A diary like this needs a disclaimer, so lemme provide it:  

I'm a Democrat.  I'm gonna vote for Obama.  I've already donated to his campaign five times.  I also donated to Richardson and Dodd at various points.  I'm very liberal on most issues, and proud to call myself a Democrat.  I'm here to help get Democrats elected.  Please nobody forget this in the following.

I like to read conservative columnists and bloggers, of a certain kind anyway.  I read George Will, Peggy Noonan, Ross Douthat, Megan McCardle, David Brooks, Reihan Salam, and even Pat Buchanan from time to time (yes, he's outta his skull, but he does have an interesting point of view). There are others, from time to time.  Why, might you ask?  

Well you'll just have to read on, I guess....

Let's Move-On.

I will give Hillary the benefit of the doubt.

I will extend my hand in friendship.

I hope Clinton supporters are able to meet this standard, some day in the future, when someone on Obama's team makes a mistake.  And it will happen.  Human make mistakes.  It's unavoidable, even under the best of circumstances.

A few weeks ago, a couple of bloggers tried to gin up a phony outrage, saying Barack gave Hillary the finger during a speech.  

What disappointed me the most, was not the actions a hand full of hardliners.  No, it was how so many regular, everyday, Clinton supporters remained silent during an obvious smear.

As late as last night, a noted Clinton supporter was still trying smear Obama as unAmerican on this blog.

I hope in the future, when some error occurs (ie samantha power, bittergate), you speak up, forcefully, and call on your fellow teammates to move on.

It's time to move-on and focus on McCain.

Eddie, Shawn, AAPP, Francis & Pam in Dallas Morning News

Karen Brooks, staff writer for the Dallas Morning News, has published an article there about the lack of diversity in the Democratic National Convention's state blogging corps.  She quotes the AfroSpear's Francis L. Holland, Esq., African American Political Pundit, Shawn Williams of Dallas South, and the afrosphere's Pam Spauling of the PamsHouseBlend blog.

By now, most afrosphere and whitosphere readers know the contours of this controversy:  The DNC drafted and implemented selection criteria for its Denver Convention state bloggers corps which criteria  foreseeably and predictably produced a virtually all-white state blogger group to cover the floor of the Denver Convention.

But this roundup comes courtesy of Kenneth Quinnell, Florida Progressive Coalition Blog.

The Francis L. Holland Blog — Jim Crow Blogging at the Democratic National Convention

African American Political Pundit — Black bloggers to the back of the bus!

Pam's House Blend — Democratic National Convention state blog selection dustup.

Cotton Mouth — Cotton Mouth Is Not Going To The Democratic Convention (And Why).

Open Left: Clamping Down on Blog Dissent: More Evidence of State Blogger Problems.

Open Left — State Parties Nixing State Blogs from the Convention?

Unfortunately not the print version, but close enough.  Katharine Q. Seelye's latest online column, As Primaries End, Clinton Appeals Directly to Blogs is an interesting look into the Clinton campaign's strategy to ramp up its online presence in the face of what appears to be a declining amount of online buzz compared to the other candidates.  The article claims that "Mrs. Clinton is being mentioned less than half as often as Senator Barack Obama in the blogosphere and that mentions of her have even slipped below those of Senator John McCain."  To combat this, she is now taking her message directly to bloggers.  

The Clinton campaign is expanding its use of the popular microblogging platform Twitter to inform supporters of events and organize her base with "real time calls to arms," asking them in a series of posts to make calls to Oregon and Kentucky households in advance of the primary, and to sign a petition to count Michigan and Florida.  

The column goes on to discuss a bloggers-only conference call held Friday that was apparantly the one Jerome discussed in this Saturday post.  Senator Clinton also unveiled a new slogan aimed at promoting her message that she is best suited to win in November, "It is the map, not the math."  It then drops this tidbit:

The "map/math" phrase quickly found its way to various blogs, including Talkleft  and Riverdaughter. Some, like Jerome Armstrong on MyDD examined the "map/math" argument in detail.

It's widely recognized that the Obama campaign has used the internet more effectively to mobilize and expand its base of support, notably with regard to small online donations, but I think we all have to admit that the netroots are becoming a big part of politics in the US, and any increase in the use of the web by politicians can only make it easier for individuals to have a voice in campaigns and play a role in supporting their chosen candidate.

               There is a deep-seated craving common to all
                men of words which determines their attitude
                to the prevailing order.  It is a craving for
                recognition; a craving for a clearly marked
                status above the common run of humanity.
                "Vanity," said Napoleon, "made the Revolution;
                liberty was only a pretext."
                               --Eric Hoffer, The True Believer

Too many progressive websites now serve up identical daily fare: endless praise for Barack Obama; relentless criticism of Hillary Clinton; and, above all, great torrents of mathematical argumentation explaining why the contest needs to end immediately.

Some on the left are worried about potential Democratic disunity in the fall.  Many more seem dazzled by Obama's apparent charisma.  Still others are simply incapable of dealing rationally with the Clintons.  (Jonathan Chait of The New Republic called Hillary a "fratricidal maniac" for not yielding to the dictates of Obama math.  Whatever, Jon.)

But there's another reason for Obama's popularity among bloggers--indeed, among much of the left-of-center commentariat from TNR to The Nation.

They need each other.

Hillary Clinton may or may not make a good president, but one thing's for sure--she won't be reinventing the wheel.  No transcendental speechifying.  No post-partisan mind-melding with Mitch McConnell.  A Clinton presidency will contain its fair share of divisive politics.  We pretty much know what that looks like.  Some of us even welcome it.

For many bloggers the problem with Hillary isn't that she's a shrieking, mendacious harpy.  That's for their comment sections.  The problem is that her candidacy doesn't provide them with a subject worthy of their talents.

Enter Barack Obama, a slick politician peddling an extremely vague blueprint for change that cries out for further explication.  In due course, from the fertile steppes of progressive cyberspace, appears a multitude of bold theoreticians and stalwart number crunchers, all eager to work overtime constructing an intellectual framework to support the Obama hype machine.

Right now their efforts are concentrated on ensuring that no renegade superdelegates or pesky voters in Michigan and Florida threaten the Obama campaign's Fortress of Inevitability.  Leading the charge is Josh Marshall, and what a sad and sorry spectacle.  Once an indispensable source of honest progressive journalism, TPM has lost all credibility by becoming little more than a clearinghouse for the latest Obama campaign spin, sprinkled with a few Clinton smears.  (Has a more shameless Washington suck-up artist ever revealed himself?)

As long as the mainstream media has the Clintons to kick around, they'll be in lockstep with the Obamasphere, at least until their McCain fetish overpowers them.  If Obama manages to get elected, an unfortunate dynamic will emerge.

The media has no interest in promoting a Democratic agenda--ever.  Obama will be expected to fulfill his canpaign promise--as caricatured by the press--to end all the "partisan bickering" and start compromising.  If he doesn't...Well, Time magazine has some vintage Clinton-era "Incredible Shrinking President" covers they can recycle.

Obama won't relish getting photoshopped into that particular picture.  His universal health care plan will start looking even less universal than it does now.

Howls of protest will come from hardcore policy wonks, but Obama needn't worry--the big brains at Open Left, along with the rest of his online vanguard of hope, have his back.  They're currently seen waving his old Iraq speech in front of Hillary Clinton like Van Helsing brandishing a crucifix because they're not sure he's very committed to progressive solutions.  It's no big deal, though.  Obama is transcendentally transforming American society, and something so grand takes time.  The policy will have to wait for the politics.  Someday Congress will be full of Wellstone liberals.  Someday.

Eric Hoffer:

               What de Remusat said of Thiers is perhaps true
                of most men of words: "he has much more vanity
                than ambition; and he prefers consideration to
                obedience, and the appearance of power to power
                itself.  Consult him constantly, and then do
                just as you please.  He will take more notice
                of your deference to him than of your actions."

At least we still have Paul Krugman.

As an individual who wishes no living creature ill will, I am wise enough to accept that people are born, they live, they die.  And some may have insurance to prtoect loved ones against the unforseen.  But I find it curious Markos Moulitas feels it necessary to state the obvious.  And I find it curious that he doesn't "give a damn" about the "whiny posters" striking his site.  

As a loyal Democrat, voting straight Dem ticket (Who's that on this ballot?   Oh well, he's/she's a Dem; YES!), I have been disheartened (to put it mildly) by the tone of several lefty bloggers.  I have been disheartened to see bloggers purporting to support Democratic Party ideals, demeaning other Democrats and their supporters.  And while I'm new to this whole blogosphere phenom, and find most of it fascinating, I have no patience for Dem on Dem fighting of the likes I've witnessed at DailyKos.  

So, by whatever metric you judge your blog, and for whatever reason you feel it necessary to state the obvious (whether it be about your mortality or that of your blog), I only say, "RIP  DailyKos".

My Bias:  GO HILLARY!

Did anyone else notice how "civil war" slipped into the discussion today regarding the Democratic primary?

Earlier today, I heard a talking head on MSNBC refer to the primary as a "civil war." Also today, DKos decried about the recent Daily Kos writer's strike by pro-Clinton bloggers that "Clinton is planning...a destructive and dehabilitating civil war." At the Huffington Post today, Keli Goff also refers to the Democratic primary as a "civil war" that will ultimately end up benefiting the Republicans. Ms. Goff implies this will be at the hands of the Clinton campaign, by revealing that a "Democratic political operative" close to the Clintons told her that "the Clinton campaign would be tempted to engage in tactics that could arguably be viewed to have racial over (or under) tones" [her quote not the operatives].

Really, civil war. Is this inflamatory rhetoric the Obama campaign's "full assult" kick off to intensify the negative attacks against Hillary Clinton and her supporters? I certainly hope that the Obama campaign is not behind the meme change to define the primary as a "civil war" and that this is just the work of a few loose screws acting out on their own.  

I reported last month at 2008 Democratic Convention Watch and again here at MyDD that there were still several states without any blogger credential applications for the convention.

A little more than a month later there are still 11 states with no applications.

Alabama
Alaska
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Nevada
South Dakota
Texas
West Virginia

If you're a blogger and you want to get into the convention in August this may be your best chance for a ticket. And if your state isn't mentioned in the list above don't worry. Most states only have a couple applications that have been entered.

2008 DemConvention State Blogger Corps (PDF)
    Recognizing the growth of more localized blogs, this pool is designed for those covering state and local politics. To qualify as a state blogger, the applicant's blog must have been in existence six months prior to requesting credentials and have at least 120 politically related blog posts. Bloggers must submit their daily audience and list their authority based on Technorati stats. Bloggers may also provide examples of posts that make their blog stand out as an effective online organizing tool and/or agent of change.
    Once the state bloggers have been identified for the DemConvention State Blogger Corps, the applications of those not selected for this program will all be transferred for consideration for the general blogger pool.

If you've been planning on entering your blog but figured you'd wait, your time is running out. The deadline for applications is April 15th and bloggers will be notified in May if they will be getting credentials.