Blogosphere Eve Thread
by Chris Bowers, Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 02:33:51 PM EST
Well, I'm off to see Al Gore. The ticket contest is over as well. Here is a round-up thread for this afternoon:
- Senator Menendez has launched his campaign blog. I imagine you might see a familiar certain someone doing a lot of the entries.
- In light of my Start Trek Post below, I have been alerted to an older article by Paul Rosenberg: Star Trek Socialism.
- Atrios has a column up in the LA Times on the CT-Sen race. Great stuff. Whatever his snarky, glib demeanor on his blog, I just want to say that in person Atrios is one of the most reserved, thoughtful, and brilliant people I have ever met.
- Also in CT-Sen, Quinnipiac is coming out with a new poll on Thursday. Stay tuned, but with Lieberman's huge spending, I do not anticipate too much change.
- Scared Lieberman has no volunteer ground game, moles in his camp and will damage other Connecituct Democrats in order to save himself. From The Hotline:
Joseph Lieberman is hoping fear where work where persuasion has failed. Life on the ropes has caused the three term incumbent to call in Washington pro, Tom Lindenfeld to put together an organization to call, identify and inspire Lieberman primary voters for the August 8th showdown.
The theme of a Saturday conclave of Greater Hartford Democratic town committee chairs was that if Lieberman loses the primary he will hurt all other Democratic candidates by running as an independent in November. The message was clear: help him now or your favorites suffer in November.
The meeting was held at Congressman John Larson's political office. Larson wants locals to think the Democrats will take over the House if three challengers in Connecticut win. He would also get some credit for those wins, having looked foolish with his emphasis on an unsuccessful 2004 Dem challenger in eastern Connecticut.
The response of the crowd of about 50 could not have been encouraging, though Lendenfeld impressed with his plan. Still, there was much resentment about Lieberman's support of the war in Iraq and, now, threat to bolt party if he falls short on 8/8. Reactions ranged from support to nods to hostility. Most local leaders are far more interested in the gubernatorial race with its tangible rewards in patronage and prestige.
B<r>
One of Lieberman's problems became evident in aftermath of meeting: lots of local leaders are quietly opposing him and were eager to share tales of the event. Plan is to hire workers to make calls and hit the pavement. Fears are growing that Lieberman will have no chance of winning in a low turnout. Twenty percent, the number batted about, is thought to be fatal to his chances.
The three term incumbent's people concede that he has no effective organization of his own. He has brought in a pro to gin up his ground game with only three weeks left and several million dollars to spend. Lamont manager Tom Swan, an organizing legend in Connecticut, has put together a formidable machine for the challenger. It had a test run in the spring when it prepared to petition Lamont's way onto the primary ballot, which became moot after his strong convention showing.
Lieberman needs a pro like Lindenfeld . His camp has been infiltrated by hostile Democratic officials who are surprised they get invited to his meetings when they have no intention of doing any work for him, let alone giving him their votes.
Blogosphere day is tomorrow. I'll give you one guess as to who the beneficiary will be.
This is an open thread.
Tags: open threads, CT-Sen, NJ-Sen, blogosphere, culture (all tags)
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