8/3: Recess Activism

Back when the "Tea Party" movement was taking off earlier this year, we were struck by the fact that conservative bloggers were embracing a method of activism (street demonstrations) that liberal bloggers had largely abandoned during the George W. Bush years. We questioned whether these protest tactics would actually help the GOP win elections, or whether they merely provided frustrated conservatives with an emotional outlet. However, it increasingly looks as though these protests aren't geared toward winning elections (at least, not directly), but rather toward influencing policy outcomes. For instance, the latest tactic being embraced by conservatives is attending townhall meetings of various Dem incumbents (such as TX Rep. Lloyd Doggett and PA Sen. Arlen Specter) and asking them aggressive questions about health care reform. By recording these contentious exchanges and posting them online, conservatives seek to "embarrass" these incumbents and pressure them into voting against health reform. As Peter Wehner explains: "A few more episodes like this will cause some knees to buckle among Democrats and those in the Obama administration, as they begin to see for themselves how deeply and passionately much of the public feels about Obama's effort and the way he and congressional Democrats are attempting to execute it." Liberal bloggers, meanwhile, are accusing their conservative counterparts of pursuing a "Harassment Strategy".

What else is happening in the blogosphere?

• Liberal bloggers (Benen, Black, digby, Rosenberg, Willis) are blasting Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) after he warned that the ads that progressive groups are running against his position on health care reform "would backfire -- and might even derail the entire reform process."
• Liberal bloggers (Benen, Zasloff, DougJ, Black) are discussing the possibility of using the "reconciliation" process to pass health care reform in the Senate. Meanwhile, lefty bloggers (McCarter, Sudbay, BooMan) continue to criticize Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus's (D-MT) efforts to win GOP support for his compromise health care bill.
• RedState has endorsed Sec/State Karen Handel (R) in the GA GOV race and state Rep. Nikki Haley (R) in the SC GOV race following their appearances at the RedState gathering in Atlanta. Ex-FL House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) also gave a well-received speech in which he asked the RedState activists to support his Senate bid.

HEALTH CARE REFORM: Protest Is Patriotic

Conservative bloggers are predicting that these contentious townhall meetings will turn wavering Dems against healthcare reform:

• Hot Air's Ed Morrissey: "If anyone questioned why Barack Obama and [Speaker] Nancy Pelosi wanted to get a health-care reform bill passed before the August recess, the following videos will explain it clearly. In three town-hall meetings with Democratic denizens of Capitol Hill, crowds reacted angrily to a government takeover of health care. [...] If Pelosi and Obama had a tough time holding the Blue Dogs before the recess, they will have a lot more headaches when Congress returns in September -- and hopefully a lot more skeptics as well."
• NRO's Wehner: "For a sneak preview of what Democrats will face during the August recess, on the attempt to sell their plan to overhaul our health-care system, take a look at this clip. A few more episodes like this will cause some knees to buckle among Democrats and those in the Obama administration, as they begin to see for themselves how deeply and passionately much of the public feels about Obama's effort and the way he and congressional Democrats are attempting to execute it. Call it democracy in action."

Michelle Malkin urges her readers to keep protesting: "This taxpayer counterinsurgency is exactly what I talked about on the ABC This Week panel earlier today. The long, hot recess is underway. Make yourselves heard. Mark your calendars for the nationwide August 22 Recess Rally. Prepare to be demonized, of course. And don't let up until socialized medicine goes down."

Meanwhile, Glenn Reynolds directs his readers to "Operation Embarrass Your Congressman", which encourages conservatives to (1.) attend their congressmen's townhall meetings during recess; (2.) ask them questions about health care reform; and (3.) post audio/video of the exchanges "to show just how arrogant, ignorant, and insolent our elected representatives really are."

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: The Senate's Small-State Bias

FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver:

"As you all surely know, the Senate is not a terribly democratic institution. A voter in Wyoming -- population 533,000 -- has about 70 times more ability to influence the Senate's direction than one in California -- population 36.8 million. And the lack of representativeness can be particularly acute when the Senate is conducting business at the committee level. Max Baucus's Table for Six, for instance, which may very well determine the fate of efforts to reform health care, is made up of members who collectively represent about 6.5 million people, or around one-fiftieth of the country's population.

This in and of itself is problematic for Democrats, since there is a correlation between the size of a state and how Democratic it tends to vote in elections for national office, although the relationship is not as strong as you might posit (Rhode Island, Delaware and Hawaii are small states too). The bigger and more structural problem, however, may have to do with the ways that small-state senators raise funds, and in turn, whose interests they are beholden to. [...]

[S]enators from small states tend to be relatively more dependant on special-interest money -- it makes up a larger share of their overall take. Senators from the ten smallest states have received, on average, 28.4 percent of their campaign funds from corporate PACs, versus 13.7 for those in the ten largest. There is a tendency to think of senators from small states as being populists, and there are a few instances in which this is accurate -- Jon Tester of Montana and John Thune of South Dakota, for instance, are relatively non-dependant on PAC money. But for the most part, something the opposite is true, and senators from small states in fact have more incentive to placate special interests."

LEST WE FORGET: Status Updates Since My Mother Became My Facebook Friend

McSweeney's contributor Scott A. Harris:

• Scott is making good, well informed decisions.
• Scott is going to bed at a very reasonable hour.
• Scott is drinking only on occasion, and even then it's just one or two.
• Scott quit smoking several months ago without any apparent difficulty.
• Scott is in no way involved, currently nor in the past, with a married woman, regardless of what anyone is saying.
• Scott is making large, regular contributions to his savings account.
• Scott is making yet another home cooked meal, avoiding fast food as usual.
• Scott is no longer in debt like he used to be...boy that would be terrible.
• Scott is in no way affected by the current economic downturn...everything is a-okay.
• Scott is not gaining weight, and his clothes fit just fine.