April 30, 2009

4/30: Stay Away From My Primary

The 2010 PA Senate race remains the dominant topic in the political blogosphere following Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to join the Dem party. Liberal bloggers are complaining about the efforts of PA Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and other Dem leaders to discourage people from challenging Specter in the primary. Todd Beeton declares: "I'm now even more determined than ever to both fund a Democratic challenger to Specter and withhold any and all support for the DSCC if they do anything to support Specter prior to the primary." Meanwhile, Chris Bowers argues that a primary challenge would make Specter become a more reliable Dem vote, since recent history proves that "Specter's behavior can be altered by the presence of real threats to the continuation of his political career." On the other side of the blogosphere, conservative bloggers continue to criticize the idea of ex-Gov. Tom Ridge (R) challenging ex-Rep. Pat Toomey (R) in the GOP primary.

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Conservative bloggers (Lane, Geraghty, Levin, Powers) are mocking VP Joe Biden after he said that he would not recommend traveling on commercial airplanes or subways because swine flu virus can spread "in confined places." Several liberal bloggers (Benen, Yglesias) are also criticizing Biden.
• Liberal bloggers (Coates, Bowers, Sudbay, Marshall) were impressed by Pres. Obama's performance at last night's press conference. On the other hand, RedState's Erick Erickson thinks Obama "continued to rely on the Teleprompter" and "has a terrible make-up artist."
• Conservative bloggers (Morrissey, de Rugy, Rubin) are criticizing Sen. Olympia Snowe's (R-ME) New York Times op-ed in which she accuses the GOP of excluding moderates. Liberal bloggers (Cole, Hamsher, Willis) are praising the op-ed but predicting that the GOP will ignore Snowe's advice.
• Liberal bloggers (Marshall, Orton, Cole) are making fun of Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) after she hired ex-Bill Clinton lawyer (and frequent netroots target) Lanny Davis as a "media advisor."
• Liberal bloggers (McCarter, LithiumCola, digby, Blue Texan, Llorens) are blasting New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman after he became the latest columnist (following The Washington Post's David Broder) to oppose the idea of prosecuting George W. Bush lawyers who authorized torture.

PA SEN: Why Can't The People Choose Their Own Nominee?

Liberal bloggers are complaining about Dem leaders' efforts to deter candidates from challenging Specter in the 2010 Dem primary:

• MyDD's Beeton: "I'm now even more determined than ever to both fund a Democratic challenger to Specter and withhold any and all support for the DSCC if they do anything to support Specter prior to the primary. I don't mind people in the party welcoming Specter with open arms, what I do mind is their shutting down a process by which the voters get to say who their Senator is as opposed to Specter's political friends, especially considering Specter's open opposition to EFCA yesterday and his vote against the president's budget today. Unlike yesterday, Arlen Specter today said today that he welcomes 'all comers in the Democratic primary and the general election.' Let's give it to him."
• Open Left's David Sirota: "No politician should be entitled to an uncontested election -- primary, general, special, or any other kind. [...T]he palace drama in the Senate over Specter's change may make lots of news, but I'm guessing the working stiff in Pennsylvania doesn't care whether Washington hacks want a Specter primary challenge or not, and doesn't care whether those hacks think incumbent senators (even those from the other party) are entitled to be shielded from democracy. I'm guessing that if there is a primary challenge to Specter, there's a good chance the core Democratic voters who have been voting against him for years will continue voting against him, as they should."
• Firedoglake's watertiger: "President Obama, Vice President Biden, and [Senate Maj. Leader] Harry Reid all think that [Specter's] blatant, craven opportunism is just wonderful for the Democratic Party, so fantastic, in fact, that they're willing to deny real Democrats a chance to run for the Senate seat."

Open Left's Bowers argues that someone should challenge Specter in the Dem primary in order to push him to the left: "We better all hope that Specter's obvious lack of principles translates into a massive shift in his voting habits. While Specter has said publicly that there will be no such shift, is there any reason to trust such an obviously unprincipled, power-hungry politician? Further, to help guarantee Specter's leftward voting shift, it is important that [businessman] Joe Torsella stay in the primary campaign, and that Representative Joe Sestak continue to keep the door open to a primary run as along as possible. Clearly, Specter's behavior can be altered by the presence of real threats to the continuation of his political career. Specter is an unprincipled wanker. So, let's use that to our advantage."

PA SEN II: Stay Out Of This, Tom

Right Wing News' John Hawkins criticizes the idea of Ridge challenging Toomey in the GOP primary: "[T]here's a rumor floating around that the NRSC is trying to convince Tom Ridge to compete against Pat Toomey in a primary. Now, if Tom Ridge wanted to run on his own -- fine -- in fact, he might even win in Pennsylvania, where he's very popular -- although I'd prefer it if he stayed out of what would inevitably become a very ugly intraparty fight. That being said, let me give [TX Sen.] John Cornyn at the NRSC the best piece of advice he's ever gotten in his life: stay out of Republican primaries. The moment people sense any idea the NRSC or for that matter, the RNC, or the NRCC are working against conservative Republican candidates in any race, anywhere in America, it will cause a backlash and tens of millions of dollars in donations will stay in people's wallets."

Townhall's Hugh Hewitt asked Toomey about the Ridge rumor on his radio show. Toomey responded: "You know, I don't know what to make of that. I've never heard Tom Ridge express any interest whatsoever in doing that, and I've seen the rumors, but I haven't seen any comments from him that would suggest that he's looking at that. Frankly, I think the head start that I have in this race, the funds that I'm already raising at a really pretty amazing pace, the network of supporters that I have who are really energized, I think I'm in a great position to win this primary against anybody."

Hot Air's Allahpundit: "Ridge hasn't held office in Pennsylvania since 2001, long before the state party began to bleed moderates. Would a pro-choice Republican, even with his credentials, stand a chance against Toomey?"

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Swine Flu Vs. Normal Flu

Think Progress' Matthew Yglesias:

"If I were to say that this year 30,000 Americans would die from the flu, you'd probably think I was offering an alarmist take on the current swine flu outbreak. In fact, I would be offering an extremely optimistic take on influenza in 2009. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the country sees about 36,000 flu-related deaths in a normal year and around 200,000 hospitalizations. It's standard for between five and twenty percent of the population to contract the flu in any given year.

Given all that, not only do we face the risk of an unusually bad pandemic of 'swine flu' we also face a risk of panic. Apparently, very high levels of flu-related hospitalizations and deaths are actually pretty normal. But the media doesn't normally cover them as national news stories. The heightened awareness of swine flu risks, however, means that anything flu-related is going to get dramatically inflated attention."

LEST WE FORGET: Sometimes, There Is A Right Answer

The Internet Food Association's Emily Thorson thinks it's indisputable that dark chicken meat tastes better than white chicken meat:

"Unsurprisingly, when it comes to food most things are a matter of taste. You can prefer chocolate to vanilla or vice-versa. You can love Granny Smiths and hate Galas, or adore red peppers and detest the green ones. But when it comes to chicken, you cannot legitimately like white meat better than dark meat. White meat simply does not taste as good. It is not an opinion, it is a fact. Claiming that white meat 'just tastes better' than dark meat is the food equivalent of claiming that a Coors Lite 'just tastes better' than a Victory Prima Pils. No, it does not. You just don't know what beer is supposed to taste like. Figure that out and then get back to me.

Some have argued that while dark meat is better on its own, white meat is better for sandwiches or in chicken salad. This is incorrect. White meat is acceptable in these situations, largely because its relative tastelessness is disguised by other flavors, but dark meat would be better. It's like when a pretty girl wears a hideous dress. She's still pretty, but it's not because of the dress, it's in spite of it. She'd be a hell of a lot prettier wearing a dress made out of dark meat."

Posted by Ian Faerstein at April 30, 2009 12:33 PM