November 01, 2007

11/1: The Whole Point Of Debating

Since we are already on record defending Tim Russert, we have to admit that we fail to see what his big crime was in 10/30's MSNBC Dem debate. First let's review some words the netroots are throwing at him: 'vicious and unbalanced' 'nakedly sexist' 'sexist thug' and 'hack'.

The strongest case against Russert we can find is that almost half of the questions he asked 10/30 "had to do with either Hillary or Bill Clinton ... with 22 of the 25 being abjectly hostile." Defining 'hostile' is inherently subjective, but even taking these numbers at face value, so what? HRC is the frontrunner and this isn't little league.

More importantly though, we don't see any good arguments that any of the questions were bad. Some have argued that the Russert's National Archives question was unfair since "It's also standard operating procedures for all presidents." But isn't there a Dem candidate in the race whose whole campaign is about changing DC's "standard operating procedures"?

And the most illuminating question of the night came from Russert, as well, on undocumented migrants and drivers licenses. This may have been a gotcha moment, but why is that so bad? All indications are that the GOP is going to make immigration a major issue in '08, so wouldn't it be nice to know if the Dem frontrunner is prepared to defend against the issue? If we want the debates to be more than just joint press conferences, we should expect some tough questioning ... especially for the leader of the pack.

CLINTON: It Never Hurts To Defend Other Dems In A Dem Primary

Hillary Clinton's defense of NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer's (D) plan to give undocumented migrants drivers' licenses earned her wide netroots respect. Reactions include:

• Ezra Klein: "I thought it was a damn good answer. She did seek a couple sidesteps and refused to give a flat yes or no, but she defended her reasoning on the issue, accurately explained the forces and pressures behind Spitzer's decision, and refused to offer the truly craven evasive answer of a simple "no." ... I thought it was one of the night's better moments."
• TAPPED's Kate Sheppard: "While others have criticized it, I think she gave a decent response to what was posed as a "gotcha" question. It would be hard - catastrophic even - for Clinton to come right out and say that she wants all illegal immigrants to have drivers' licenses. Her "It makes a lot of sense" response helped spin it to a way to point out the gross failures of immigration reform and the burden it puts on states and municipalities to deal with some very real problems."
• Taylor Marsh: "The drivers licenses question at the end obviously surprised Clinton. But when explaining Spitzer's plan Clinton once again showed something that her opponents do not get. She is willing to go to bat for our guy in New York, Elliot Spitzer, who has been trying to deal with the immigration challenge he's facing as governor."
• Fire Dog Lake's Jane Hamsher: "[S]he's the one who had the courage to try to defend Eliot Spitzer last night (and more forcefully today), despite the fact that he's politically toxic at the moment and she knew she'd only take s**t for it. Her opponents decided to seize the opportunity to attack her rather than defend Spitzer, and now the media is circling and calling her 'shrill.'"
• MyDD's Jonathan Singer: "I'd like to do something I don't do too often on this site: Defend a policy position undertaken by the Democrats ... No doubt this isn't the most popular move at this juncture. But with a bit of explanation and political capital (and real capital) invested in making the argument, I think there are a lot of people -- particularly the large proportion of Americans in favor of a path to legalization or citizenship for illegal immigrants -- who could be swayed."

Not everyone was sold on the fact that Clinton had in fact endorsed Spitzer's plan. TPM's Greg Sargent posts Team Clinton's statement on the issue: "Senator Clinton supports governors like Governor Spitzer who believe they need such a measure to deal with the crisis caused by this administration's failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform."

Sargent parses: "It's almost too obvious to point out, but this just isn't an expression of support for Spitzer's proposed policies in any way. It even falls short of overt support for Spitzer in general -- it says she supports governors "like" Spitzer who are faced with policy conundrums of this sort. ... I'm generally less sympathetic than other people to the constant complaints that Hillary won't say where she stands on key questions. But this one's puzzling to say the least."

CLINTON II: We Seem To Remember Clintons Doing Well When The Economy Is The Issue

In non-immigration HRC blogging, MyDD's Todd Beeton links to Democracy Corps analysis showing economic anxiety will important to voters in '08 and comments: "More than any other Democrat running, Hillary Clinton has devoted her campaign to communicating an "I feel your pain" message about the economy, through her ads ("Invisible," "Trap Door," and "There For You" in particular,) through her "Middle Class Express" bus tour and in debates such her response last night on the AMT question."

The Huffington Post's Jon Weiner, however, reports that Paul Krugman is not sold on HRC as the answer. From Krugman: "We hope we're about to elect FDR but we might be about to elect Grover Cleveland. ... He was what they called a 'Bourbon Democrat' ... He wasn't that different from the Republicans at the time."

In more positive HRC news, ret. Gen. Wesley Clark blogs his support at Blue Hampshire: "I am supporting Hillary for president because she is the right person to lead the country toward a safer, more secure future. The world has reached a critical point, and we need a leader in the White House with the courage, intelligence and humility to navigate through many troubling challenges to our security at home and abroad. Hillary Clinton is that leader."

OBAMA: No Word On Whether The Great Pumpkin Is Real Too

Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall explains why Barack Obama's plan to "'fix' the non-existent Social Security crisis" is both bad policy and politics:

The problem on the political side of the equation is that the enemies of Social Security have spent a couple decades arguing that the Trust Fund doesn't exist or that it is simply a bookkeeping device with no true financial meaning. ... If we start pumping a lot more money into Social Security coffers now it will by definition go into more government bonds, which is another way of saying that it will go toward funding our current deficit spending. ... If there is any sense in which the 'Trust Fund' is not 'real' it is that it must be paid back from general revenues. And that will only be harder the more other debt we're running up. So rather than solving the problem, I think we're actually enabling it.

The second problem is that we need a national agreement or consensus that the Trust Fund is real, that it will be honored, and have the debate about the future of the program on that basis. ... Lifting the payroll tax cap while Social Security is still running a big surplus not only solves a problem that doesn't exist it enables the very policies that put the program in danger.

GOP FIELD: Drivers' Licenses Are Just The Tip Of The Iceberg

Human Events conducted an email poll of its 32K subscribers, 1,984 of who responded to the question: "If a Republican presidential primary were held in your state today, which of the candidates would you vote for?" Results include:

Fred Thompson 25%
Rudy Giuliani 20%
Mike Huckabee 19%
Mitt Romney 13%
Duncan Hunter 8%
Ron Paul 8%
Tom Tancredo 5%
John McCain 2%

HE also asked subscribers to "Rank the following issues (values, healthcare, education, media bias, illegal immigration, taxes, right to life, War in Iraq, size of government, competence in government, and homeland security) with 1 being the most important and 10 least important." Illegal immigration won. Power Line's Paul Mirengoff links and comments: "Whatever the precise dimension of the present conservative tent, all Human Events readers have a good case for inclusion. But whether they constitute a representative sample, I don't know."

In related news, Matthew Yglesias links to Democracy Corps analysis showing "to independents the entrance of too many immigrants into the country is overwhelmingly the top priority. And, indeed, independents see pretty much everything as more important than Iraq."

GIULIANI: Hog Wild

Rudy Giuliani made sure conservatives knew he made the talk radio rounds hitting Hillary Clinton on immigration 10/31. AmSpec Blog's Jennifer Rubin posts the following exchange from Glenn Beck's show:

• GLENN BECK: "Did you watch with your mouth opening thinking, 'I don't even know what that answer about driver's licenses even means from Hillary Clinton?'"
• MAYOR GIULIANI: "You know, she was being attacked all night for taking different positions in front of different audiences and then by the end of the night, she took different positions in front of the same audience. It was pretty amazing. I mean, in politics I've never quite seen that before. ... My answer to it is no. Of course you don't give out driver's licenses to illegals. Among other things, it'll make it even more difficult to deal with all the fraud, all the forgery that's going on."

NRO's Jim Geraghty sums up Giuliani's Sean Hannity appearance: "the dominant topic of discussion was (what else?) Hillary's comments on offering driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Giuliani sounded as happy as a pig in... well, you know what."

In other Giuliani news, AmSpec's Philip Klein documents the AP, Andrew Sullivan, Talking Points Memo, and Keith Olbermann all falsely accusing Rudy of claiming Dems would invite Osama bin Laden to the White House. In fact, Giuliani actually referred to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The AP and Sullivan have corrected, TPM and Olbermann not so much.

HUCKABEE: Smoke 'Em If You Got 'Em

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt hosted Mike Huckabee on his 10/31 radio show and reports back: "[F]rom my audience on air and in e-mail is not good at all. The neo-Willie Horton case isn't the problem, but the answers on illegals who turn 18 are being very poorly received, as is the governor's endorsement of an anti-federalist one-size-fits-all-states workplace smoking ban."

MCCAIN: What Sort Of Shell Has A Nut Like This?

NRO's Jim Geraghty summarizes a John McCain 'Strategy Memo' making "the case that their man is the one who is most electable where it counts." From Geraghty: "In a nutshell, they say that there are three states where McCain performs better than Giuliani where both lead Hillary significantly: Arkansas, Kansas and New Mexico. There are four states where McCain beats Hillary, but that Giuliani loses: Virginia, Washington, Ohio and Kentucky. ... And their central point is the states that Giuliani performs better than McCain - New York and California, are two states where Hillary is way ahead anyway. ... Is the argument compelling? In its broadest outlines, yes."

ROMNEY: Marriage Brings Them Together Today

The Brody File broke news that Fred Thompson religous outreach aide Bill Wichterman will be moving to Mitt Romney's campaign. Brody explains: "Bill Wichterman left the Thompson campaign because Thompson DOES NOT support the federal marriage amendment. At least the version that is on the table now. Mitt Romney does support it. Wichterman liked that fit. Who can blame him?"

NRO's Jim Geraghty got wind of the switch from his "Thompson Associate" who also predicts "an endorsement of Mitt Romney by James Dobson in the near future."

THOMPSON: If It's Sunday...

Fred Thompson took to RedState to capitalize on Hillary Clinton's endorsement of drivers' licenses for undocumented migrants: "While Hillary Clinton was speaking out both sides of her mouth at last night's debate over the issue of drivers licenses for illegal aliens, what went unsaid is that this is a recipe for increased voter fraud. ... I think we have to quit inducing people to come and stay if they're illegal."

NRO's Jim Geraghty was excited to announce Fred Thompson will be appearing on Meet the Press 11/4: "I'm enough of a geek to set my DVR for this Sunday ... Semi-seriously, while Thompson is enjoying ignoring the Washington press corps, he could do himself a lot of good on Sunday morning by looking prepared, knowledgeable, direct, and unflappable."

AmSpec's Jennifer Rubin mocks: "And for those of you who think Thompson isn't working hard enough, his campaign puts out an email to inform us he is having a breakfast in Nevada on Thursday and doing Meet the Press on Sunday. That's it. Sounds like the first two hours of a Romney day."

BLOGGERS VS BELTWAY: What We Have Here ...

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) took to Daily Kos 10/31 to respond to Daily Kos diarist accusations that her willingness "to grant retroactive immunity to TelCos" is due to ease her "troubled soul." Harman blogged:

What rubbish! For those like me who insist that the President's domestic surveillance program must comply fully with the Constitution and the 4th Amendment, the only way for Congress to get there is with a veto-proof majority. That's why I'm working with Republicans. Got a better idea? ... In my view, the question of retroactive immunity cannot even be considered until Congress is fully informed about what happened and under what authority.

The community responded:

• Daily Kos' Kagro X: "Is the only way for Congress to force the president to comply with the Constitution and the 4th Amendment to garner a veto-proof majority? Why? ... did we just see a United States Congresswoman tell us that bits and pieces of the Constitution could be killed off unless we can get 67 Senators and 290 Representatives to spare them?"


• Open Left's Matt Stoller: "Harman's arguments are just weird. The President is breaking the law, and the solution is to... change the law so that he's no longer breaking it? I don't get it."


• the original dKos diarist: "You ask me if I have a better idea about how to proceed. 1. I want you to tell us what you know about whether the Government conducted illegal warrantless surveillance under the Program from 10/2001- 3/2004; 2. Then I want you to tell us that it was unconstitutional, anti-American, and wrong; 3. Then I would like you and the rest of Congress to stand up in public and say that illegal Warrantless Surveillance of Americans is wrong; 4. I want to see full investigations of the illegality of the Warrantless Surveillance program and those who authorized it, and a pledge that it will never happen again; 5. I want a moratorium on extra-FISA wiretapping and FISA-related legislation until the illegality of the program is disclosed and remedied, in full."


• Daily Kos' buhdydharma: "Representative Harman, It's Just a Misunderstanding. You see, we think George Bush is a criminal. While evidently you don't. And we don't think that our Representatives and Senators should aid and abet criminals."

MD 04: Better Dems Wanted

A who's who of the netroots is shooting to raise $100k for Donna Edwards in response to a House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 11/3 fundraiser for Rep. Al Wynn (D). Open Left's Chris Bowers documents Wynn's atrocities: "Wynn voted for the war in Iraq, the repeal of the estate tax, was a cosponsor of the bill gutting net neutrality, the Bankruptcy Bill, and the 2005 Energy Bill. He's really the epitome of the corrupt Democrat who gives cover to the right-wing to enact legislation."

Those helping Edwards include: Swing State Project, Color of Change, Down with Tyranny, MyDD, Atrios, AMERICAblog, Crooks and Liars, and Fire Dog Lake.

DailyKos' founder Markos Moulitsas challenges: "Wanna take on the establishment? If we want to be relevant in the political world, we have to go beyond just electing more Democrats -- as important as that might be -- and start working for better Democrats. ... Nancy Pelosi will be fundraising for Wynn on Saturday, There's no greater example of the inherent corruption of the system than a supposed progressive House Speaker taking time to raise money for a sleazebag like Al Wynn."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Coalitions In The Making

IA Independent's Dien Judge links to National Wildlife Federation polling showing "69 percent of Iowa hunters and anglers believe global warming is occurring. Of those respondents, 58 percent believe that human activity is a least a contributing factor to global warming, and 52 percent believe that the United States is doing too little to address the issue. ... Among likely Republican caucus attendees who were polled, 51-percent of them believe that global warming is occurring. And 90 percent of likely Democratic caucus attendees believe in global warming."

Judge comments: "The old stereotype says that these camouflage and blaze orange-clad sportsmen have just one thing on their minds -- guns. But while it is true that they are ever-vigilant in protecting their right to bear arms, sportsmen also care deeply about the environment."

LEST WE FORGET: None Of These People Ever Ride Our Metro

Slate points us to this Craig's List rant on one NY subway rider's list of "hooligans" that annoy him on the subway:

• Lady that fans herself with a piece of paper in the train car with broken a/c: Look lady, the air is hot. Not just your air but everyone's air. We are all breathing in each other's nasty hot breath and germs and here you go creating a gust of hot wind.
• Ghostfarter: OK, I know it may be hard to hold it, but if you had diarrhea this morning of course your farts are going to reek! ... Hey if one clipped out, OK - it's happened to the best of us but you try to move around a bit and circulate. Don't just stand there and poof out stinker after stinker while you read your paper!
• Lady that hugs the pole on a crowded train: Are you f**king blind!?? There are other people riding the train with you jerk but yet you proceed to make sweet love to the silver pole. Can we maybe hold on for a second TOO so we don't break and ankle??!!!

Posted by Conn Carroll at November 1, 2007 12:50 PM