September 24, 2007

9/24: We're Just Not Seeing It

Fred Thompson may have succeeded in driving more traffic to his site than any other GOPer, but we are just not seeing any big name blogger excitement to match those traffic numbers. If anything, the more the conservosphere gets a look at Thompson, the less they like what they see. Thompson was roundly panned for his 9/22 address to the MI GOP, and the Heritage Foundation's Robert Bluey was the harshest: "It was like watching Bob Dole - without the Viagra."

There is still little doubt that many GOPers are underwhelmed by their options, but as The Corner's David Freddoso explains his 9/22 performance is "still more proof that the demand for Thompson appears to outstrip the supply."

MACKINAC: No Room At The Inn

The Corner's David Freddoso and RedState's Rob Bluey both filed first hand accounts of the MI GOP's 27th biennial conference at Mackinac Island 9/21-23. Freddoso sets the scene: "The long, oddly shaped dining room in Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel was packed. State GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis grabbed me before the speech to remark, 'We've got so many people here that we've literally run out of seats. I had to give mine up for one of our donors.'" Bluey adds: "The highlight of the weekend for me was watching six presidential candidates court Michigan Republicans."

Mitt Romney again met expectations nailing down a victory in the Hotline sponsored straw poll, but his speech received less than stellar reviews. First hand reports from Freddoso and Bluey and reactions from conservatives not in attendance include:

MacGIULIANI: It's Possible MoveOn Is His Biggest Asset Right Now

Freddoso: "Near the end, he began discussing Iraq, and ended with a fierce condemnation of MoveOn.org. One must give Rudy credit for cleverly jumping on this controversy and milking it for all it's worth."

Bluey: "This was the first time I watched a Giuliani speech in person. I was impressed. He stuck to the themes that work in his favor - lower taxes, less spending, tough on terrorists and hard on Hillary. If you're not sold on Giuliani, you very well may be after seeing him live. He was sharp, funny and lit up the room with electricity."

More Bluey, declaring Giuliani a 'winner' of the weekend: "By focusing on Democrats - and emphasizing his appeal in traditionally blue states - Giuliani showed why he's the man to beat."

MacHUCKABEE: Blame It On The McRain

Freddoso: "Word is that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee won't be here today because he missed his flight. He said that he didn't want to take a private plane because he said that then he'd have had to pay the full rate under McCain-Feingold."

MacMCCAIN: Don't Call It A Comeback

Freddoso: "[H]ow about McCain finishing second, ahead of Giuliani? ... His finish is especially interesting in this context. AG Mike Cox, his former state chairman, dumped McCain on Monday. I guess many of the Republicans at Mackinac don't see things as Cox did."

MacROMNEY: The New York Yankees Of The GOP Field?

Freddoso: "Romney Falls Flat -- Bombs, Even ... He was very slow winding up, and the speech has a lot of really, really lame applause lines. I couldn't take much more after this one: 'I'll make sure that our future is defined not by the letters ACLU, but by the letters USA.' Yes - as previewed earlier - he actually did say that. I wish they'd given Huckabee his seat on the plane."

The Corner's Lisa Schiffren responding to Freddoso suggestion Romney 'bought' his straw poll victory: "The Mackinac results make sense even if you don't say that Romney paid for the most people to come. He is as close as Michigan has to a native son in this race."

AmSpec Blog's Jennifer Rubin on the same topic: "To some extent Romney is a victim of his own success. He rounds up supporters, transport and registers them and gets 300 plus votes. That's a sign he has active volunteers, paid staff and a base of support. His opponents sneer that he "paid" for his votes but this is how a straw poll works. Since we have an open primary in Michigan others who have money have a more level playing field through paid media."

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt: "The GOP needs to put some blue states into play to avoid having this be a wholly defensive attempt to hang on to the Bush states of 2004. A Romney candidacy puts Michigan very much into play, and probably Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Maine as well."

MacTHOMPSON: Viva Fred!

Bluey: "My high expectations for Fred Thompson were met with bitter disappointment tonight after listening to a boring and uninspiring speech ... It was like watching Bob Dole - without the Viagra."

Freddoso: "The majority who are paying attention are really looking for an applause line - perhaps, to put it harshly, for something that will keep them awake. ... It's still more proof that the demand for Thompson appears to outstrip the supply. It would be nice to see him speak with a bit more energy."

More Bluey on Thompson as a 'loser' of the weekend: "It's hard for me to put Thompson on this list, but I've heard too many bad things about his speech not to include him. ... I also had one observer tell me that he gave the wrong speech to the wrong audience; had he used that same laid-back approach before an audience in Tennessee, it might have turned out differently."

More Freddoso: "There are high expectations for Thompson. He is starting late, and he has to inspire people if he wants the nomination. Simple as that. If he's going to run around the country giving speeches that put people to sleep, then he might as well go back to Law & Order."

AmSpec Blog's Jennifer Rubin: "Thompson both on the speech reviews and straw poll results demonstrates why pundits have been harsh -- he needs to get his act together and fast. (And there is still no evidence of a public schedule for Thompson for this upcoming week.)"

GIULIANI: The Real Law & Order Candidate?

Rudy Giuliani received mostly positive reviews for his 9/21 NRA address, but still left some questions unanswered. The Brody File blogs: "But where Giuliani really seemed to hit the mark was in his remarks about enforcing the law. The crowd wanted to hear that and Giuliani delivered plenty of it."

NRO's Jim Geraghty: "Rudy did pretty well for himself - judging by the applause lines, gentle laughter at some points, and standing applause as he exited, the NRA delegates will walk away respecting him, and maybe even liking him, but not loving him. ... But the NRA crowd is a staunch tough-on-crime crowd, and so Rudy's pledges of 'No plea bargains, no exceptions, you go to jail' for violent offenders resonated well."

But not everything went smoothly. Right before the cell phone call from his wife, Giuliani noted the language of the 2nd Amendment included 'the people shall be secure' ... problem is that language is from the 4th Amendment (the 2nd reads "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." NRO's Geraghty comments: "All in all, Rudy probably made an error, quoting the Fourth Amendment when he meant to recite the Second. But it's not like he language of the Fourth Amendment was completely irrelevant to the point he was making; he was discussing the similar language of the amendments."

The Corner's Mark Levin later comments: "So, what exactly is Giuliani's position on the Second Amendment now? Can his supporters explain it with a straight face?"

Later Brody draws comparisons between Giuliani's gun control and life positions: "It's pretty simple. When it comes to guns and abortion, Rudy Giuliani has the same theme: common ground. Look at what he says about both issues ... Did you notice how on both sensitive subjects he's trying to emphasize common agreement and respect for differing viewpoints?"

ROMNEY: Not Another CEO President

Captain's Quarters is no fan of Mitt Romney's new campaign 'Change Begins With Us' campaign. CQ asks, "Will Criticizing Republicans Help Romney?" and answers: "It seems doubtful. Primaries get won through optimism and positive messaging, and Romney has become too involved in campaigning against other Republicans. ... It's a good message in specifics, but not in a general application. If Romney has a problem with specific Republicans, then he should name them and the areas in which the excessive spending went."

Power Line's John Hinderaker also comments on the new message: "I don't find the ad particularly controversial; certainly its sentiments will resonate with most Republican primary voters. ... It seems to me that one of the sub-plots of this complicated Republican primary season has been Romney's failure to catch on with the party's rank and file. His numbers in national polls have really gone nowhere. ... I think that Mitt Romney would make an excellent President. Unfortunately, I think we may be finding out that he lacks some of the skills necessary to be an excellent candidate. If that's correct, it will take more than a new ad campaign to connect with the Republican rank and file."

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt responds: "John did note Romney's leads in Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan, which is to me the complete answer to John's question --Romney is doing "better" because his plan is rolling out as he had hoped: Romney is betting the campaign on the idea that demonstrated success in consecutive actual votes as opposed to polling will catapult him past Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson. ... Romney has in fact built the leads in the early states that he needs, and will spend the next three months defending them. He's doing exactly what he set out to do."

THOMPSON: Reagan Still Not Walking Through That Door

Fred Thompson's stump speech line, "This country has shed more blood for the liberty of other countries than all other countries put together," continued to generate discussion at The Corner. Leaving aside the merits of the debate, Mark Steyn sums up the bottom line after quoting from Ronald Reagan's '84 Normandy speech: "I know everyone wants Fred to be the new Ron, but I miss the old one's generosity of spirit."

Thompson also continues to struggle to separate himself from McCain-Feningold. The Corner's David Freddoso links to Thompson's latest attempt to differentiate between limiting soft money and violating the First Amendment and comments: "This is a lot like the answer he gave on Laura Ingraham, although it is better. But the answer is still problematic - it is a logically inconsistent answer. You CANNOT limit soft money without placing those restrictions on free speech. This is why they put the limitations into the bill."

Finally, NY Sun's Ryan Sager picks up on a growing gender gap in the GOP field: "In the latest Insider Advantage poll in Florida: 'Republican men back Thompson over Giuliani 31% to 23%, while Republican women back Giuliani over Thompson 25% to 16%.'"

CLINTON: Not A Drag

A 9/22 Washington Poststory on a 7/21-8/5 poll by Joe Biden pollster Celinda Lake drew wide netroots condemnation. Post authors Chris Cillizza and Shailagh Murray claimed the poll showed Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama trailing Rudy Giuliani in 31 swing districts and "potentially serving as a drag on those lawmakers' reelection chances."

Open Left's Chris Bowers did attack the story's authors, but did reassure readers "Clinton Would Not Hurt Democrats Down Ballot." From Bowers: "[T]his poll shows the exact same 6% edge for freshman Democrats in the named generic ballot no matter if the local nominee is tied to Clinton or Obama. I think the key here is that the freshman Democrats are weakened not by the attack that connects them to any specific Democrat, but rather by the attack that they will be a tool of someone outside the district. In other words, it isn't tying Democratic candidates to Hillary Clinton that hurts them, but tying them to anyone from outside the district who is perceived as having different values."

Others were less kind. Matthew Yglesias blogs: "So Joe Biden's pollster, Celinda Lake, did some push polling about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, then leaked it to The Washington Post which produced this story ... why did Lake do this? ... Under the circumstances, her willingness to engage in dirty pool against the front-runners is remarkable."

Atrios adds: "So why is "Democratic pollster" Celinda Lake running push polls about Obama and Clinton? Why are Cillizza and the Devil running them as news? More importantly, why isn't Cillizza telling us that Celinda Lake works for the rival Biden campaign."

Not everyone in the community took the poll with a grain of salt. MyDD commenter and John Edwards fan Vox Populi jumped on the article as evidence that, "With Clinton at the top of the ticket, the Democratic incumbents in swing districts go from a large lead to a very narrow lead. She is the one person who can excite Republican voters like none of their candidates can. Democrats, we cannot risk that. Our Congress is at risk if we do."

CLINTON II: Residual Doubts

Hillary Clinton scored mixed reviews for her 9/23 Sunday show tour. On the plus side, she promised to vote against funding the Iraq war. Hurting Hillary: condemning MoveOn and committing to keepingresidual forces in Iraq .

DODD: Accept No Substitutes

Chris Dodd's official bloggers Matt Browner Hamlin guest posted Dodd's explanation for voting against the Levin-Reed amendment to the DoD appropriation bill at Blue Hampshire: "There seems to be a little bit of confusion about what, exactly, Levin Reed actually would have accomplished. The short answer is ... nothing. That's why Senator Dodd voted against the legislation earlier this morning."

OBAMA: On Belly Buttons

Andrew Sullivan quotes from his latest pro-Barack ObamaTimes Online column: "Clinton, in other words, represents payback for the Democrats and liberals after the Bush era, just as Giuliani is emerging as the inheritor of the Bush legacy of divide and rule. Right now, Obama remains to the side, offering Americans something else: not payback, but a new page."

Atrios responds: "Silly Sully. After all these years, he still has no clue about US politics. Hint to sully: the body politic does not reside in your belly button."

BLOGGERS VS BELTWAY: Never Reinforce Right Wing Talking Points

The netroots are still smarting over the Senate's 9/20 vote condemning MoveOn's 'Gen. Betray Us' and believe the resolution is key to understanding why Congress has an 11% approval rating. The Huffington Post's Drew Westin blogs: "If the Democrats in the Senate were worried about the impact of the headline of the MoveOn ad, which attacked the general's recounting of the facts on the ground less effectively than the text of the ad, they have just amplified it by reinforcing that the central theme of the Republican message on Iraq from the start: that opposition to the war is an attack on the military, when in fact the Iraq war, by all accounts, has done nothing but weaken our military, strengthen the foothold of terrorists abroad, and undermine our national security."

My Left Nutmeg's tparty links and adds: "Half the party just voted to condemn a single act of free speech on the part of one of their allies, and all criticism of members of the military in general. Democrats had already lost their entire base - now they just told them to "f**k off" in no uncertain words. There's no point in standing up for someone who won't stand up for themselves. And Democrats and "moderate" Independents around the country are getting this message loud and clear, even if the D.C. insider class isn't."

MyDD's Melissa Ryan links and comments: "Progressive activists across the country worked their butts off to get the current Congress elected. ... We don't expect them to always agree with progressive organizations or their strategic tactics but we do expect that those disagreements won't become a taxpayer funded floor show. The Moveon vote was a complete misuse of power. Shame on every Democrat who voted in favor of it."

Also at MyDD, Todd Beeton posts text from MoveOn's latest email announcing their goal to raise $1 mil. to "dramatically expand" their ad campaign.

Finally, Glenn Greenwald singles out Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) as a "symbol of the worthless Beltway Democrat." More Greenwald: "Feinstein is a 74-year-old divorced Jewish woman currently on her third husband ... She has as secure a political position as any politician in the country. ... And yet, her votes over the last several years, and especially this year after she was safely re-elected, are infinitely closer to the Bush White House and her right-wing Senate colleagues than they are to the base of her party or to the constituents she allegedly represents. ... She long ago ceased being driven by the political values which serve as props for her campaigns, if she was ever driven by them. And that is the story of so many of the Beltway Democrats."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Color Coding Destiny

Commenting on the Red/Blue divideBlog PI's Bill Beutler remembers "that in elections prior to 2000, the colors were not standardized across the television networks, and they also switched colors between the parties." Beutler than makes the case that the reverse of current color assignments would never have been tolerated:

For most of the 20th century, the color red was associated with Communism, and for reasons that scarcely need explaining, it carried a decidedly negative association in the West: Better dead than red, after all. The American left certainly had its share of Stalinists, and anti-Communists on the right didn't hesitate in extending the term.

Likewise, the color blue is sometimes associated with nobility in Europe and the upper class in America, particularly in the Northeast - I refer to the term blue blood. The stereotype of rich, right-wing industrialists who cannot identify with regular Americans has probably been used against every Republican candidate since Lincoln. The recognition that this can be a political liability is what led Mike Huckabee to recently describe himself as 'a blue-collar Republican, not a blueblood Republican.'

LEST WE FORGET: We Interrupt This Thrilling College Football Game...

Via Deadspin we find Loser with Socks recaps a video capture of the last minutes of the Georgia Bulldogs OT win overtime win over the Crimson Tide:

It was one of the weirdest comments I have ever heard in a broadcast. It's not like it was a blowout and there was nothing to talk about. ... Mike Patrick randomly bursts out with, "Britney Spears, what is she doing with her life?" [Todd] Blackledge responded with like "Britney?" Then Patrick said something else about Britney Spears and then Blackledge asked him if she was at the game and then Patrick said "I's sure she's watching or that he's sure that she's a football fan." Blackledge played it off pretty well and thankfully they had to get back to calling a close game.

Posted by Conn Carroll at September 24, 2007 12:46 PM