This story caught by Mark Nickolas over at Political Base deserves a lot more attention than it has received. It turns out that not only is McCain getting killed by the traditional media, his advertising campaigns just aren't working, either. Voters seem to be immune to the appeals of an angry, befuddled septuagenarian looking to preside over Bush's 3rd term.
Many have noted that Maliki's preference for Obama's Iraq plan has put the Bush/McCain tag team in the untenable position of appearing to support the Democratic position on Iraq, or of attempting to throw Maliki under the bus, or of creating a preposterous middle ground between "time horizons" and "timetables." The bobbing, weaving and dancing on Iraq that the GOP is having to do in the wake of this news leaves many Republican strategists rightly believing that, to sum it up, "they're fucked."
Today was the first opportunity I have had to see Al Gore in person. [update: actually, check that--it's the 2nd time. I did see him once before briefly in Los Angeles promoting An Inconvenient Truth.]
Even at my comparatively young age, I'm fairly jaded when it comes to celebrities of any stripe. Even though I lived for almost eight years in the middle of Los Angeles, I rarely glimpsed media or film celebrities and never cared when I did. Usually, when I see a politician or major figure for the first time in the flesh I have the typical "letdown" reaction: they seem neither as charismatic nor as engaging as they do on television or YouTube.
Al Gore is just...different. Sitting three tables away from the main stage where Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi took questions from the audience, I could feel the energizing vibe of the former Vice-President's visionary and charismatic appeal in a way that appalls me when I see it in other "fanboys/girls". But with Al, call me naive: I just can't help myself.
Everyone who pays any attention to politics knows that the GOP is on its heels. On every issue from the war to healthcare to the environment to the middle-class economy, the American people have sided firmly with Democrats and progressives. The issues have always favored Democrats, of course. But the prominence of those issues as the basis for voting as well as the strength with which those issues clearly favor Democrats first made itself abundantly clear in 2006.
And the same thing is likely to happen in 2008, with the outside chance of a filibuster-proof Senate to boot.
Congratulations, Congressional Democrats. Today you've managed to pass a bill so outrageously offensive to the Constitution that even the wingnut crazies at Free Republic know it's bad news.
I do have to credit even our nutty blogger friends on the other side of the aisle: we bloggers do have the ability to see past the next electioneering challenge, lobbyist threat or potential attack ad to survey the damage a Constitution-gutting bill would do in the wrong hands. Sure, they're silly enough to believe that the Libs/Commies will use this expanded Executive power to round up all the guns and make Spanish the official language--but give them credit for knowing when too much Executive Power is a really, really bad idea.
It's true: nobody's perfect. But there is an even more important reason not to hyperventilate about the latest statement or vote Barack Obama may have made that is not fully in keeping with our vision of progressive politics and electoral strategy. That reason is the Overton Window.
For those unfamiliar with it from my previous writings and from my panel on the subject at last year's YearlyKos, the Overton Window is a method for shifting public policy that takes a universe of policy outcomes on a certain topic, lists them in order from progressive to conservative, assesses the political acceptability of each, and deliberately encourages friendly think tanks and media organizations to promote the solutions that fall just outside current acceptability in order to "shift the window" in the public discourse.
Today is a day of mourning for those of us who love our Constitution, our Country, and the commitment to Rule of Law. Whether on account of fear of Republican attacks, or of corruption in pandering to telecom interests, or fear of retribution for their own complicity in Constitutional crimes, a minority of House Democrats combined with the reprobate Republicans to pass through a travesty of legislation that allows the Bush Administration and their big telecom allies retroactive immunity and a free pass for gutting the 4th Amendment. There is still fighting to be done to remove some of the worst provisions of the bill in the Senate--and we fight we must.
Still, however, we are right to feel betrayed. Progressives and freedom-loving Americans of all stripes are justifiably upset. Furious. Disheartened. Depressed.
And yet, it bears reminding that it matters little, in the grand scheme of things, whether a good FISA bill gets passed or not. The upshot of this legislation, and the betrayal of America and its Constitution, was guaranteed from the very first moment that Nancy Pelosi famously uttered the words, "Impeachment is off the table."
I just called Senator Obama's office. A very courteous staffer answered the phone immediately.
I mentioned that I was a precinct captain for the Obama campaign in California, that I was a caucus captain in Nevada who broke the story about the caucus shenanigans by the Clinton campaign.
I explained that I was extremely concerned about the FISA compromise currently being rammed through the House, and that it was very, very important to me that Senator Obama use his leverage to make a public stand against this capitulation.
The response was somewhat heartening:
"We hear you loud and clear. The staff are literally reviewing the FISA issue as we speak. You'll be hearing from us soon."
So the Rockefeller/Hoyer wing of the Democratic Party is all set and ready to "compromise" with the Bush/Cheney/Rove Executive that treats its Legislative co-equals as second-class citizens on telecom amnesty. Fortunately, it appears that Senators Reid and Durbin are opposed to this capitulation; hopefully they and their backbone-enhanced colleagues can use that spine to overcome the compromise-prone jellyfishes who believe that bipartisanship is a one-way street leading to cover-up of GOP crimes.
Update: hat tips to poligirl and s7ark, who found this before I did. Show them some love!
It's way past my bedtime as I'm traveling on business out here in Kentucky, and I'm way too tired to write a really substantive diary--nor will I have time tomorrow.
But no progressive with half a sense of humor should miss this gemstone of a Youtube video called I'm Voting Republican. So I leave it to the Kommunity without further comment other than to say: genius.
With the Democratic nomination contest finally over, Democrats now have the opportunity to put the rancor of last many months behind them and unite to defeat the Republicans in November by taking the White House and adding to our leads in the House and Senate.
Among the most important issues that will arise for the next administration is the question of accountability for the villains that preceded it in the Executive Branch. Yesterday on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Richard Clarke suggested a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission". Some would go farther, others less far.
But few in American politics today have as much personal knowledge and experience with the Bush Administration's lies and its mafia-style intimidation as Ambassador Joe Wilson, whom clammyc and I will be interviewing today at 2pmPST/5pmEST. And the topic we'll be covering? Accountability for Bush and his cronies after that glorious day on which they leave office.
Well, one thing's for sure: Democrats are tired of big business and the insurance industry. So much so, in fact, that Democrats in CA-24 elected to vote in landslide numbers for Marta Jorgensen, a candidate who did little traditional campaigning to speak of--including, apparently, not even purchasing the state voter file--simply on the basis of the ballot designation "educator".
The Democratic primary race in CA-24 to challenge perennial do-nothing Republican Elton Gallegly was a 3-way contest between progressive favorite Mary Pallant, the previous Democratic contestant Jill Martinez, and political neophyte Marta Jorgensen.
Disclaimer: I volunteer as the Netroots Outreach Coordinator for the Mary Pallant Campaign
Mary Pallant's campaign (which I have written about here, here, here and elsewhere) got a big new boost today: the endorsement of progressive CA State Senator Sheila Kuehl.
As Scott McClellan makes the rounds to promote his new book telling the traditional media what we already knew, one of the most startling accusations is not against Bush or the White House, but rather against the press:
"The collapse of the administration’s rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. ... In this case, the ‘liberal media’ didn’t live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served."
This statement has led to a backlash on the part of the press, who insist they did, too, do their jobs, but that McClellan stonewalled them too much to allow them to do those jobs effectively. The argument from the press essentially goes that they asked the tough questions--what else were they supposed to do?
Want to stick it to George W. Bush? Well, today you have your own special chance to do just that, by supporting a great Democrat on a day when George Bush is at a fundraiser to help his opponent.
I'm going to start this short piece on a conciliatory note that the Clinton campaign almost certainly does not merit, and offer a quick piece of advice to the campaign that it will almost certainly ignore. The justly proferred condemnations of your remarks have already spread far and wide, and there is nothing I could add to them that would offer anything new or insightful. But there is something that has been left largely unsaid to this point (except tangentially by Booman) that needs saying.
Hillary and friends, I have good news: there is a way out of this hell. A way for you and your adherents to accomplish what you want, and save face in the wake of the "assassination" debacle all at the same time.
Proud Democrat Josh Segall is all set to take out Bush Rubberstamp Republican Mike Rogers in this northeast Alabama district, and you can hear me and clammyc interview him live today at 3pmEST/noonPST. Now before you scoff and think this is just another vanity candidate running an unwinnable race in the deep south, think again. I'll let Wikipedia do the talking for a bit here on this tightly contested, extremely doable race:
Despite the unwillingness of our Democratic Congress (Rep. Wexler notwithstanding) to do their Constitutional duty to hold the criminals in the Bush Administration accountable for their actions, the major sacrifices made by and injuries done to Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson and their colleagues and associates will not soon be forgotten by those of us who care deeply about our country. This nation owes them a debt of gratitude for their service and their willingness to tell the truth in spite of incredible hostility and pressure from a corrupt and utterly immoral White House and its cronies.
Those progressive patriots of you who live in the Southern California area will have the opportunity to meet Joe Wilson himself at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills tomorrow (Thursday) at 6:30pm for the equally courageous Netroots candidate Ron Shepston. I'll be there as well, for what that's worth!
