a numerical majority with Lieberman on their side, remember what we're constantly being told: it takes 60 votes to do anything in the Senate."

Now, that resolution is the same reason why Dems could not strip Lieberman of his chairmanship of the Homeland Security Cmte. Lieberman "nominally because of the agreement of the Senate Democratic Caucus to put him there. But officially, he's the Chairman because Senate Resolution 27 says he is. Try and repeal and replace that resolution in the middle of a fight in which Lieberman threatens to switch parties, and you see where this ends up going."

BLOGGERS VS. THE MSM: Meet The Pressure

Tim Russert, already held in low esteem by some on the left, did himself no favors with a recent FNC appearance. When asked about Dem WH candidates' boycotting a Fox-sponsored debate, Russert said: "It's a TV show. If you can't handle TV questions, how are you going to stand up to Iran, and North Korea, and the rest of the world?" Talking Points Memo's Steve Benen: "The point, which I'd hoped was obvious by now, is that Dems (accurately) perceive Fox News as a partisan outlet, with a Republican audience, and with an agenda contrary to Democratic policies. ... Mr. Russert, steering clear of such nonsense has nothing to do with an ability to 'stand up to Iran and North Korea.'"

HAMAS: Missing Medal

Lost in the latest turmoil in Gaza this weekend was a detail noted by several in the blogosphere: Yasser Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize was stolen. James Joyner provides a helpful roundup of some of the reaction. Maynard: "This violent criminal act is completely pointless. If Hamas had been willing to wait just a few months, the Nobel committee would have awarded them their own peace prize." TigerHawk: "I think this is hilarious ... the funniest thing Hamas has ever done." Don Surber: "Here is hoping they sell it on e-Bay to Castro."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: "I Blog, Therefore I Am"

Earlier, we noted Chris Bowers' departure from MyDD. In his farewell post, he offers this touching yet cautionary tale: "My existence has merged with the blog. When MyDD is doing well, I feel like I am doing well. When MyDD isn't doing well, I feel like I have failed. I blog, therefore I am."

LEST WE FORGET: Don't Stop ...

One week after the possibly disappointing/possibly enjoyable "Sopranos" finale, TownHall.com blogger Dean Barnett gives his list of the Top 10 Best Shows "evah":

• 1. The Sopranos
• 2. Hill Street Blues
• 3. The Wire
• 4. Rome
• 5. Picket Fences
• 6. Crime Story
• 7. Deadwood
• 8. The Twilight Zone
• 9. Star Trek: The Next Generation
• 10. Wiseguy

No signs of "The Simpsons" or "All In The Family."

Posted by Conn Carroll at June 18, 2007 12:45 PM