Oh My

post from Eschaton on 27 June 2006 01:33:00 PM. © Eschaton

That was the same kooky press secretary who called me up recently and asked me what kind of radio show I do and how she could listen to it and whether my newspaper column is exclusively political. I sort of figured this was one of their improv skits, so I went along as though these were perfectly reasonable questions to ask me. I then suggested that she could better understand one of my takes on Lieberman by reading a certain posting elsewhere in this blog, whereupon she told me she makes it a point never to read any blogs because they get things so wrong. I love this press secretary.

The mysterious and spooky campaign manager is very funny too. He has kind of exploded the old crypto-truckling stereotype of political operatives dealing with members of the press. Here is how he concluded an email to a local TV reporter: ?If you distort the truth and report that we are running a negative campaign and Ned is not, I will not forget it.? Ooh! It?s only June, and they?re already propping up pony heads in our percale, those scamps!

Needless to say we're talking about the Lieberman campaign here. The cluelessness on display is almost charming, though it's also a bit creepy. Whatever value blogs add (or detract) from the world, much like talk radio they have have an influence and sizeable audience. How a political campaign thinks they can ignore such things, especially when their opponent's campaign has largely been driven by those blogs, is truly weird to me.

I don't think blogs are the most important thing in the world, but they are a "thing" that exists and it's frightening that people running campaigns just want to pretend they don't exist.

Read The Full Article:
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_06_25_atrios_archive.html#115142982844179839

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RI-Sen, Gov: Trending our way

post from Daily Kos on 27 June 2006 01:31:11 PM. © Daily Kos

Brown Univ. 6/24-26. Registered voters. MoE 3.5%

Senate (2/4-6 results)

Chafee (R) 37 (40)
Whitehouse (D) 38 (34)

Lafee (R) 25 (29)
Whitehouse (D) 55 (44)

Governor (4/6 results)

Carcieri (R) 44 (46)
Fogarty (D) 39 (35)

Nice trends all around. And seriously, 37 percent for an incumbent senator is disastrous.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/dailykos/index?m=4314

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YearlyKos

post from Daily Kos on 27 June 2006 01:22:07 PM. © Daily Kos

Apparently some 2008 campaigns are miffed that they didn't get a prime speaking gig at YearlyKos. After giving air to their concerns, Ezra Klein then corrects himself with what actually happened:

Five candidates -- Warner, Kerry, Clark, Clinton, Feingold, and Edwards were all offered lunch spots. Scheduling problems kept the non-Warner candidates from accepting/confirming. There was not a second option for a convention-wide speech; if you weren't going to do the lunch, your only option was a Friday panel. Vilsack, Richardson, and others were not proactively offered slots, but could have asked. As Gina points out, the volunteer staff was not trying to organize a primary debate, and information on the conference was publicly available for interested speakers.
There were, in my conversations, various 2008 campaigns who felt they should've been able to address the convention but there was little flexibility on the organizing side. Gina argues that this wasn't a convention for presidential candidates, and so the organizers vowed to keep it from being a presidential mixer and confine the glitz to the Saturday lunch. Current conceptions of the convention focus on the appearance of presidential aspirants, but it was really about the blogs, not the campaigns, and so the analysis is backwards. It wasn't for the convention to bend to the aspirant's schedules, but for those who wanted to address the place to work within the schedule's confines. Additionally, campaigns could hold their own events, as with the Clark and Warner parties or the Richardson breakfast.

The beauty of YearlyKos is that it was about us, not campaigns or candidates or politicians. If they wanted to address us, they had to fit the schedule, not the other way around.

If I ran the conference, I would've had a requirement for all politicians addressing the event -- two hours of floor time meeting and greeting attendees. But I didn't run the event, so politicians were allowed to blow in, give a speech, and blow out.

Too bad, because a few hours shaking hands and talking to people in the convention hall would probably be worth far more than any canned speech.

Retail politics, apparently, is reserved for Iowa and New Hampshire alone.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/dailykos/index?m=4315

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Right Wing War Against Media

post from Cafe Politico on 27 June 2006 01:19:55 PM. © Cafe Politico

Apparently, “freedom of the press” is a necessary and integral part of democracy only when the press is parroting right wing propaganda. But when the press fulfills its duty to the citizens by uncovering Presidential lawbreaking, it’s akin to treason and should be punished. Severely.Yes, the fringe right thinks the INYT should be [...]

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http://cafepolitico.us/blog1/?p=812

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Blogofascism

post from Eschaton on 27 June 2006 01:18:00 PM. © Eschaton

The Editors answer all your questions.

I'm glad Lee Siegel showed up when he did. I was getting bored with the same old faces in our pantheon of uber-wankers.

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http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_06_25_atrios_archive.html#115142885792023846

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Senate Hearing on Bush's Signing Statements

post from TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime on 27 June 2006 01:09:21 PM. © TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime

The Senate Judiciary Committee this morning began examining President Bush's use of signing statements. The ACLU says (press release received by e-mail, but will be up on their site shortly):

"President Bush needs a lesson in Civics 101," said Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "The executive is supposed to enforce the laws Congress passes, and respect the separation of powers that define our country. But in this president's mind, he is above the law. His lack of respect for the rule of law and his abuse of power are evident, and we hope that today's hearing will highlight this administration's disregard for the law."
President Bush's signing statements have in most cases said that he will refuse to enforce part of a law because it conflicts with his extraordinary claims of presidential powers. The statements have covered numerous issues, including a congressional ban on the use of torture, affirmative action rules, protection for the integrity of scientific research and whistleblower protections. Such steps, the ACLU noted, defy the constitutional powers of Congress, and undermine the system of checks and balances.

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http://talkleft.com/new_archives/015181.html

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Signing Statements

post from Eschaton on 27 June 2006 01:01:00 PM. © Eschaton

Froomkin tells the press what they should be asking.

Read The Full Article:
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_06_25_atrios_archive.html#115142770002790989

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‘Ultra secret’ Homeland Security
hotline for Governors flooded by telemarketing sales calls

So what do they do about it? They add themselves to the Federal “Do Not Call” registry for relief of course:Sales calls push security hotline to refuge of Do Not Call listEver feel there’s no getting away from telephone sales calls?You’re not the only one. The federal government has decided to put its own [...]

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http://www.guntotingliberal.com/archives/983

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VIDEO: Luntz Converts On Global Warming,
Distances Himself From Bush

In 2000, conservative pollster Frank Luntz famously penned a memo that recommended ways for President Bush and his allies to discuss global warming in a manner that cast doubt on the science. Among his suggestions, Luntz recommended the following key point:Nearly six years later, Bush is still adhering closely to Luntz?s talking points. But the [...]

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http://thinkprogress.org/2006/06/27/luntz-gw/

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Dingbat Self-Parodies

Josh Marshall has some fun with Lee Siegel.

I will never stop finding the fact people who work in traditionally print-oriented outlets have gotten such little reader feedback over the years fascinating, and how shocked they are when they get some. Even when this blog only got a few hundred hits a day I still got a substantial amount of reader feedback, either in comments or email. And while as Josh says not all of it is friendly, and some of it is just annoying, without the immediacy of feedback I would've gotten bored with blogging long ago. When the comments go down my own blog bores me.

Read The Full Article:
http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_06_25_atrios_archive.html#115142763675517151

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