August 08, 2007

8/8: Just The Beginning?

Dennis Kucinich may have stolen the show, but the developing dynamic between establishment Dems Chris Dodd and Joe Biden teaming up to hit Barack Obama over Pakistan may be a preview of how Obama closes the gap between himself and Hillary Clinton. Perhaps it was just the home-field advantage, but the crowd clearly bought into Obama's response to Dodd in particular. The response was no different on the comment boards of the netroots. If Obama can continue to produce clear distinctions between himself and the DC establishment/HRC (no lobbyist cash, more eager to speak to Americas enemies, more willing to talk openly about use of force in Pakistan), then he just may be able to start consolidating the Anybody But Clinton crowd.

DEM DEBATE: After Going Before The AFL-CIO In Chicago, Hillary Should Demand A NOW Debate in Seneca Falls

Barack Obama claimed his first victory in a Daily Kos "who had the best performance" straw poll 8/7, edging site favorite John Edwards 28%-25%. Judging by the difference between their last regular straw poll performance and the debate straw poll, Dennis Kucinich was the clear winner of the night improving from his 7/23 4% showing, to the 19% of Kossack respondents who thought he won the debate 8/7. Hillary Clinton also made a string impression (17% of respondents thought she won the debate, up from her 9% showing in the 7/23 straw poll).

DEBATE BIDEN: Kissing Babies And Not Dissing Widows ... It's Politics 101

Joe Biden's non-answer to the Sago mine widow's question on mine safety went over as well in the netroots as it did among the labor audience that booed him. DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas blogs: "Psst, Biden? When a widow who lost her husband in a tragic job-related disaster asks you question in a labor forum, you don't blow her off. Although really, if any widow asks you any question, it's still best not to blow her off."

The Biden bashing allowed one Daily Kos commenter to get off this line: "Biden has single-handedly f****d more Americans than Wilt Chamberlain with his 2005 Bankruptcy bill. He can talk a good game from time to time, but don't kid yourself - he's playing for the other team."

DEBATE CLINTON: Not Everybody's Girl

For many in the netroots, Hillary Clinton's attack on Barack Obama over his Pakistan comments reinforced everything they don't like about her. Open Left's Matt Stoller blogs: "I'm watching the AFL-CIO debate, and Clinton has made some more major mistakes that open her up to charges of being an elitist and out-of-touch insider. In the argument over Pakistan, Clinton just said that if you are running for President you 'shouldn't say everything you think', and got booed."

Matthew Yglesias had similar thoughts: "That said, on the merits Hillary Clinton's notion that it's inappropriate to debate Pakistan policy in public doesn't really make sense to me. Just deciding that we can trust our overlords to do the right thing -- even if they're Democratic Party overlords -- hasn't worked out extremely well for us in the past. That's how we got into Iraq." A Daily Kos commenter couldn't believe the MSM scored the exchange on HRC's favor: "Who gets booed the way Clinton was booed and gets declared the "winner"? She lost the crowd on several issues, then the crowd loved Obama smacking her ... She didn't tank - but worst performance so far and dealing with the real middle class working dems isn't her forte."

Clinton still found her fans though. Talk Left's Jeralyn Merritt makes the case the crowd wasn't even booing her: "I've watched the replay twice. Her answer was done, there were no boos until [Keith] Olbermann interjected asking Chris Dodd to respond. That's when the audience began booing. I think they were booing Olbermann for giving Dodd instead of Obama the chance to respond."

Reno and Its Discontent's Myrna Minx thought Clinton had a strong day over all: "Not only did she unveil the perfect middle class issue today by raising the specter of increasing home foreclosures and excoriating the mortgage industry for its greedy practices ... Clinton then went on to turn the ideas of the "vast right wing conspiracy" and her lack of "electability" back on themselves during tonight's debate. Seriously brilliant. She also endeared herself to many be using the phrase "I'm your girl," particularly those who feel threatened by her gender and assertiveness. Clinton is making it harder and harder for people to label her unelectable.

DEBATE EDWARDS: On Fourth And Ten He Came Up With Nine

Netroots expectations for John Edwards were high and it does not look like he met them. Before the debate one MyDD commenter wrote: "This debate may settle the nomination for good. If Edwards can't complete any deep passes tonight ... he is done." After the debate another Kossack wrote: "I agree with Willy Brown that Edwards did not do what he had to do. If anyone needs the support of labor, it's Edwards. I don't think he's gonna get it after tonight."

Edwards was involved in two memorable moments during the debate, and he did not distinguish himself on either. First, Joe Biden's attack Edwards pre-presidential campaign record on labor did draw blood. Edwards did have his netroots defenders on the issue, but others saw damage done.

Next Edwards was given the opportunity to respond to the most emotional question of the night from, disabled retired steel worker Steve Skvara. AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay liveblogged: "Very compelling health care question to Edwards from a worker who lost his pension and his health care when his company filed bankruptcy. Edwards gave a pretty good answer, but he could have nailed this one." A MyDD commenter was even less impressed: "That was an amazing moment. It was the simple statement "What is wrong with America?" but it said it all. Edwards dropped the ball and ended up giving his stump speech. The man did not want to be blessed he wanted what should be the birth right of every American to have decent affordable healthcare."

DEBATE KUCINICH: Every Leprechaun Has Its Day

Dennis Kucinich far out-performed expectations. Positive reactions include:

• Crooks and LiarsLogan Murphy: "The most outstanding remarks early on in the forum came from Congressman Dennis Kucinich. The question was on China and whether they should be considered a friend or foe. Kucinich brought the house down with his comments, even the other candidates couldn't hold back."
• a Daily Kos commenter: "He really surprised me tonight. I found myself several times getting excited when he would talk, which does not happen that often."
• another Kossack: "Kucinich did not equivocate over NAFTA or the WTO, all out labor, health care and pensions. A solid performance that I though was a stronger one for labor than Edwards."

DEBATE OBAMA: No Lecturing Him On Foreign Policy

However it may play in DC, the netroots scored the exchange over Pakistan as a huge win for Barack Obama. Reactions include:

• Crooks and LiarsLogan Murphy: "The most heated moments from tonight's AFL-CIO forum came when the topic turned to Senator Barack Obama and his claim for the last debate that he would invade Pakistan to fight terrorism, even without permission from President Pervez Musharraf.... Obama stands his ground and jabs Dodd and Clinton for voting for the invasion of Iraq, then turning around and attacking him "for making sure we are on the right battlefield, and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism," which drew huge applause from the audience."
• AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay: "Dodd took a smack at Obama based on a question from Keith about a criticism made about Obama on foreign policy. Obama then gave a very, very strong response -- this was a good moment for him. Obama pointed out that he's getting criticized by people who got us into the mess in Iraq when we went after the people who didn't attack us. Sounded like Clinton's response got booed."
• a Daily Kos commenter: "Obama's smack down of Hillary/Dodd was the grand slam of the evening and he had other good moments."
• another Kossack: "Obama's running an outsider's campaign and all the others took the insider's perspective that even the broadest foreign policy questions are MYOFB. He was in the minority, but on the defensive? Hardly. He was the only one with a policy. As for bringing up the AUMF, Obama skewered Dodd. He's done it before, he'll do it again, every time someone gives an inside the beltway lecture."

LANDSCAPE: Base Jump

Challenged by NDN founder Simon Rosenberg to investigate whether Dems received a greater surge in votes from self-identified Dems or self-identified Independents, Open Left's Chris Bowers crunches the numbers on '04 and '06 exit polls and finds the growth from Dems was 2.41% while the growth from I's was 2.08%. Bowers comments: "This is rather surprising, but it does seem to be the case that Democrats won 2006 just as much by exciting the rank and file as anything else. I am actually kicking myself right now for not realizing this sooner, as it is the sort of statistic I pride myself on digging up. This would have been extremely useful to combat the post-election narrative that Democrats won in 2006 by being centrist, conservative, or in anyway breaking from their own party."

DEM FIELD: Labor Wants To Love A Winner

Labor Research Ass. dir/'06 NY SEN primary challenger Jonathan Tasini explains why labor is hesitant to endorse labor despite their appreciation for his efforts at The Huffington Post: "At this point, the conventional perception is that, if unions went with their heart, they'd endorse John Edwards. But, many of the union leaders are being influenced by the measures that are influencing the media coverage and some public perceptions: polls, money and celebrity. And, as a result, some of the unions might decide to stay neutral for some time and, perhaps, even stay out of the primary fight period. ... The bottom line, however, is that there is a strong desire within labor to retake the White House so, like many of the Democratic constituencies, the labor movement is ready to work hard for whoever emerges from the fray."

CLINTON: Like The Dead, She's Better In Person

Atrios had two unconnected thoughts while watching coverage of 8/7s debate. First, he explains his aversion to Hillary Clinton after seeing Terry McAuliffe on television: "[W]hen I see him on the teevee I realize my resistance to Clinton is largely due to a desire to flush out the Clintonite shadow government and move on to the new. It isn't that I'm strongly opposed to these people, it's that I'm opposed to the permanent Washington floating world and my belief that anything which disrupts the permanent class is, in and of itself, a good thing."

In a more generous post, Atrios allows: "[W]hen people see Clinton in person they're shocked that she doesn't come across as her cold and uncaring caricature. Oddly, she does come across that way on the teevee. It's weird. ... just realized I overstated the case a bit. I don't think Clinton comes across horribly on teevee, but the fact is that in person she's actually really good."

Also criticizing HRC, The Reality Based Community's Mark Kleiman admits Tom Edsall "has forgotten more about the uses of money in politics than I'll ever know" but disagrees with his claim that John Edwards and Barack Obama are just as un-pure as Clinton when it comes to campaign cash: "So I think Edwards and Obama are right, and Clinton is wrong. Her decision to accept lobbyists' checks is part and parcel of her decision to play the existing crooked game by its current crooked rules, just like her decision to employ as a key campaign adviser the CEO of a company with a lucrative union-busting practice."

DODD: Stop Insulting People's Intelligence

MyDD's Jonathan Singer interviewed Chris Dodd, including this segment on Barack Obama and John Edwards claims to take no money from Washington lobbyists:

I found the argument almost insulting to the audience. ... So you're getting money from trial lawyers, and you're getting money from Chicago, Los Angeles... People, this "Washington lobbyists" is a nice bumper sticker, but don't insult the intelligence of people out here. ... As someone who has been an advocate for a long time of public financing, people sort of competing with each other as to how many lobbyist checks they won't receive in all of this misses the point, it seems to me, in many ways. And, again, it's to some degree because saying "Washington lobbyist", as if a lobbyist from every other place around the country is okay and they're the only ones who are wrong is trite and superficial.

OBAMA: How Did Those Strikes Based On Actionable Intelligence Turnout Anyway?

The dynamics between Barack Obama and establishment foreign policy thinking aside, there is little netroots consensus on the wisdom of Obama's Pakistan comments. TPM Cafe's Reed Hundt defends Obama: "Suppose you are the President of the United States. The CIA tells you that they've spotted Osama bin Laden having tea under a tent in Afghanistan. Would you launch an airstrike? Suppose you are told that he's in a factory in Sudan. Would you launch an airstrike? Didn't both situations occur during the Clinton Administration? And wasn't the President criticized for not launching the attack in case one and for launching it in case two? What principle is at work here? Surely hot pursuit of Osama anywhere in the world is or ought to be the American policy."

The Huffington Post's Earl Ofari Hutchinson argues Obama slipped up: "When Obama said that he would talk to America's pariahs ... it made some sense. But unfortunately Obama didn't stop there. He popped off about mounting search and destroy operations in Pakistan, a key U.S. ally. Obama came off as worse than naive and confused. He came off as a walking foreign policy contradiction."

TPM Cafe's Greg Sargent tracks Politico coverage of Dem reaction in IA and highlights this voter question: "Aren't you really buying into the George Bush doctrine of fighting terrorism by attempting to hunt down and kill terrorists?"

OBAMA II: No Really, You Look Like Ron Jeremy

While watching post-Dem debate spin Matthew Yglesias mentions: "I hadn't realized until this very segment with Chris Matthews that David Axelrod sports that preposterous moustache -- he should consider a shave."

Not mentioning Axelrod by name, Atrios blogs: "At some point I wish Democratic campaigns would learn that the talents which make you wonderful "senior advisers" or whatever don't necessarily make you a great spokesperson. Find some really smart and beautiful people and train them. It's an acting job."

And as long as were on truly substantive subjects, Obama Girl debuted her latest video at The Huffington Post.

GOP FIELD: Hillary Can Not Save Them

Townhall's Patrick Ruffini reviews the latestroundof GOPworry over how to "reinvigorate our movement online" and warns against assuming that a Hillary Clinton nomination will automatically solve the problem. Ruffini blogs: "

The basic assumption is sound. The online right was ascendant in the Clinton years, just as the online left was in the Bush years. Opposition galvanizes political movements, and not just online. ... But a lot of folks also hoped that we'd be at least partly there by now. ... At this point in the Clinton years, MoveOn had already started. Perhaps the analog to that is the immigration issue, where the right kicked ass. But, again, what did we create with the immigration issue? Where is the million person email list of people who got involved because of immigration, and can now be activated on other issues? It sounds like people were thinking of the right techniques for radio, but not for online. ... And, finally, is there any way this gets started without Hillary Clinton? I've read the same history books, and I don't think the New Right was built on personal animus towards JFK and LBJ - and it thrived in power in the '80s.

GIULIANI: SoCons To Vote, But Not Work For, Rudy?

After reading Soren Dayton worries that a Rudy Giuliani nomination would require "a whole new set of volunteers" since "pro-lifers form a significant portion of the GOP activist base" and "will not volunteer for Rudy," NRO's Jim Geraghty asked his activist pro-life readers: "[W]ould [you] go out and do the similar work for a ticket headed by Giuliani as you have done for Bush, etc., in the past."

Later, Geraghty reports: "I've gotten heavy response from readers so far. I'd put it about a quarter to one third, 'no problem volunteering for Rudy to save the country from Hillary,' one quarter to a third, 'Eh, wouldn't volunteer for Rudy, but I'd focus on GOP pro-life candidates in state/local races' and one half or a bit less saying 'Nope, I'd stay home, no help for a party that nominates Rudy.'"

Turning back to whether he will get the nomination, The Brody File reports form Webster City, IA: "Iowa voters tend to be more socially conservative so it's important that Giuliani speak to their concerns about abortion. But I'm not convinced he has to actually win the argument. ... As long as these voters feel comfortable that the Mayor is sincere in his beliefs to not roll back recent pro-life gains, that may be enough."

The Corner's Rich Lowry observes: "I forget the exact rule, but I believe in recent memory pretty much every Republican leading in the Gallup poll a year out from the convention has won the nomination. The year-out mark is in about a month and Rudy is still holding a solid lead in Gallup. "

HUCKABEE: Forgiveness Not On The Yellow Brick Road

The Brody File sat down with Mike Huckabee in LeMars, IA, and asked him to respond to Sam Brownback demands that Huckabee personally apologize for an email a supporter of his sent out criticizing Brownback's Catholicism. Huckabee responded:

When Christians start attacking each other, it's really unbecoming, but the person who committed the offense did apologize. And when a person who is a Christian asked another Christian brother for forgiveness, the answer is always supposed to be 'yes.' That pastor who sent a private e-mail to two people ... has apologized profusely.

Huckabee also told Brody that the lack of support he is receiving from fellow evangelical leaders "will have a chilling effect on future evangelicals wanting to run for office."

MCCAIN: Even Hillary Gets It

The Corner's Rich Lowry picks up on Hillary Clinton's defense of Lobbyists at Yearly Kos and quips: "Hurrah for Hillary for saying at the Kos convention what John McCain has never seemed really to want to understand: lobbyists represent real people and their interests in Washington."

PAUL: Nobody Would Lose Better

The Corner's John Derbyshire shares an email from an American in Europe making the case that Ron Paul can be a Barry Goldwater-like sacrificial lamb "to remind the party we're here and set up some influence for 2012." From the email:

Only a Ron Paul candidacy has any hope of focusing on fundamentals again, cutting through the web of confusion surrounding them, and eliciting any new, creative thought. ... only a Ron Paul candidacy has any chance of challenging and bringing into question the 'business as usual' attitude of the K Street lobbies, pork-barrel congressmen, and the spiraling bureaucracy. ... Only Ron Paul has the ability to bring a new group of people into politics, people who are committed, like the Goldwater activists of 1964, to taking a different approach to government. Only a Ron Paul candidacy has any hope of bringing new blood and new ideals into politics.

ROMNEY: Purity Fatigue

At Ankle Biting PunditsJohn McCain aide Patrick Hynes says Mitt Romney's nomination "may be inevitable at this point" but argues that Romney's new support for a human life amendment in the GOP platform would be a flip-flop from an earlier promise not to do so. Hynes adds: "Republicans are likely to learn, as Democrats did in 2004, that nominating a man with so malleable a set of principles is a dreadful mistake."

Meanwhile, The Corner's Rich Lowry links to Sam Brownback attacks on Romney's abortion record and comments: "[P]ersonally I find this debate over pro-life purity tiresome."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Ezra Klein Is A Childless 24 Year Old

The Plank's Jonathan Chait links to the following Ezra Klein reaction to data showing Baby Einstein DVDs do not increase baby vocabulary. Klein blogged: "Turns out that plopping your kids in front of the television for hours on end with only an intelligence-enhancing DVD to care for them does not, in fact, raise geniuses." Chait responds:

I hear a lot of this sentiment from people who don't have children: Ha ha! Your attempts to raise super-geniuses have failed! ... But when you're alone with your baby for hours on end, and especially when you haven't been able to sleep more than three hours without being woken up in months, sometimes you want to eat a meal or read the newspaper. You need something to occupy the baby, and a Baby Einstein video -- which tends to make the babies smile and coo -- is better than making them stare at the ceiling for twenty minutes.
The misconception among the childless is that Baby Einstein videos are a tool for hyper-competitive parents. The real hyper-competitive parents are the ones who can overcome a state of total exhaustion to read, play, and tell stories to their baby for hours on end without ever needing a coffee break.

LEST WE FORGET: Mmmmm, Banana Twinkies...

Tyler Cowen shares what he learned reading Steve Ettlinger's Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats:

There are entire companies which do nothing but break eggs open for other companies; the largest such egg-breaking company is based in Elizabeth, New Jersey. ... I also learned that a twinkie is about half sugar, sulfuric acid is the most produced chemical in the world, sugar is used to clean out cement mixers, phosphate rock and limestone make Twinkies light and airy, Twinkies' butter flavor is created out of gas, Twinkies contain only one preservative (sorbic acid), and the original 1930 Twinkies were filled with banana flavor, not vanilla.

Posted by Conn Carroll at August 8, 2007 12:37 PM