August 30, 2007

8/30: Diluting The Bush Dog Brand

The netroots are not in the habit of listening to us insider-beltway-types, but we're going to offer some advice on their fledging Bush Dog campaign anyway: Don't make Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) the focus of your efforts. As we understand it, the Bush Dog campaign is part of a larger long-term effort to move Dems towards more progressive policies. The initial definition of a 'Bush Dog' after all was someone who had voted both for the Iraq war supplemental and the new FISA bill (and Chris Bowers also demonstrated large numbers of these Bush Dogs also voted for the Bankruptcy bill). Baird's only sin so far has been his recent change on Iraq. We are unaware of a long established Joe Lieberman-like history of undercutting Dems on other key issues. If the netroots wish to establish themselves as something more than an anti-war movement, Baird is not the best candidate to be run out of Congress.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:59 PM

CLINTON: Weapon Of Mass Persuasion

Reporting on Hillary Clinton's decision to deploy Bill Clinton to both IA and NH on 9/1-3, TPM's Eric Kleefeld comments: "Apparently the Hillary campaign still hasn't gotten the memo from all the pundits who keep telling us Bill Clinton and his personal lapses are a liability for Hillary. The reality is that he's been an asset for Hillary's campaign in multiple ways - from fundraising to reminding people of their fond memories of the 1990s."

Open Left's Chris Bowers also notes Bill's stepped up role and blogs: "Bill Clinton might be the ultimate Democratic primary campaign weapon for any candidate." Bowers cites: "I do know that after Bill Clinton campaigned for Hillary in Iowa back in early July, Clinton promptly increased her Iowa standing relative to Edwards according to Zogby, ARG, Research 2000, the University of Iowa, and Strategic Vision. Those five polling firms are the only outfits that took Iowa polls both before and after Bill Clinton came to Iowa, and in every single case they show Hillary Clinton rising."

More Bowers: "I am starting to think that if any Democratic candidate has a chance of defeating Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination, they will have to start making the argument that many of the problems we have faced as a country under the Bush administration were caused, at least in part, by the way our political system operated in the 1990's and earlier. Unless there is a repudiation of the 1990's, it is hard for me to see how anyone except Hillary Clinton will end up as the nominee."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:58 PM

DODD: Not Another Cent

Chris Dodd aide Tim Tagaris took to Open Left 8/29 to explain how the International Association of Fire Fighters endorsement "changes the race" for Dodd: "It's not just what the fire fighters stand for, or the awesome gold and yellow shirts ... it's the organizational skills they bring to the table. As the only union to endorse John Kerry in those heady fall days, you only have to look back to 2004 to see the IAFF has proven they know how to help a candidate win in Iowa and New Hampshire. Remember, John Kerry was down over 30 points in New Hampshire as late as November 2003."

Most bloggers linking accounts of the press conference paid more attention to what Dodd had to say about the $50 bil. Iraq supplemental request Pres. Bush just sent to Congress. From Dodd: "I don't intend to continue to fund the war over there that I think has no end. As long as we're there, I think the Iraqis are not going to come together as a people it's about time we wound down our military presence there."

Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat comments: "Dodd Leads Again On Iraq Now." MyDD's Todd Beeton blogs: "Chris Dodd, over the course of his campaign, has slowly but surely made the case that he is able and willing to be our fiercest protector on matters both big (the Habeus Corpus Restoration Act and The Gulf Coast Recovery Act of 2007) and small (his strong defense of dailyKos against the attacks of Bill O'Reilly.)"

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:57 PM

OBAMA: And He Overturned The Tables Of The Money Changers

Barack Obama's Financial Times article promising to help homeowner's avoid foreclosure by fining subprime lenders that "acted irresponsibly or committed fraud" received strong netroots support. MyDD's Max Fletcher blogs: ""Perhaps most prominently, Obama calls for fines to be levied against predatory subprime lenders in order to rescue homeowners facing foreclosure after receiving loans they could not afford. ... The second part of Obama's plan involves tighter regulation of the lending industry. Here, Obama returns to an old theme, arguing that it will take a reining in of the lobbying industry in order to achieve a reining in of the lending industry."

Daily Kos' Jerome a Paris comments on Obama's call for more regulation: "In fact, this is something that is required on a grand scale for the two industries that intersect in the mortgage industry: the financial sector in general and all industries providing consumer goods and services. ... This is one of the core functions of government - to protect weak and isolated individuals against the abuses of large commercial players."

Fletcher also compares Hillary Clinton's mortgage plan with Obama's: "Clinton's plan, introduced earlier this month, lacks the teeth of the Obama plan in that it doesn't propose fines on predatory behavior. ... Obama's mortgage plan is a strong progressive policy that holds predatory lenders accountable while saving thousands of families from financial ruin."

OBAMA II: Marshalling The Troops

The Huffington Post's Zach Exley continued his series on Barack Obama's field organization efforts. He writes from Atlanta, GA: "No one who attends a "Camp Obama" training weekend can deny that something truly beautiful is taking place inside the Barack Obama campaign. But beauty does not win votes. Is the campaign's innovative, intellectual and emotional training program leading toward electoral power, or just another screaming disappointment for the grassroots?"

TPM Cafe's Andrew Golis summarizes the rest of the article: "In particular, Exley focuses on the teachings of Marshall Ganz. ... Ganz is unquestionably the leader of this new contingent trying to change the party. I first met him when he trained the Dean Campaign's New Hampshire field staff on this new approach in 2003, and worked again with him when he advised the DNC's national field staff in 2004."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:56 PM

HUCKABEE: A Love-Hate Relationship

Conservatives continue to find much to love about Mike Huckabee, but ultimately they can't get past his "Bloombergian nanny-state scold" positions like a federal ban on smoking. Hot Air's Allahpundit favorably links to Huckabee's criticism of Fred Thompson at The Brody File and AmSpec Blog's James Antle blogs: "If I could fuse Giualini's economics with Huckabee's social views, I'd be pretty pleased. Unfortunately, they are both 50 percent leftists. In my opinion."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:55 PM

MCCAIN: If He Was As Pro-First Amendment As He Is Anti-Torture, He Might Still Be In This Thing

NRO's Jim Geraghty posts lengthy portions of a letter John McCain is sending to 250k GOPers in early primary states, including: "I am not naive. I know only too well the tools some governments have resorted to when threatened: indefinite detention without trial, torture of prisoners, and a belief that anything is permissible in dark places where power is the only law. But these tools are not American tools, and the easy way is not the American way. We must remain true to our ideals not in spite of the threats we face, but because of them."

Geraghty comments: "In the letter, McCain lays out the four themes he'll be pounding on from now until the primaries: the War Against Islamic Extremism, Government Reform and Fiscal Responsibility, Healthcare Reform,and Judges. What stands out to me about the letter? Well, McCain would never be so obvious as to throw gasoline on the are-Romney's-son's-chickenhawks fire. He would just obliquely mention that he's 'a father of two soldiers and five other children.'"

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:54 PM

ROMNEY: Yes, He Should Hope One Of His Campaign Chairs Gets Arrested In A Public Restroom Every Week

The Corner's Rich Lowry makes the case that the Larry Craig incident actually helps Mitt Romney: "Once he's over the momentary embarrassment of his association with Craiq, Romney is probably helped by this scandal at the margins. When a party is reeling from scandal after scandal - some of them involving gross sexual misconduct and adultery - the wholesome guy who is loyal to his wife and family is going to look more appealing."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:53 PM

ID SEN: Will What Happened In August, Stay In August?

Conservative calls for Larry Craig to resign are not abating. Michelle Malkin writes: "Larry Craig is bad for the GOP. Period. He's a distraction from bigger problems and more important policy debates. He should go away and get some help." RedState's Erick Erickson blogs: "The man pled guilty to the charges based on this incident. He should resign. Where are the other Republican Senators?"

The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez predicts the GOP's nightmare may soon be over: "Craig didn't have time to know of or fully process that ethics-investigation letter from Republican leaders yesterday. He's going to resign from his Senate seat before he has to return to chambers (i.e. by Tuesday). I just can't believe he'd go back facing that kind of no-confidence vote from colleagues. I don't think he fully thought through going back to work next week when he went out there, defiantly, yesterday."

There is also plenty of chatter on Craig, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), hypocrisy, and family values. The Corner's Jonah Goldberg shares reader email on the subject: "Using the relaxed standard, are you a hypocrite to support women's rights (Violence Against Women's Act) if you are a serial sexual harasser? How about pushing for tax increases if you pay only the amount the law requires and do not voluntarily pay more? What about pushing for gun control when you have a license to carry a concealed weapon or use armed body guards? No school vouchers when your own kids are in private schools? Propose wind power but not in view of your own home? Stop driving SUV's while living in 20k square foot home? This is fun!"

On the left, Daily Kos' mcjoan is already salivating over a possible messy GOP primary: "Pat Toomey, Club for Growth president and BFF of crazy Idaho Rep. Bill Sali took aim yesterday against Idaho's other representative in Congress and fellow Republican, Mike Simpson, one of Idaho's most popular Republicans. ... I think the odds of having an interesting Republican primary in Idaho next year just got a lot better. ... In the meantime, the Democrats have a solid candidate in the race. This race should go to the front of the pack. The Dems have cleared the field for Larry LaRocco, a seasoned, smart, and energetic campaigner, who also happens to be a Kossack.... Larry LaRocco's diary is up. Go say "hey."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:52 PM

WA 03: The Dreaded 'L' Word

Despite voting against the original authorization for the war and against FISA reauthorization, the netroots are considering making Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) the poster child for their 'Bush Dog' campaign designed to pressure Dems into standing up to Pres. Bush. Open Left's Matt Stoller makes the case against Baird:

What makes him more Joe Lieberman than Ben Nelson? ... Here are the three keys to Baird's Bush Doggedness. 1) Baird serves as a useful idiot: 2) Baird has taken a Broder turn: 3) Baird hides behind American exceptionalism. ... It is extremely unlikely in the near term that we'll ever have another Democratic politician as bad and high profile as Lieberman, but Brian Baird definitely patterns his career after Lieberman. It's all there: the useful idiocy, the Broder turn, and the hiding behind American exceptionalism.

Judging from The Ridenbaugh Press' Randy Stapilus reports on a 8/27 townhall in Vancouver, WA, Baird's constituents may agree with Stoller: "The audience atmosphere was a little Pentacostal ... Cries of "impeach Bush" or "end the war" and similar calls punctuated questions, answers and everything else. In the two hours we were there, not one questioner - out of perhaps 20 - expressed anything other than disgust and outrage at Baird's new take on Iraq. To judge from audience reaction, a portion of the crowd of perhaps 400 to 500 (those that were inside - the room was filled solid and others couldn't get in) supported him, but that portion was surely less than 10%."

Open Left's Chris Bowers adds: "I just got off the phone with Ciaran Clayton, Brian Baird's press secretary. I asked her if he's going to support the $50B supplemental request, and she said 'he probably will'."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:52 PM

IRAQ: Round II

Open Left's Chris Bowers sets the stage for 9/07: "The timeline for the next Iraq funding fight in Congress is now set. Congressional hearings on Iraq will begin in mid-September, including the testimony of General Petraeus on September 11th. Shortly thereafter, the Bush administration will request another $197 billion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And so, the fight over Iraq funding, which dominated Congress, headlines and the efforts of progressive activists from February through May, will be officially re-engaged."

Bowers the argues that the netroots can best help Dems by whipping the party in favor of including "a binding timeline for withdrawal." Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat notes that Dems and the netroots have been down that road before: "I believe this request provides Congress another chance to set an end date to the Iraq Debacle. The Congress must set a date certain for ending funding for Iraq Debacle operations. If they lack the political courage to say no to this funding request, the Congress must insist that this is the LAST request and that there will be no more funding for Iraq Debacle operations after a date certain. I suggest March 31, 2008."

On the right, Townhall's Hugh Hewitt sums up his major disagreement with The Pentagon's New Map author and ex-John Kerry adviser Thomas Barnett: "I will ask Dr. Barnett back next week, but it seems to me that advocates of his strategy of an even more comprehensive withdrawal have to begin their analysis by asking the people who are there or who have been there recently what they see happening in Iraq. What a folly and a terrible tragedy it would be if the U.S.abandoned Iraq to a paroxysm of sectarian killing far worse than that of 2006, and to another tyrant in the mold of Saddam if it could have been avoided. As long as there is a good, or even "some" chance of that result, we should be supporting the surge."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:51 PM

BLOGGERS VS MSM: What's A Little Assault And Battery Among Friends?

The netroots want Tucker Carlson's head over his 8/28 description of a restroom incident in Georgetown when Carlson was in high school. From Carlson on MSNBC:

I've been bothered in Georgetown Park. When I was in high school. ... I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him, and -- and -- Hit him against the stall with his head, actually! And then the cops came and arrested him. But let me say that I'm the least anti-gay right-winger you'll ever meet.

After Media Matters posted a transcript of Carlson's remarks, Carlson emailed MM to clarify:

Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.

Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me.

The netroots were not buying Carlson's second story:

• Louise at Daily Kos: "Fire Tucker Carlson. NOW. When did committing a hate crime become a amusing anecdote to brag about on a national cable news cast?"
• Steve Clemons at Andrew Sullivan: "Read the full transcript (or watch the video clip) which is pretty disgusting, not just because Tucker Carlson, self-described as "the least anti-gay right-winger you'll ever meet", admits to beating up someone trolling for sex in a public bathroom -- but because Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough just laugh."
• TAPPED's Sam Boyd: "We have a name for beating up gay people for their sexuality Tucker, it's called a hate crime and I'm kind of amazed you can just describe one on TV without consequences."
• Atrios: "There are so many things here from Dan Abrams thinking this is funny* to the fact that Tucker actually went to get a friend so that two could do the job. But also just consider how Tucker would react if women responded to being "bothered" by men by going and getting friends to beat the crap out of them."
• Reno and Its DiscontentsMyrna the Minx: "That's right folks. Tucker just outed all right-wingers as anti-gay. Understand that he's the least anti-gay of the anti-gayers, but there you go. Nobody has to pretend anymore. Thank God."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:50 PM

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: You Are What You Play

Spurred by news of a project that is attempting to merge the web and video games by "developing 'Passively Multiplayer Online Games' where your history of web browsing defines your online character," The Huffington Post's Hugh McGuire blogs: "

All this data we are putting into the web - say, into our blogs and into facebook and elsewhere, could be used for much more than just figuring out what kind of sneaker ads we're likely to want to see. If you have a big enough and powerful enough database, and you felt like tracking more complex things than ad click-thru rates, you could start figuring out how different cues actually affect decisions, actions and opinions of specific people or groups of people.

And you could start correlating profiles with actions. Which in effect is what pollsters do, but with tiny bits of bad data from surveys and focus groups, from a discrete moment in time, and without any way to measure how responses correlate with actions. Whereas the net - and places like facebook - are enormous databases of detailed info about specific people, tracking not just static points of what they like or don't like, but also some of the things they actually do on the net, over weeks, months or years.
And that means, if you have access to that database, you might have a good platform to craft a strategy to make people do what you want them to do.

LEST WE FORGET: Who Will Kick Our Extra Points?

The Huffington Post's Caleb Powers has thoughts on how the US could get a more efficient use out of David Beckham:

Before all is said and done, soccer superstar David Beckham will be motorboating back to England with a quarter of a billion dollars piled up behind him. In his wake will be the burst bubble of American interest in a sport we'll never accept, with all the pundits talking about our "irrational exuberance" for a guy who essentially does the job of the least-respected athletes in normal American sports, placekickers. (If the movie had been "Bend It like Morten Anderson," we could be living in a very different world.)

But what's done is done. Stupid water under the idiot bridge. Now that the United States has leased David Beckham, we should at least send him where he will actually accomplish some long-term good. I'm talking, of course, about Iraq. Not to fight; insurgents wouldn't really care if we tried giving them a yellow card for tripping in Sadr City. Instead, we should send him to Iraq to play soccer. ... I hope this is part of the Petraeus report. For a paltry $250 million, the United States has an obligation to its own people, its marketers, and the rest of the world to put Beckham on a one-way flight to Baghdad. We misplace that kind of money like it was going out of style. And there's nothing David Beckham would hate more than going out of style.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:49 PM

August 29, 2007

8/29: Too Close For Comfort

With Rudy Giuliani firmly ahead in nat'l polls, Mitt Romney has little room for error if he's going to turn early victories in IA and NH into a strong 2/5 finish. So far, Romney has run a tight and disciplined campaign that helps reinforce the 'competence' rationale. But that's what makes Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) connection to the campaign so damaging. The Blogometer is not tuned into rumors in Boise but there has long been blogger speculation that Craig could be a liability for a 'family values' focused-candidate like Romney. As much as it pains them to do so, in the future GOPers might want to invest some resources towards finding out if there is anything behind salacious blog rumors.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:07 PM

ID SEN: No Sparing This Square

Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) 8/28 press conference denying any inappropriate bathroom behavior did not convince any conservatives to back down from call for his resignation. RCP Blog's Tom Bevan writes: "Craig wants the public to believe his actions in the bathroom of the Minneapolis terminal were somehow misinterpreted or misconstrued by the arresting officer. The problem with this line of argument is that we're not talking about some abstract situation that leaves much room for reasonable doubt in the mind of the public. Everyone in America has been in a public restroom, and everyone knows what kind of behavior to expect there. The sort of behavior described by the officer is way out of the norm and defies simple or alternate explanations like "I have a wide stance." It's just creepy, and everyone knows it."

Also at RCP, John McIntyre notes Survey USA polling showing 89% of IDans are aware of the story and 55% of them want Craig to resign. McIntyre adds: "I would expect the pressure for Craig to resign will only grow until it is clear to him, his best option is to step aside." Only 2% of Michelle Malkin's readers want Craig to serve out his term.

AmSpec Blog's David Hogberg makes his case for resignation: "If the GOP can't figure out that this is time to push aside one of their own so that someone with a clean slate can run in his place, then this party has some huge problems." The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez also sees big trouble for the GOP brand: "I also think that the longer Craig hangs on...it's going to hurt folks who I want in office; the cloud is not just over Idaho. And I think the pile-on may have something to do with that frustration - with yet another elected official (and Republican again) in trouble."

A lengthy Glenn Greenwald post accuses conservatives of hypocrisy for ignoring 10/6 blog rumors that Craig had a history of public restroom dalliances while immediately calling for Craig's resignation after he plead guilty to disorderly conduct. Greenwald blogs: "As always, it is astonishing to observe how the same human brain can accommodate those two opposite thoughts only a few months apart without even realizing that it is doing so." Greenwald later responds to arguments that there might be a difference between ignoring blog rumors and ignoring official police reports: "The outrage at Rogers was not based -- certainly not principally -- on the premise that his report was unconfirmed. The crux of the condemnation, often the exclusive argument, was that Rogers' report about Craig was completely irrelevant even if it were true, because it was only about Craig's private sexual behavior, which should be immune from public consideration."

Townhall's Dean Barnett responded to charges that he was a hypocrite for supporting the ouster of Craig, but not admitted prostitute patron Sen. David Vitter (R-LA): "I don't think it's hypocrisy. By dint of thousands of years of tradition, seeking out sexual liaisons in a Men's Room is a lot more, um, exotic, than doing the same with a prostitute of the opposite sex. That's just the way it is. I don't think it's homophobic or hypocritical to take note of that obvious fact."

At TPM CafePaul Kiel reports Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint against Craig with the Senate Ethics Cmt. From CREW ex. dir. Melanie Sloan: "If pleading guilty to charges stemming from an attempt to solicit an undercover officer in a public restroom is not conduct that reflects poorly upon the Senate, what is?"

Also at TPM, Eric Kleefeld sees little chance of a Dem pick up: "Do Dems have a chance of picking up Larry Craig's Senate seat in the wake of his conviction for disorderly conduct in a public men's room? The short answer: A Dem pickup is not very likely." Daily Kos' mcjoan also sees a Dem pick up as an uphill climb but argues the scandal is just another vindication of Howard Dean's 50 state strategy: "Ground-shifting political events can happen anywhere, and while Alaska and Idaho are still long-shots for the Dems, we have a shot precisely because of the 50 state strategy--because there are now people on the ground to actually take advantage of any opening we get and run with it."

In other Craig related squibs, TPM's David Kurtz links to a CBS affiliates re-enactment of the bathroom scene, The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez notes that Craig opposed renewal of the Patriot Act on privacy grounds, and Jonah Goldberg cracks jokes:

Since prominent liberals feel perfectly comfortable lecturing everybody else about how we all have to reduce our CO2 emissions while they fly private jets, maintain numerous - lavish - homes and in all other ways burn through a whole lot of carbon so long as they buy "carbon offsets," perhaps closeted gay Republicans can buy "gay offsets" which would allow them to privately take the Nestea plunge into a lake of cabana boys so long as they cut a check to the "heterosexual" cause of their choice.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:06 PM

GIULIANI: 2/5 Or Bust

Race4'08s MattC links to reports of Rudy Giuliani's "FL is a firewall" Powerpoint and Politico reports that Giuliani's ad team is focussing on 2/5 states like IL, GA, and OK and concludes: "One of the most exciting and interesting things about this primary season are the completely different approaches the candidates are taking to it. Romney is focusing on all the early states (as shown in his recent campaigning in Nevada and Wyoming), Rudy is focusing on Florida and the February 5 states, McCain is focusing (partly not by choice) entirely on New Hampshire, and Fred Thompson well, who knows what Fred's plan is at this point."

NY Sun's Ryan Sager also picks up on the ad buy story and comments: "Just another data point going to show that the former mayor's campaign is focused on a national primary, significantly deemphasizing the traditional early states."

HUCKABEE: Game On

The Brody File is posting snippets from his interview with Mike Huckabee including Huckabee's thoughts on Larry Craig ("Frankly Americans will forgive us for being sinners") and on Mitt Romney's religion: "I think everybody's faith, their career, their family all of those things are part of what helps people to determine whether a candidate is acceptable to them and whether they want to support a candidate. Should it be the sole criteria? No, it shouldn't. Is it a criterion? It always has been for me in that people have looked at me and said 'do I want to support a guy who's a Pastor?'"

Meanwhile, RedState's Jeff Emanuel is not pleased with Huckabee's call for a federal smoking ban: "Ah, the nanny stater comes out in the second-tier candidate."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:05 PM

ROMNEY: Wait ... Clinton's Not Responsible For Every Moral Failing?

Larry Craig's restroom adventures are sparking criticism of Mitt Romney. Race4'08s Tommy Oliver hits Romney for not seeing this coming: "In an argument I had last night with a prominent blogger ... he said something to the effect of I'd have a problem with this if Romney knew about it beforehand. Well, it seems as though every prominent elected official, not to mention a large portion of the country, were aware of this man's past transgressions. As organized and well researched as Governor Romney's campaign is, if he didn't know about it, then I have seriously overestimated his competence."

AmSpec Blog's Jennifer Rubin was no fan of Romney's response to Craig's actions: "I fully appreciate he has the unenviable task of disassociating himself from someone whose behavior is utterly repugnant to the social conservatives he is courting. However, the analogy to Mark Foley and Bill Clinton seems wrong and opportunistic. Yes, in the most generic sense Craig, Foley and Clinton all disappointed their families and constituents, but the similarities stop there. Foley's actions preying on minors are in a legal and moral class of their own. Clinton's great wrong was lying under oath, not illegally prowling a men's room. For GOP presidential hopefuls not everything should be about the Clintons and not every failing by a supporter should be used as a springboard to garnish political brownie points in the "I'm holier than the Washington crowd" contest."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:04 PM

DEM FIELD: Feel The Kumentum

Daily Kos is conducting their 8/07 WH '08 straw poll. John Edwards currently leads Barack Obama 35% -29% with Hillary Clinton in third with 8%. Dennis Kucinich (7%) has moved past Bill Richardson (6%).

In other non-live telephone polling, Open Left's Chris Bowers refutes 'buzz' that John Edwards has pulled into a tie with Barack Obama for second place in Rasmussen's tracking poll. Bowers argues that since the eventual winner of IA will receive a strong bounce, the race has always been as tight and muddled as IA's virtual three way tie. Bowers does add though:

Still, Edwards does indeed face a serious problem where, despite his frequent and extremely important advantage in Iowa, he severely lags behind Obama and Clinton in terms of news coverage. Unfortunately for Edwards and Edwards supporters, however, that disadvantage has, throughout the campaign, had very little to do with actually being in third place in the nomination campaign. If Edwards is going to break through the two-person horserace narrative, basically the only means I can see is to educate the national media on the importance of winning Iowa.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:03 PM

EDWARDS: We Want You! For The ABC Army

MyDD's David Mizner is demanding to know "What's the Sphere Waiting For?" after John Edwards "gave a speech saying exactly what progressives want pols to say" 8/23. Mizner notes that there were two higly commented diaries at Daily Kos, "but the reaction from the big blogs was mixed, at best." Mizner blogs: "The reaction of big bloggers to JRE's sublime speech points to a larger issue ... the failure, or slowness, of progressive bloggers to line up behind what Stirling Newberry calls the 'essentially progressive major candidate.'"

Mizner concludes: "Edwards or Obama will likely need a push from the netroots to beat Hillary: make no mistake, to remain neutral, whether you're a union or a progressive blog, is to help Hillary. It's odd to see elite bloggers fretting about Hillary's lead at the same time that they refuse to get behind an opposing candidate. ... A progressive sphere that doesn't back a progressive candidate is less influential than it could and should be."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:02 PM

OBAMA: Growing Pains

Responding to Zach Exley's Huffington Post piece on Barack Obama's field organization plans, Open Left's Matt Stoller casts doubt on Obama's ability to build "a parallel and under-the-radar organization that is community and organizer based." Stoller remembers: "In 2006 during the Lieberman-Lamont primary, Lieberman brought in a 'legendary' New Jersey operative to run a 'legendary' field campaign. They lost by 4 points anyway. In the general, Lieberman basically didn't do field, and he crushed Lamont's 'legendary' field campaign by 10 points."

Stoller then links to other reports from the field on Obama's ground efforts at The Huffington Post. Mayhill Fowler reports from Oakland, CA, suggest independent Obama efforts are having a tough time coordinating their efforts and Glynnis Macnicol Brooklyn, NY, Obama campaign encounter led her to conclude: "Tonight's rather large misstep in terms of crowd expectation and basic organization may just be an example of growing pains in a campaign that is still learning the ropes - or, it may be a sign of stress fractures in structure not fully prepared to go the distance."

In other Obama tidbits:

• Matthew Yglesias finally remembered to post on the importance of "Zbigniew Brzezinski's endorsement of Barack Obama." From Yglesias: "I see this as a significant development. Brzezinski is one of the leading members of what you might call the foreign policy counterestablishment that's slowly emerged over the past four years."
• a Daily Kos diarist sums up Politico coverage of ex-VA Gov. Doug Wilder's kind words for Obama: "Wilder is a prickly and often unpredictable man -- he infamously has supported George Allen in the past -- so his support of Obama's campaign is by no means reflexive or automatic. It indicates Obama is a viable candidate in Virginia -- a must-win state for the GOP in 2008.
• Talk Left's Jeralyn Merritt notes that Stop the Drug War is not impressed with Obama's drug policy: "Obama's drug war revitalization plan for New Orleans is the latest step in his successful bid to be the worst on drug policy among the democratic presidential contenders."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:01 PM

HOUSE '08: Burning For Darcy

The netroots easily surpassed their $100k fundraising goal for ex-Microsoft exec. Darcy Burner. The push for cash was timed to coincide with Pres. Bush's $250K haul for Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA). Atrios notes, "At last check, 573 atriots gave $25,194.75, more than one quarter of the goal."

Daily Kos' mcjoan promises to take the "Burn Bush" strategy implemented in WA-08 for Burner national: "We want to take the Burn Bush strategy to every district where a solid, netroots supported Dem candidate is running. What good is lame duck Bush to the Republicans any more, other than as a fundraiser? We want to neutralize his ability to make money for Republicans. We want every Republican who brings Bush in to his or her state or district to raise money to hurt for their efforts. We want to make sure that every Bush visit is highly publicized and no one can just sneak him in without the voters knowing about it."

Also in down ballot blogging, Open Left's Chris Bowers farcically suggests Dems should all stop wasting resources on the WH '08 primary since everybody know Hillary Clinton is going to be the nominee in the end. The target of Bowers sarcasm is local opposition to Open Left's 'Bush Dog' campaign which is still collecting information before deciding on which Dems too supportive of Pres. Bush they will target for primary challenges. Bowers argues: "I have to wonder if people don't think presidential primaries are a waste of resources, but think some congressional primaries are a waste of resources, because they don't actually believe that any primaries are a waste of resources, and instead simply favor the incumbent Democrat in the primary to which they are applying the argument."

And on the right, RedState's Mike Krempasky announces that RightRoots.com has re-opened its doors: "And make no mistake - this is the tool that we've been waiting for, hands down. ... The new site is simple, it's straightforward, it's well-designed, and it's open to anyone that wants to help a candidate with an (R). It's not hung up on (distracted by, in my mind) building community, being persuasive, garnering support - or anything else for that matter. It's a transactional vehicle and a hugely valuable piece of infrastructure for conservative activists online. As it should be.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:00 PM

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Just Wait Till They Get Their Hands On Go Dogs Go!

Reminiscing on his Property law lecture from earlier in the day, The Volokh Conspiracy's Ilya Somin links to an old Jonathan Adler post reinterpretation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax as a classic tragedy of the commons tale:

Viewing the tale of the Lorax through an institutional lens, ruin is not the result of corporate greed, but a lack of institutions. The truffula trees grow in an unowned commons. (The Lorax may speak for the trees, but he does not own them.) The Once-ler has no incentive to conserve the truffula trees for, as he notes to himself, if he doesn't cut them down someone else will. He's responding to the incentives created by a lack of property rights in the trees, and the inevitable tragedy results. Had the Once-ler owned the trees, his incentives would have been quite different - and he would likely have acted accordingly - even if he remained dismissive of the Lorax's environmental concerns.

LEST WE FORGET: How Not To Get Arrested While Pooping

In light of FL state Rep. Bob Allen's (R) and Larry Craig's recent "bathroom mishaps," The Palm Beach Post's Fran Cerabino enumerates four lessons for "guy bathroom etiquette," including:

• Lesson No. 1: If a guy is in an adjoining stall, it's probably not a good idea to knock and then step into the guy's stall. This was one of Allen's major social faux pas. Generally, the rule is one guy per stall ... Allen explained that his visit to the undercover officer's stall was to ask "if he's all right." Allen said he was just checking because there was lightning in the area.
• Lesson No. 2: When in doubt, assume that the guy in the next stall hasn't been struck by lightning.
• Lesson No. 3: Limit your "wide stance" tendencies while using a stall in a public restroom.
• Lesson No. 4: Don't stick your hand under the divider and wiggle your fingers at the stranger in the next stall. He might think you've been struck by lightning.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:59 PM

August 28, 2007

8/28: Campaigns Of The Rich & Famous

With such a small gap between the first four (five if you count FL) WH '08 contests (starting 1/14 in IA and ending 1/29 in SC) it's entirely possible that past polling bumps for early contest winners won't have time to materialize. If so, the 2/5 nat'l primary could prove decisive. As expensive as those 2/5 media markets are, however, don't expect Barack Obama to leverage his cash advantage over the airwaves. AS Zach Exley reports on The Huffington Post, it appears Team Obama would prefer to pour their millions into an unprecented nationwide primary campaign GOTV operation. If you still needed proof that a compressed primary schedule would only allow the top fundraisers to be competitive, this is it.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:04 PM

PROSECUTOR PURGED: We've Only Just Begun

The netroots did take a moment to celebrate the ouster of AG Alberto Gonzales (Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall receiving the lion's share of the praise), but also were quick to refocus their efforts on larger issues. At Daily Kos, Cenk Uygur explains why Gonzales' resignation could never have come with out Karl Rove's earlier departure: "The resignations have nothing to do with spending more time with the family; they have everything to do with Congressional subpoenas and the US attorneys investigation."

Also at DailyKos, founder Markos Moulitsas admonishes the DSCC and DCCC for using Gonzales' resignation in their fundraising appeals: "yeah, I know your investigations were part of the reason that Gonzales quite Justice, but it's sort of unseemly to be taking credit for it and raising money considering that you just voted Gonzales vast new (and unconstitutional) powers before the recess. And I hate to say it, but that ridiculous FISA vote strips much of your credibility on this."

Turning to Gonzales' replacement, Daily Kos' Trapper John argues "it should be assumed that anyone who has served in an appointed capacity in this Administration is loyal to Bush, not the Constitution" and should therefore be disqualified for nomination. At TAPPED, Ann Friedman makes the case against interim AG Paul Clement, Crooks and LiarsJohn Amato takes on Michael Chertoff.

Finally, Open Left's Chris Bowers worries "Technocratic Liberalism" is too focussed on "scalps" and is not making progress on changing any policies: "We get the scalps from the criminals, the incompetent, and the unethical, but we are not changing the policies. I think this is a demonstration of the weakness of the anti-ideological argument many have pushed on the Democratic side for these past few years, not to mention serves as another example of the general ineffectiveness of technocratic liberalism when faced with the ideological, conservative movement. ... We are not doing a very good job of articulating our values in these disputes, and so we end up with a lot of scalps, but also with very little change in the operation of the federal government itself."

PROSECUTOR PURGE II: Gonzales Had A Credibility Problem?

Sympathy for Gonzales was hard to fine among conservatives, but The Corner's Rich Lowry did post an DOJ insider's take: "He decided to leave based on the stress and impact on his family of staying on the job; on the distraction staying would have represented to the department; on the work he had done to get the department stabilized; on the fact that, with a huge FISA fight coming, the department needed someone with 100% credibility leading it."

Ted Olson and Paul Clement are emerging as consensusconservativefavorites to replace Gonzales. Also mentioned: ex-Rep./SEC chair Chris Cox.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:03 PM

ID SEN: Alberto Who?

Conservative reaction to news of Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) conviction for lewd conduct was swift and unforgiving. Townhall's Hugh Hewitt urged readers to read the arresting officers report and concluded: "Senator Craig Should Resign. Today."

Some tried to find humor in the situation. Captain's Quarters asked: "How long before Craig checks himself into rehab or finds Jesus?" The Corner's Jonah Goldberg poked fun at Craig's "he said/he said" denial of wrongdoing: "Call me crazy, but I would have thought that it's press flacking 101 not to further sexualize a controversy in which you are denying that sex had anything to do with it. Other great denials might be ... 'This is all a terrible misunderstanding. The Senator is a bus station man.'"

Others took the opportunity to grind axes. RedState's Erick Erickson equated Craig's misdeeds with Rep. Ken Calvert's (R-CA) ethical troubles and blogs: "If we do not clean our own house, the voters will do it for us." Hot Air's Allahpundit noted that Craig "voted yes on shamnesty cloture. Fare thee well, Larry."

Boise, ID, native mcjoan from Daily Kos breaks down the succession possibilities should Craig resign: "The order of succession in Idaho GOP politics would pretty much require that Gov. Butch Otter name his Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, who's been practically foaming at the mouth for this seat in what many Idahoans considered a rather unseemly display. Otter, however, hates Risch, and the two are currently at contretemps that threaten to engulf the whole state party." Mcjoan predicts Rep. Bill Sali (R-ID) will make a move for the seat.

In other Craig fall out, AMERICAblog's Pam Spaulding tracks Mitt Romneys video scrubbing of Craig's presence in the Romney campaign. Also, Talking Points Memo unearths ABC News video from '82 page sex scandal that includes Craig's denial of any involvement."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:02 PM

CLINTON: Revenge, A Dish Best Served Caliente

Open Left's Chris Bowers crunches the numbers on general election match-up polling to determine if there is any evidence to back up claims that Hillary Clinton is less electable than Barack Obama and John Edwards. Bowers concludes: "In short, across the board I don't think that there is any clear evidence pointing to Hillary Clinton as less electable than Barack Obama and John Edwards at this time."

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas links and adds: "I'd take Obama, Edwards, Dodd, and Richardson (not in that order) before I would vote for Hillary in my primary ballot. BUT, that doesn't meant that "she's not electable" line of attack against her isn't bulls**t. The data definitely does not bear that out. My argument against her, aside from her mushiness on Iraq and refusal to acknowledge her mistake in voting to authorize this war, is that she could hurt Democrats down-ticket. But as for her electoral chances, they are just as good if not better than any of the other top-tier Democrats and probably the second tier as well."

At MyDD, Todd Beeton notes that if Michael Chertoff is selected to replace AG Alberto Gonzales, Clinton opposition to Chertoff's confirmation would serve as "sweet revenge" for Chertoff's role in '90s Whitewater investigations.

CLINTON II: S-CHIPing Her Way To Universal Health Care

Reporting from The Livestrong Forum in Cedar Rapids, IA, MyDD's Nate Willems says Clinton's "best moment" came when she promise to "end the war against science led by the Bush Administration." Also talking HRC and health care at MyDD, George P cites Gallup data showing Dems trust Clinton health care more than any other Dem and adds: "She has done a great job with S-CHIP, and what better "training on the job" for Universal Health Coverage than working on and pushing through that program?"

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:01 PM

DODD: We Thought Rudy Was Gonna Get This One For Sure

Open Left's Chris Bowers calls Chris Dodd's International Association of Firefighters "a big score" and scores: "However, the endorsement of the international does not necessarily mean the endorsement of the Iowa locals. ... If this is a blow to anyone else, it is Clinton and Edwards, who had been rumored to be the strongest contenders for the IAFF endorsement. So, I suppose that also makes this good news for Obama and Richardson, both of whom are in double-digits in Iowa.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:00 PM

EDWARDS: Lobster Rolls Are Yummy

Alison Rose Levy shares with Huffington Post readers how she picked actor Tony Shalhoub and his wife Brooke Adams on the side of the road on her way to a John Edwards fundraiser featuring mini-lobster rolls. Levy blogs: "At sunset, the Edwardses arrived and mounted a small platform to address the Vineyard crowd: serious professionals, lifelong liberals, and unashamed patriots. ... At this over-sized party, everyone knew that thousands would gather for Hillary the next night. Encountering this valiant couple, running hard while facing her life-threatening illness, filled the dusk with a passion tinged by poignancy."

Also in Edwards blogging, MyDD's Nate Willems captured Edwards biggest Livestrong Forum applause line: "if we give insurance and drug companies a seat at the table, they'll eat up all the food." At TAPPED, Ezra Klein appreciates Edwards current concern for the number of medical bankruptcies bur also notes that Edwards voted against a Paul Wellstone amendment to the '01 bankruptcy bill that would have created a medical expenses exemption for some debtors. Klein comments: "It's a hard vote to explain. But I'd still like to hear what the Edwards camp has to say."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:59 PM

OBAMA: Takin' It To The Streets

The Huffington Post's Zack Exley has a lengthy post examining Barack Obama's audacious approach to the 2/5 primaries. Team Obama is "building a precinct-level field organization large enough to affect the outcome of Super Tuesday ... aided by email lists, web tools and old school organizing techniques long missing in electoral politics." Exley reports: "Over the past two months, the Obama campaign has staged a number of in-depth, three-day trainings in February 5 states, with more than 1,000 carefully selected volunteers attending. Trainees leave the events organized into teams by Congressional district, charged with building an organization that reaches all the way down to the precinct level."

Team Obama identifies two developments that have made "a hard-fought precinct-by-precinct field battle" in big states like CA possible: 1) "an unprecedented amount of money is now available. The Obama campaign has a mountain of cash on hand and the ability to raise tens of millions more before 2/5"; 2) "use of campaign websites now makes hundreds of thousands of volunteer campaign workers available to campaigns in states before a single staffer is hired to work in them."

Exley reports the second factor still needs some work: "[O]n the Obama campaign, there is still no online system available for the teams graduating from Camp Obama (or the teams they establish below them) to report in their progress back to headquarters. This is a huge missed opportunity to give field directors perfect visibility into the work of every team, anywhere in the country -- visibility that could be used to identify the best field volunteers in the organization for promotion, and to identify problem areas that need special attention from staff organizers."

Obama National Field Dir. Temo Figeroa tells Exley that Obama is still committed to "an early state strategy" but asks: "[W]hat if it's completely mixed results in the first four? Then you go into a battle for delegates. There are a little over 1,500 delegates that are up on February 5. Twenty states! So, for us, we have to prepare: because we have the ability to prepare. We have that luxury because we have the resources and this amazing volunteer base."

OBAMA II: Keep Your Staff On Message, Dude

The Washington Post's 8/27 story on Obama CoS Pete Rouse's success in convincing Barack Obama to vote against John Roberts confirmation despite Obama's respect for Roberts intellect. David Sirota warns: "Memo to self-important Capitol Hill staff and political operatives who think they are the story, not their bosses: Landing a story in the Washington Post about how you convinced your boss to make a decision on a Supreme Court chief justice nominee based purely on personal political calculation is not a way to have your boss look principled, or look like he's a 'Washington outsider.'"

Talk Left's Jeralyn Merritt also flagged the article but notes: "Of course, other Democrats actually voted for Roberts, including Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:58 PM

RICHARDSON: Mock Interviews Needed

Blue Hampshire's Mike Caulfield was underwhelmed by Bill Richardson's answer to a free trade question in Keene, NH, 8/24: "He's the 'resume' candidate. His congressional experience focussed heavily on Latin American relations. If this is truly a 'job interview' as he has asked us to view it, I would expect just a little of his knowledge of that region to show through in the answer."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:57 PM

THOMPSON: Is 'Generic Conservative' A Winning Message?

Conservative frustration with the tortured roll out of the Fred Thompson campaign is undercutting blogger enthusiasm for the campaign. NRO's Jim Geraghty says his sources place Thompson's announcement date sometime between Labor Day and Gen. David Petraeus' congressional testimony. Current views on the state of Thompson's campaign include:

• The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez: "JMart Has a Point. If he really wants this White House thing to happen, Fred Thompson's September is going to be almost as arduous as General Petraeus's."
• Townhall's Dean Barnett: "I'm a well-known Romney shill ... But I can be silent no more. I would be remiss in my duties here if I didn't offer at least a few words of commentary regarding the Thompson campaign's seemingly endless series of pratfalls, misfires and false starts. ... I'm very worried about entrusting the most complex CEO job in the world to someone or anyone who's never run anything bigger than a six person law firm. ... The indecision, the lack of direction, the organizational incoherence - these are hallmarks of a rookie CEO."
• Hot Air's Allahpundit: "I think the ludicrous hype Fred himself has nurtured by flirting with conservatives for so long is as much to blame, if not more."
• RedState's California Yankee: "The delay doesn't bothers me. What bothers me is the constant shifting of the date, which makes the campaign look second-rate at best."
• Right Wing News: "If anything, Fred has taken too long to get in already and if he decided to wait until October, it could potentially turn out to be such a big blunder that it could prevent him from capturing the nomination."
• NRO's Geraghty: "In the past couple weeks, as Thompson has focused almost exclusively on fundraising, low-profile radio interviews, and appearances at Sean Hannity's concerts, the conventional wisdom on him curdled after a couple months of good buzz. He went from the next Reagan to a lazy lightweight who wasn't that interested in the job or the work needed to win it ... But his critics and rivals shouldn't fool themselves - the ingredients are there for a very competitive bid for the nomination."

Reporting from the MN state fair, Power Line's John Hinderaker blogs about his brief meeting with Thompson: "He's good; he has a nice, folksy manner, some good lines, a sincere, fatherly demeanor, and comes across as a solid conservative of the border-state variety. ... Yet I still think there is something missing. Thompson gives long answers to questions, and a point often comes where his folksiness gives way to ennui. He rarely shows much--any--intensity. Thomson presents himself as the solution to intractable problems like entitlements and the world-wide Islamofascist threat. Yet one misses the spark of fire, of energy, that would generate confidence that Thompson is really the man to get the job done. Nor does he offer unique solutions to problems; his proposals are, like his persona, of the generic conservative variety."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:56 PM

IRAQ: A Tale Of Two Bloggers

Summing up his recent focus on "surge blogging" The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum writes:

Anbar is good news despite the long-term risk of arming Sunni tribal leaders. Petraeus seems to be doing a good job on the counterinsurgency front (though it's frankly hard to say how much of this is good PR based on a limited number of success stories and how much is genuine widespread progress). And it's possible that violence is down in Baghdad, though I'd rate the odds of that at no more than 50-50. ... On the downside, most of the evidence suggests that violence is following seasonal patterns and is going up, not down. The insurgency seems to be getting worse in the north. Civil war is breaking out in the south. ... The conventional wisdom this summer, after a steady round of dog-and-pony shows from the military, says that although political progress in Iraq is nil (or even in reverse), at least we're finally making some tactical progress on the security front. And maybe we are. But I'm trying to be as honest as I can be here, and it looks to me like the balance of the evidence suggests that this is more hype than reality. As near as I can tell, we're not making much progress on either front.

From Iraq, RedState's Jeff Emanuel reports:

As one of the very few journalists (out of the hundreds who come here) who actually spends time out on the front lines, seeing with my own eyes the gunshots, the IEDs, the school openings, the public clinics, the Concerned Citizens meetings, etc., etc. -- rather than simply sitting in safety and reporting hearsay -- I have personally seen evidence that the 'Surge' is working militarily. ... I have also seen, though, how broken and splintered this country really is, and what a difficult -- and perhaps impossible -- task it is to rebuild it in a way that accomplishes the US's goal of having a stable ally in the war on terror. ... In my opinion, though, it is far too soon to close the books on the idea of Iraq -- both because of the growing portion of the population which does want peace and stability (and is willing to fight for it), and because, like it or not -- and regardless of when or why it came to be so -- a central front in the War on Terror, against al Qaeda and other extremists, is, in fact, Iraq.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:55 PM

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The IRS Definitely Knows What You Did Last Summer

Outside the Beltway's James Joyner ignores Bruce Bartlett's ad hominem attacks on the Fair Tax and responds just to his "nonsensical" ones, including Bartlett's claim that the Fair Tax would require "incredible complexity and intrusiveness of tracking every American's monthly income-and creating a de facto national welfare program." From Joyner:

Gosh, a complex and intrusive system whereby the federal government tracked every American's income? There's no way in hell we'd put up with that in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave! We'd probably give it some Big Brotherish name like Internal Revenue Service to tip us off to how sinister it was.

LEST WE FORGET: Saint Flanders

The Gospel According to The Simpsons author Mark Pinsky tells Relevant Magazine how The Simpsons reflect religion in America better than mot television shows:

One of the chief gifts of the long-running, award-winning series is that the characters' fundamental beliefs are animated but not caricatured. Sincere belief is not questioned. God is not mocked, nor is God's existence questioned. ... More than any other show on commercial television, The Simpsons mirrors the faith lives and practices of most Americans. The family says grace at meals, goes to church on Sundays and reads and refers to the Bible. They pray aloud and believe God answers their prayers. Their next-door neighbor, Ned Flanders, has become the best-known (and loved) evangelical in the country, at least among young people. Still, no one would mistake Homer Simpson and his family for saints. In many ways, in fact, they are quintessentially weak, well-meaning sinners who rely on their faith-although only when absolutely necessary. True to its reputation, The Simpsons is consistently irreverent toward organized religion's failings and excesses, as it is with most other institutions and aspects of modern life.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:54 PM

August 27, 2007

8/27: Hoping For Better GOPers

Like Pres. Bush in '00, a big part of Barack Obama's message in '08 is that he can reach across party lines "to create a more effective relationship between parties." Pressed to name some specific GOPers that he can envision working worth, Obama got his answer two thirds right: Sens. John Warner (R-VA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) are just the type of GOPers least likely to rankle rank and file Dems. The third Sen. mentioned however, Tom Coburn (R-OK), was not a wise choice. Coburn is a bit too outspoken on core Dem issues like abortion and gay rights, for many Dems. Convincing voters he can work with the GOP is not impossible, but citing Coburn as an example is not a good first step.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:14 PM

CLINTON: In Case You Were Wondering Why They Don't Like Her ...

Hillary Clinton's 8/23 claim that she is the best WH '08 Dem "to deal with" a GOP "advantage" if there is a pre-11/08 terrorist attack rankled many in the netroots. Matthew Yglesais calls the comments a "disaster" and blogs: "I think the Democrat best positioned to deal with GOP political mobilization in a post-attack environment is going to be the one who isn't reflexively inclined to see failed Republican policies resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Americans as a political advantage for the Republicans."

Blue Hampshire's Dean Barker advises other campaigns: "I've got three words for Democrats who would emulate that despicable tactic: don't go there. ... By stating it as a Democrat she reinforces the validity of the lie that Republicans own the security issue." A Daily Kos diarist adds: "The fact is that EVERY time a Democrat like Ms. Clinton waves the white flag on the terror issue -- which means, of course, letting the GOP set the terms of that debate -- it becomes harder for the next Democrat to go against that boneheaded 'conventional wisdom.' There's no need to surrender the issue of terrorism to the Republicans. There never was."

Another Kossack says he will no longer vote for Clinton if she wins the nomination. Others find such arguments silly: "Did you learn nothing from 2000? Since when did Clinton become as bad as a Zell Miller or a Joe Lieberman?" A completely unscientific poll of Kossacks find 69% of them do not like HRC personally.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:12 PM

OBAMA: Barack Obama Added You As A Friend ...

Barack Obama's 8/25 identification of Sens. Richard Lugar (R-IN), John Warner (R-VA), and Tom Coburn (R-OK) as GOPers he would reach out to if elected did not impress the netroots. The Left Coaster's Jeff Dinelli notes that Coburn once claimed that 'lesbianism' in Colgate, OK, was "so rampant in some of the schools...that they'll let only one girl go to the bathroom." Dinelli asks: "Would we want a President Obama "uniting" the country with the help of men such as this?" Talk Left's Jeralyn Merrit adds: "What exactly does Obama find in it that makes Coburn worth reaching out to?"

Others didn't like the idea of reaching out to any GOPers. The Huffington Post's Frank Dwyer blogs: "I was appalled to see Barack Obama's nice guy list of good Republicans ... I've been impressed with him and grown to like him, but I'm much more likely to support a Democratic candidate who gives us a list of which Republicans should be going to jail."

Also unhappy with Obama, Bleeding Heartland's Des Moines Dem isn't happy Obama is skipping 9/20's AARP forum in Davenport, IA. She blogs: "even if I agreed with Obama's general strategy to attend fewer of these forums, the last one I'd skip is the AARP forum in Iowa. ... Obama does well with the under-30 crowd, but many (most?) Iowa precincts have a very small proportion of voters under 30. The majority of caucus-goers are likely to be over 50."

In more positive Obama blogging, MyDD's Mike Connery appreciates that Obama's "Generation Obama" program is more inclusive than Hillary Clinton's Women for Hillary efforts and Jack and Jill's rikyrah praises Michelle Obama's 'integral' role in her husband's campaign.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:11 PM

WEBB: Not A Conspiracy Theory Anymore

RCP Blog's Reid Wilson runs down the positives of a Sen. James Webb (D-VA) VP nod including: "He's got national security credentials, he's certainly not "of" Washington, he's from a state Democrats think they can actually win in 2008, and, if he won, his replacement would be chosen by a Democratic governor."

Wilson concludes: "We aim not to spark the whole veep selection discussion up again, but to find it interesting, in a conspiracy-theory kind of way, that Webb is headed to Manchester in October to headline the New Hampshire Democrats' Jefferson-Jackson dinner."

FLORIDA: Hurricane Dean Can't Touch Florida

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas is not impressed by DNC threats to strip FL of their 185 delegates should they hold their primary 1/29/08. Kos writes: "Does anyone really think that Democrats will disenfranchise the delegates of a large swing state, whether it's Florida or Michigan? The DNC is powerless. All it has is bluster. And as soon as we have a nominee, the first thing that person will do is rescind any such decision."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:10 PM

PAUL: But Who Is His Favorite Political Philosopher?

The Brody File asks readers to guess who uttered this sentence: "I have never been one who is comfortable talking about my faith in the political arena. ... But for those who have asked, I freely confess that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior, and that I seek His guidance in all that I do."

Brody reveals: "The answer: Ron Paul. ... So let The Brody File go on record and acknowledge that Ron Paul has come out publicly to declare his faith boldly. He calls it his Statement of Faith. You can read the whole thing here.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:09 PM

THOMPSON: Mourning In America

Conservatives noticed the less than sunny tone of Fred Thompson's 8/24 address to the Midwestern GOP Leadership Conference. Captain's Quarters blogged: "Thematically, Fred will have no problem running a campaign on these principles. ... He may also need to find ways to cast these policies in a more optimistic light ... People appreciate honesty, but Reagan didn't get elected by mourning in America."

Race4'08s Tommy Oliver writes: "All in all, I was personally very pleased with his speech last night. Thompson didn't stand at the podium and deliver punch lines. He walked across the stage with a clipped on microphone, and spoke in an authoritative manner from the heart. That is what connects Fred to his audience."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:08 PM

ROMNEY: Sometimes You Do Roll Out New Products In August

Conservatives were mildly impressed with Mitt Romney's 8/24 health care plan unveiling. Matt at Race4'08 likes the promotion of Medicaid innovation and liability reform, but also highlights Romney's claim that "this can be done without the need for new spending or taxes." Romney skeptic Soren Dayton finds the plan "reasonable" but argues that Romney is playing 'hide the ball' with the money since: "The fact is, to pay for the health care of the sick and the poor, you need revenue. Romney achieved that through a private sector mandate (with a serious solution, which I do not think that I disagree with, in the end). The other option is tax revenue."

Romney's plan also found fans at The Corner. John Hood blogs: "While there were some promising aspects of the plan the former governor shepherded through the Massachusetts legislature a couple of years ago, it contained far too many mandates and regulations. Now, Romney is pitching a national approach to the issue that relies on deregulation, tax reform, and innovative technologies and treatments."

Yuval Levin adds: "These are crucially important reforms that speak to the concerns of middle class families while enabling more effective assistance to the uninsured, and the kind of Federalism Romney now has in mind (which is much like what Giuliani has proposed, and what the Bush Administration has pursued) would make it easier to do that elsewhere. It's a lot smarter than trying for a national version of the Massachusetts plan. But it means that in some crucial ways the president actually has less, not more, power over health care than a governor. And that is as it should be."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:06 PM

UNITY 08: For Something

The netroots are the most dismissive of David Broder's latest column pushing a Unity '08 ticket (this time pairing Mike Bloomberg and Chuck Hagel. Daily Kos' Kagro X blogs: "If you think David Broder has his finger on the pulse of American politics today, then you're just not even living on the same planet as me. Bloomberg-Hagel? Are you kidding me?"

Talking Points Memo's Steve Benen adds: "The column reads like a daydream of a writer who believes a liberal independent and a very conservative Republican will join forces, solve all of our problems, and "get something done." Get what done? It doesn't matter; it'll be something."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:04 PM

PROSECUTOR PURGE: The Resignation Season Continues

A 8/24 Washington Whispers item reporting rumors of an AG Alberto Gonzalez resignation in favor of DHS sec. Michael Chertoff had bloggers buzzing well ahead of 8/27's announcement. Nobody was sorry to see Gonzalez go. Michelle Malkin says she won't shed any tears, but isn't crazy about the Chertoff idea either: "If the administration learned anything at all from the shamnesty debacle, DHS secretary Michael Chertoff would not be the reported leading candidate to replace Gonzales. Looks like they've learned nothing."

At The Corner, Jonathan Adler has no problem with Chertoff as long as he would be easily confirmed by the Senate while Kathryn Jean Lopez likes reports that Paul Clement is also in the running.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:00 PM

IRAQ: Frustration Rising

The netroots continue to act as a vigilant watchdog over Dem movement on Iraq. Following controversy over comments he gave to the Washingtons Post about working with GOPers to find a solution, netroots supported Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) took the time to host a chat at firedoglake 8/24, opening: "I sat down ahead of time and thought through what I wanted to say to the FireDogLake community tonight. ... To start this discussion, let me be clear about where I stand. I want to end this war as soon as possible. In practical terms, that means beginning a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq now and end with a fixed date. ... But in order to force that withdrawal we need to have a veto-proof majority so that we can overrule President Bush. That's why sympathetic Republicans are key to beginning a withdrawal from Iraq and bringing our troops home. We don't yet have that veto-proof majority - but we need to get there."

CaliticsJulia Rosen later commented: "Here are my initial thoughts on his FDL chat which just concluded. I don't think he was ever going to gain a lot from his comments, but the appearance was important. He left a lot folks frustrated, including yours truly with his failure to address repeated questions. He was never going to be able to get to them all, but I believe it may be wise for him to take the time to respond to some of them."

Also on the netroots radar: Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA). Reactions to his post-Iraq visit support for more surge patience include:

• Jane Hamsher at firedoglake: "Brian Baird just cannot seem to soak up enough media attention now that he's donning Joe Lieberman's jaunty fedora and playing the role of chief apostate in the administration's tightly scripted PR war melodrama. ... Baird may be perfectly sincere about his opinions ... But if that's the case, he needs to be aware of the way he's being used in a much larger framework by those who not only do not seek to end the war, but most probably want to expand it. And to the extent that he does not understand this, he becomes a serious problem."
• Talk Left's Big Tent Democrat: "He ignores the fact that political solutions are nonexistent in Iraq. He has no real information nor real answers. He says six more months. What he expects to happen in six months is not clear. In short, Baird has no actual argument."
• Atrios: "Not having CNN piped into my undisclosed location I've missed the direct exposure to the Most Important Democrat In America, Brian Baird. But I did check the transcripts and discover that until Baird decided that teh surge was teh awesome he'd been on CNN to discuss Iraq exactly... zero times."

IRAQ II: Who's Next?

Watching the 'Sunday shows' Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall concludes the push to remove Nuri al Maliki in favor of Ayad Allawi as prime minister is part of an effort to: "install a strongman government that can get the country in its grip and calm things down. In Allawi's interview with Wolf Blitzer he basically make this point pretty close to explicitly."

Also at TPM, Spencer Ackerman picks up on a IraqSlogger post showing Barbour Griffith & Rogers has been retained by Allawi as "strategic counsel." Ackerman goes on to speculate that both Hazem Shaalan and Muhammed Shahwani may be helping to pay for BGR's $330k fee. Ackerman claims Shaalan is involved so he can clear his name of post-invasion theft charges, while Shahwani is involved with CIA efforts to provide Allawi with a functioning "security apparatus" should he become prime minister.

Ackerman also reveals that, "en different U.S. firms are registered through the Department of Justice's Foreign Agents Registration Act database as having active contracts with various Iraqi factions."

On the right, Power Line's Paul Mirengoff doesn't think Allawi would be a great improvement over Maliki: "On Friday, Charles Krauthammer argued that the U.S. should work with elements in the Iraqi Parliament to bring down the Maliki government. Krauthammer's criticism of Maliki seems well-founded. But because Maliki is a symptom of the problems in Iraq and not their cause, it's difficult to see what would be gained by ousting him."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:57 PM

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Globalization Strikes Again

Wizbang's Cassy Fiano flags news that the theatrical G.I. Joe is going to be a lot different that the cartoon version: "G.I. Joe is now a Brussels-based outfit that stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed force of operatives who use hi-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer. The property is closer in tone to X-Men and James Bond than a war film." Fiano comments:

Of all things to turn into a liberal fantasy, why did they have to choose G.I. Joe? From what it sounds like, they are taking everything that was great about it, and the Real American Hero line, and ruining it. I mean, this is worse than making G.I. Joe an "eco-warrior" in the early 90s. It is a sad indication of where our country could be headed when making a patriotic movie featuring a Real American Hero is considered a tough sell, and shelved so easily.

LEST WE FORGET: Spartan Pride

The Plank's Jonathan Chait points us to a not-for-family-publication comment responding to Radar Online's ranking Michigan State as the worst school in the Big Ten. A cleaned up version of the Spartan defense includes:

Let me just say to whatever [expletive] pansy wrote this review that he has no [expletive] idea what he is talking about. Drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence, in a beautiful campus setting, makes for pretty damn good education in my book. I am sorry that we aren't some liberal art school where the biggest problems facing male students is how to come out to our roommate and convince him to let us go down on him. Or maybe some west coast, hippie, save the [expletive] whales, follow phish, do-gooders that want to complain about this country all day instead of doing something about it. ... Furthermore the arrest statistics should take into effect the size of MSU (45,000 students), but that doesn't matter. Know why? Spartans like to get arrested!!! It is a rite of passage! The 3rd best Halloween party at MSU every year is in the East Lansing Jail.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:49 PM

August 23, 2007

8/23: An Obama Opportunity

Rep. Jerry McNerney's (D-CA) troubled relationship with the netroots is a case study in the possible trouble a WH '08 Dem nominee will face with the anti-war base of the party. Since his return from Iraq, McNerney has both signaled to the Washington Post on repeatedoccasions that he is "willing to negotiate with the generals in Iraq over just how much more time they might need" and tried to reassure the netroots supporters who helped elect him that he's "firmly in favor of withdrawing troops on a timeline that includes both a definite start date and a definite end date." This isn't going over well with his netroots supporters.

CaliticsJulia Rosen blogs: "Answer me this, what is possibly gained from trying to negotiate with the Republicans about a specific timeline for withdrawal when they are trying to keep the war going on indefinitely? What exactly do you mean Jerry, when you say that we need to stop being partisan about our withdrawal resolutions? You were supposed to be our Mr. Smith goes to Washington and be a fighter to end this war, not some squishy person in the middle attacking both sides."

At MyDD a Barack Obama supporter blogs about Obama's emphasis on "the importance of building the mandate for a progressive majority -- that progressive changes on foreign policy, on health care, and on judicial appointments rely on building new coalitions, approaching new constituencies, and restoring faith in government." The coming Iraq war debate is a perfect opportunity for Obama to prove he can both deliver on his uniting the country rhetoric and please his progressive base at the same time.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 01:00 PM

CLINTON: Non-College Graduates Are People Too

TAPPED's Garance Franke-Ruta files two posts on Hillary Clinton from Clinton, IA. First Garance highlights Clinton's focus on "attracting non-college educated Democratic voters, especially white women who haven't gone to college." From HRC's stump speech: "Let's have more skills programs and apprenticeship programs. Let's help hard-working young men and women who built things like this [gestures around stadium] and keep our economy going, that were going to take care of them as well."

Garance comments: "This statement was met with stronger applause from the audience of several hundred, arrayed in the stands of a Little League baseball stadium, than was her speech's section on making college more affordable. ... After her speech, Clinton was mobbed by people trying to get her autograph and to take pictures with her. I talked with some of them, and found that she is attracting new women into the political system."

Garance also talked to Girl Scouts who were awarded an award for the "Fit and Fabulous" program they run at the local YMCA. Garance noted that some of the girls were sporting "Ms. President Patch" badges, which she discovered were part of an '02 project launched with the WE to change "the way people think about women in leadership roles." Garance comments: "I wonder to what extent the five-year-old patch now acts as a kind of ongoing reminder to everyone who deals with scouts who wear it of Clinton's campaign."

CLINTON II: This Hill Is Alive With The Sound Of Victory

Open Left's Chris Bowers combines Polling Report, Rasmussen and Survey USA numbers to produce general election electoral college totals for Hillary Clinton. Facing Rudy Giuliani Bowers has HRC winning 335-203 (new Dem states include AR, IA, FL, KY, NM, OH, and VA). Facing Mitt Romney Clinton cruises 430-108.

Also talking HRC and electability Clinton Internet Director Peter Daou highlights favorable at The Huffington Post.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:59 PM

DODD: Debate Undermines The Troops

Atrios identifies Chris Dodd as a WH '08er with an acceptable message on Iraq. From Dodd: "Despite the exemplary performance of our troops, we are coming off the bloodiest summer of this misguided war and it should be clear that there can be no military solution in Iraq. It is useless to argue the merits of a specific tactic when the strategy itself is failed. In fact, debating over military tactics when there is no military solution only undermines efforts by those of us who believe that we must change course in Iraq now and begin to immediately redeploy US combat forces so that Iraqi leaders will have the impetus to find a political accord."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:58 PM

EDWARDS: 5K Words Later, And We Still Don't Know Where He Stands

John Edwards 9/07 Foreign Affairs article "Reengaging With the World" drew mixed netroots reviews. The Nation's Ari Melber liked the call for "moral leadership" and a new Marshall Plan for the developing world, but: "The most significant shortcoming in Edwards' article is that he does not say precisely when he would use force as president. The emphasis on "smart power" is a welcome acknowledgment that the administration's crabbed vision of American power has made our country less safe ... But Edwards does not provide a metric, let alone a doctrine, for when to use military force."

Matthew Yglesias had a similar problem but with a different passage. From Edwards: "We must retain the capacity to swiftly defeat any conventional threat to our country and our vital interests." Yglesias responds: "Without answering it, these formulae take on a pretty tautological quality. The question isn't would you use force when you thought it was vital to do so, the question is when is it vital to use force?"

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:58 PM

OBAMA: At What Point Between IL and DC Do Lobbyists Stop Being Paragons Of Virtue And Turn Into All That Is Wrong With Democracy?

Continuing their series allowing supporters to make the case for their candidate on the front page, a MyDD diarist takes on Big Tent Democratcriticism of Barack Obama's call for civility during the John Roberts confirmation. The diarist writes: "Obama felt defensive about what he felt were polemics against fellow Democratic senators who voted for the Roberts nomination, he was hardly criticizing the right of the netroots or the public to be critical. ... Obama wants to return a sense of civility to the process. I believe this is not just a rhetorical but actually a substantive position. Obama emphasizes that decrying the bitterness of politics in Washington has nothing to do with compromising on progressive ideals."

Also blogging for Obama at MyDD, Max Fletcher writes: "Through his bold policy proposals and refusal to bow to conventional wisdom, Obama has been defining the direction of the race in the traditional media. Other candidates have largely been in the position of reacting to statements and proposals put out by the Obama campaign. ... Barack Obama has offered arguably the most significant proposals to change Washington throughout the campaign. Both his urban poverty plan and his ethics reform proposal offered dramatic departures from current political orthodoxy."

Reporting from IA, TAPPED's Garance Franke-Ruta notes that all of Obama's IA offices feature a sign reading "NOT paid for by PAC or federal lobbyist money."

OBAMA II: Almost There

The netroots are encouraged by Barack Obama's recent call for changes in Cuba policy, but they want more. TAPPED's Paul Waldman asks: "Barack Obama is getting some flak from his opponents for coming out in favor of some mild alterations in the Cuba embargo. So my question is, why not go all the way and advocate ending the embargo completely? ... The collective cowardice from both parties on this issue is truly stunning. If there was ever a policy that we can all agree has been a complete failure, it's this one."

The Huffington Post's Robert Naiman makes the case the Obama has the mainstream position on Cuba: "But tallying up, of the candidates mentioned: on the travel restrictions, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Dodd, and Kucinich would get rid of them; Clinton and Biden would keep them. On remittances, Obama, Richardson and Kucinich would remove the Bush restrictions. Five of the seven support at least some reform; Clinton and Biden support the Bush status quo. Who are the outliers?"

Also at HuffPo, Marilyn Ferdinand attacks Obama's environmental credentials.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:57 PM

GIULIANI: Better Surrogates, Please

The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez posts audio of Rudy Giuliani defending his immigration record on Laura Ingraham's show and comments: "I gotta say after listening to Stewart Verdery and Pete King try to defend the former mayor of NYC last week on Bennett's show and listening to a portion of Giuliani himself on Laura this week: His answers aren't perfect, but Rudy is his own best advocate on the issue."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:56 PM

ROMNEY: Can He Introduce Himself Faster Than Opponents Define Him?

Rasmussen polling showing Mitt Romney with higher negatives than Hillary Clinton drove conservative commentary 8/22. Reactions include:

• A Corner reader: "Gee, I wonder why Romney rubs people the wrong way? It couldn't be because he is a computer generated, pandering opportunistic politician who will say anything to a particular audience to get elected."
• a 'Team Romney dude' courtesy Kathryn Jean Lopez: "I haven't seen how the question was posed to survey participants, but most national polls show that voters are still just learning about Mitt Romney, and that as they learn more about him he gathers more and more support."
• The Corner's David Freddoso: "the bad rap on Romney is precisely that "trust" issue, best articulated in a debate question he received months ago: Have you ever changed a position on anything so that doesn't benefit your political ambitions?"
• Soren Dayton: "2004 was a squeaker. Bush won by the skin of his teeth, with something like 90% of Republicans behind him. If Romney is losing 1-in-4, he is in deep, deep trouble."
• AmSpec Blog's Jennifer Rubin: "I still think it is early and Romney has time to make his sale. Unfortunately, it is harder to change minds once an impression is formed."

NRO's Jim Geraghty claims that Romney also has the highest unfavorable among the staffs of rival campaigns: "But when the staffers of Romney's rivals talk about the Massachusetts governor, their disdain feels a bit more personal. The grating of their teeth goes up a few decibels. Some say they'll be able to support him in the general election - even though they're absolutely certain their man is going to be the nominee, and so the question is completely hypothetical - but others hint that they won't."

In more positive Romney-blogging, K-Lo highlights strong Romney movement on Intrade: "The most interesting story in the GOP, however, is Mitt Romney supplanting Fred Thompson in second place, with a 27.5 share. After dominating the Iowa Straw Poll and holding leads over Giuliani of nearly 10% in both Iowa and New Hampshire, Romney's share has nearly doubled since mid July."

Finally, Townhall's Matt Lewis posts an ABC report on Romney telling a NV reporters he would let states decide their own abortion policy despite an 8/6 Romney promise to support a human life amendment to the Constitution. Lewis later updates with a response from the campaign: "Governor Romney ultimately wants an Amendment to protect the unborn. However, he views overturning Roe -- and sending it back to the states -- as a first step. Once it's sent back to the states, you then have a chance to have a real debate and win hearts and minds to the pro-Life cause."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:55 PM

THOMPSON: Not So Foxy

The Corner's Kathryn Jean Lopez quotes from Fox's Steve Brown's report on Fred Thompson's VFW speech: "[Thompson] seemed to struggle at times delivering his speech ... seemed unfamiliar with the applause lines in his own speech." K-Lo comments: "Yikes!"

MyDD's Todd Beeton sees a pattern: "First came Carl Cameron's report that made a point of observing, somewhat contemptuously, that Thompson wore Gucci loafers to the Iowa state fair. Then Cameron reported that Thompson was the only candidate to get around the state fair in a golf cart, evoking the image not of a golfer as much as someone zipping around his retirement community. Now we have Fox News reporting on Thompson's appearance at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention yesterday."

Thompson's problems are not relegated to Fox News. Influence Peddlar notes some striking similar comments made on some righty blogs are all questioning Thompson's health. Ace of Spades advises: "The four bloggers upon whose blogs these comments appear should check the IPs on the off, off, off chance the IP can be linked to a specific campaign."

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:55 PM

IRAQ: Danger Zone

The netroots are not encouraged by Washington Post reports that Dems are now acknowledging "recent positive signs on the security front" and instead "increasingly focusing their criticisms on what those military gains have not achieved: reconciliation among Iraq's diverse political factions." The Huffington Post's Brent Budowsky blogs: "This morning's story in the Washington Post is accurate and conforms to what I am hearing privately. Many Democrats are again missing the first principle of the matter and treating Iraq in political and tactical terms. ... This growing Democratic spin is incoherent. One cannot argue that the Iraqi political system is failing but the surge is succeeding. If the Iraqi political system continues to fail, the surge, or more accurately the escalation, must also fail because, in effect, the status quo ante is that America is today arming all sides in the sectarian war of Iraq."

Open Left's Chris Bowers criticizes those Dems admitting security gains in Iraq: "Iraq has been bloodier during the escalation than during any other time period. ... Are Democratic campaigns still largely unaware of how their statements will be used by the Republican Noise Machine to paint Democratic division in important upcoming legislative fights? The answer to all of these questions is basically yes."

Digby writes off the hope for the 110th and turns her eyes to '08: "Bush will never agree to a withdrawal and I think even if the congress pulled the funding he'd stubbornly keep them there. Therefore, this Iraq debate is political and mostly about 2008. Rather than recognizing that, the Democrats are behaving purely reflexively to patented GOP threats and propaganda instead of building their argument for withdrawal with strength and commitment. In the process they are running a huge danger of demoralizing their base (and the growing number of people who are willing to give them a chance) by capitulating, if not actively embracing, the policies of the most unpopular president in history. They are playing a very dangerous game. Nobody owes them a vote."

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) is still with the netroots though. He blogs at HuffPo: "President Johnson said in 1966, 'the solution to Vietnam is patience.' ... Today, we hear the same misleading rhetoric coming from this Administration.... There will be no real progress in Iraq until key political, economic and diplomatic improvements are made by the Iraqis."

IRAQ II: Back To The Future

The netroots are excited that Ari Fleischer is heading up the 'Freedom Watch' group that will be pouring $15M into ads supporting "President Bush's Iraq war strategy."

MoveOn.org's DC dir. Tom Matzzie blogs at AMERICAblog: "Dear Ari Fleischer, Thank you. ... The revival of your role as salesman-in-chief for the White House's failed war policy is also welcome. We were looking for a way to connect this mysterious 'Freedom Watch' outfit to the White House Iraq PR machine. And then it turned out that you made our job very simple-you are in charge. This is the 'White House Ad campaign.'"

Fleischer's 8/22 "Hardball" appearance also was well received. Think Progress captures video of Fleischer failing to identify the name of the wounded Iraq veteran featured in the ad. TRex at firedoglake blogs: "It took me and Google under 15 seconds to identify the soldier in the ad as John Kreisel, who lost both legs in Fallujah. But you know, I'm sure Ari's very busy right now. He might not have had a whole 15 seconds to get ready to pretend to give a sh*t about anything but providing cover for the White House."

For his trouble, Fleischer also was initiated into Atrios 'Wanker of the Day' club.

Posted by Conn Carroll at 12:54 PM

BUSH: Vietnam ... Really!?!

Reaction to Pres. Bush's 8/22 speech on Iraq drew predictable reactions from the predictable quarters. The netroots focussed on Bush's Vietnam analogy:

• Talking Points Memo: "But isn't this quite possibly the worst argument for his Iraq policy? Going forty years on, it is not too much to say that virtually none of the predicted negative repercussions of our departure from Vietnam ever came to pass."
• Matthew Yglesias: "I think I (and others) have actually been too easy on Bush's unhinged analogies speech yesterday. He'd like us to believe, I guess, that the crux of the debate about the Vietnam War was that hawks warned that after the war America's collaborators in South Vietnam would suffer, whereas doves naively said the Viet Cong were going to offer flowers and sweets. Back in the real world, though, the essence of the matter was that hawks were warning that the survival of political democracy around the world quite literally depended on South Vietnam staying in non-Communist hands."
• The Left Coaster's Steve Soto: "As for Vietnam, if your claim is that they will follow us home if we leave Iraq too early, and are equating that to Vietnam, when exactly did the Viet Cong land in San Francisco? I think we all missed that, and you apparently gained some valuable insights into history that escaped the rest of us."

Conservatives also seemed to enjoy the Vietnam redux - especially the body count blasts from the past. Townhall's Hugh Hewitt highlights "1,500 Terrorists Killed Or Captured In Iraq Each Month Since January" and asks "Will 10,000 Terrorists Killed Or Captured In Iraq In 2007 Lead The MSM News Tonight ... Almost certainly not."

RedState's Haystack blogs: "In one of President Bush's positively BEST foreign policy speeches since the September 11 attacks brought us to this hell we find ourselves in now, we were reminded via clear, detailed, and somber analogy, of the gravi