DEBT CEILING
The summer of liberal discontent (By: Glenn Thrush, Politico) “Every policy outcome for liberals is a loss at this point,” said a senior party operative, reflecting the prevailing view among progressives that the alternatives mulled by Obama in the debt talks range from the awful to the unthinkable. “We may win on the politics,” the operative said, “but the policy battle is lost. It’s just depressing.”
Showing posts with label liberals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label liberals. Show all posts
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Friday, February 08, 2008
Obama: The Netroots (and Harlem) aren't so independent...
Here's a link to The New Republic's "Net Loss/Why liberal bloggers don't love Obama" by Bradford Plumer..... worth a read:
What the left/liberal bloggers are saying is they can't REALLY trust Obama to get us out of Iraq (Hillary is given a pass on this issue), and they're not sure where he stands on government surveillence (Wouldn't that be #2 on the Dem party platform after getting out of Iraq?? But I digress.....) Apparently Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas grumbled that "the usual D.C. consulting crowd" was advising Obama to run a "safe race."
Brad Plumer goes on to say that "Of course, irking the major bloggers won't sink Obama's campaign. And he still has ample support both from midsized blogs and many blog readers - he consistently does well in Daily Kos and MoveOn straw polls."
Though I agree that the Big Blogs aren't the end of the story and as in all establishment venues, it's the Daily Kos and MDD, Open Left, etc. that have the standing, there does appear to be the same establishment/grassroots split in the blogosphere as we have everywhere else.
I'm an independent and as such in New York, I have no vote in the primaries that are taking place. I don't know that I would endorse Barack Obama unless he asked me to (Which he has not. And I didn't receive The Memo....) and unless he had some pretty compelling arguments.
One argument might be that he recognizes independents by name (Obama has yet to acknowledge endorsements of significant independent leaders in California like independentvoice.org's Jim Mangia, or South Carolina's Independence Party's Wayne Griffin. In Missouri, independents like Barbara Woodruff put Obama over the top and raised the possibility that he might win the election based on independent voters. )
And he should talk concretely about our issues (Like open primaries, initiative and referendum, and other political reforms) when he claims our support.
That said, I don't like the politics of Daily Kos and Markos Moulitsas. Kos wants to be a vote broker for a supposed liberal voting bloc. Kos is living proof that the Amercian left is a calcified comodity of the Democratic Party that can be consumed like this morning's latte. (NOTE to Markos: The Liberal Movement has expired, please check your credentials at the door.)
The 2008 difference is that there's a real independent movement underway... A movement that Barack Obama and David Axelrod and other Dem strategists should pay very close attention to.
The Netroots are not alone. Compare the black Dem establishment. As Lenora Fulani put it yesterday: {A]ll of New York's black members of Congress backed Hillary and helped produce her highest percentage of the black vote anywhere in the country - 37 percent. In Harlem, the seat of the black establishment, represented by Congressman Charles Rangel, Hillary beat Obama by 7½ points. Rev. Al Sharpton remained neutral, managing to avoid getting caught in the crossfire between the insurgent and establishment camps.
We are in a fight in this country between the establishment (the elites) and the grassroots (everybody else). There's nothing in the blogosphere or in technology, in Harlem, or in Obama's campaign, that is inherently independent or forward-looking. That's up to us the people. The ability of the Obama campaign to connect with the independent movement will depend on the Obama campaign's ability to connect with independent voters, not their ability to read political polls.
I'm not surprised that Kos doesn't care about this fight and settles for "Dems Uber Alles". And don't you be surprised either when Kos and Charlie Rangel start saying we have to elect Hillary in order to beat Bush -- even if Bush is not running. Hey, you gotta have something to be against to win an election, right? Right. Except it's 2008. And we ain't yesterday's fools. -NH
P.S. -- Sen. Obama, if you want us, come get us. Don't be distant!
What the left/liberal bloggers are saying is they can't REALLY trust Obama to get us out of Iraq (Hillary is given a pass on this issue), and they're not sure where he stands on government surveillence (Wouldn't that be #2 on the Dem party platform after getting out of Iraq?? But I digress.....) Apparently Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas grumbled that "the usual D.C. consulting crowd" was advising Obama to run a "safe race."
Brad Plumer goes on to say that "Of course, irking the major bloggers won't sink Obama's campaign. And he still has ample support both from midsized blogs and many blog readers - he consistently does well in Daily Kos and MoveOn straw polls."
Though I agree that the Big Blogs aren't the end of the story and as in all establishment venues, it's the Daily Kos and MDD, Open Left, etc. that have the standing, there does appear to be the same establishment/grassroots split in the blogosphere as we have everywhere else.
I'm an independent and as such in New York, I have no vote in the primaries that are taking place. I don't know that I would endorse Barack Obama unless he asked me to (Which he has not. And I didn't receive The Memo....) and unless he had some pretty compelling arguments.
One argument might be that he recognizes independents by name (Obama has yet to acknowledge endorsements of significant independent leaders in California like independentvoice.org's Jim Mangia, or South Carolina's Independence Party's Wayne Griffin. In Missouri, independents like Barbara Woodruff put Obama over the top and raised the possibility that he might win the election based on independent voters. )
And he should talk concretely about our issues (Like open primaries, initiative and referendum, and other political reforms) when he claims our support.
That said, I don't like the politics of Daily Kos and Markos Moulitsas. Kos wants to be a vote broker for a supposed liberal voting bloc. Kos is living proof that the Amercian left is a calcified comodity of the Democratic Party that can be consumed like this morning's latte. (NOTE to Markos: The Liberal Movement has expired, please check your credentials at the door.)
The 2008 difference is that there's a real independent movement underway... A movement that Barack Obama and David Axelrod and other Dem strategists should pay very close attention to.
The Netroots are not alone. Compare the black Dem establishment. As Lenora Fulani put it yesterday: {A]ll of New York's black members of Congress backed Hillary and helped produce her highest percentage of the black vote anywhere in the country - 37 percent. In Harlem, the seat of the black establishment, represented by Congressman Charles Rangel, Hillary beat Obama by 7½ points. Rev. Al Sharpton remained neutral, managing to avoid getting caught in the crossfire between the insurgent and establishment camps.
We are in a fight in this country between the establishment (the elites) and the grassroots (everybody else). There's nothing in the blogosphere or in technology, in Harlem, or in Obama's campaign, that is inherently independent or forward-looking. That's up to us the people. The ability of the Obama campaign to connect with the independent movement will depend on the Obama campaign's ability to connect with independent voters, not their ability to read political polls.
I'm not surprised that Kos doesn't care about this fight and settles for "Dems Uber Alles". And don't you be surprised either when Kos and Charlie Rangel start saying we have to elect Hillary in order to beat Bush -- even if Bush is not running. Hey, you gotta have something to be against to win an election, right? Right. Except it's 2008. And we ain't yesterday's fools. -NH
P.S. -- Sen. Obama, if you want us, come get us. Don't be distant!
Monday, June 18, 2007
TODAY'S NEWS HEADLINES for INDEPENDENT VOTERS
EAST COAST:
- New Hampshire: Whither the undeclared voter? Campaigns sizing up independents' role (Concord Monitor)
- New Hampshire: Dem staffers double population of state--it's like Christmas in July... (Concord Monitor)
WEST COAST:
- Washington State: Independent voters feel a bit nervous: Will moving the primaries move independent voters??? Why partisan showdowns don't impress non-partisans... (Columbian)
- Is The West turning lib? Are libertarians leaning Dem? What's a serious "independent streak"... West is Best for '08 Strategizing (Fox News)
Monday, March 26, 2007
Talk/Talk: Decision Time
From last week's Talk/Talk with Jackie Salit and Fred Newman "Decision Time"
Newman: So, I don’t think it’s a question of conservatism being played out. I think the conservatives have done an extraordinary job, they have out-flanked and out-foxed liberalism. That has as much to do with liberalism’s backing off of its principles as it has to do with conservatism’s popularity. I think these two go together....
And from March 11th Topsy-Turvy Times. It's amazing, isn't it? I'm talking about the extremes to which the establishment will go to deny the existence of the independent movement. That's the obvious factor in all of this. The independent movement is more than a third of the electorate, yes?
Newman: So, I don’t think it’s a question of conservatism being played out. I think the conservatives have done an extraordinary job, they have out-flanked and out-foxed liberalism. That has as much to do with liberalism’s backing off of its principles as it has to do with conservatism’s popularity. I think these two go together....
And from March 11th Topsy-Turvy Times. It's amazing, isn't it? I'm talking about the extremes to which the establishment will go to deny the existence of the independent movement. That's the obvious factor in all of this. The independent movement is more than a third of the electorate, yes?
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