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The Blogosphere's Big Mistake In Campaign '08 | 116 comments (116 topical)

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i've dubbed it (5.00 / 20) (#2)
by Turkana on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 12:39:23 PM EST
"the great convergence":

the formerly "reality-based community," both in form and content, adopting every characteristic of the corporate media.
Looking at (5.00 / 10) (#4)
by rooge04 on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 12:49:25 PM EST
sites that used to feel like home is like looking at a parallel universe.  I used to subscribe to Sirius and would hear Ed Schultz & Randi Rhodes and Rachel Maddow on there. Then I let my subscription run out. And I am shocked that the same people I used to listen to and agree with on a daily basis are the ones attacking HRC while Republicans like Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough are the only ones defending her. Truly, like out of another galaxy!  

[ Parent ]
If you were watching the Iraq debate (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by andgarden on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 12:56:17 PM EST
or maybe the impeachment discussion, and you had a different opinion from most of these people, you'd recognize the behavior.

[ Parent ]
it needs to be a trilogy (5.00 / 10) (#20)
by Turkana on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:02:38 PM EST
  1. The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton- about the right wing smear machine's attempts to destroy the clintons.

  2. Fools for Scandal: How the Media Invented Whitewater- self explanatory.

  3. and who will write the book about the shrillosphere's attempts to emulate the right wing smear machine and the corporate media?


[ Parent ]
I don't know (5.00 / 5) (#22)
by rooge04 on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:05:43 PM EST
who will write the book but it will be written! I know that much.  On a daily basis my jaw falls to the ground seeing a new and different wing-nut attack. I saw Markos at a meetup some years back and I can't imagine not cursing him out if I saw him today.

[ Parent ]
Erci Boehlert is writing the third book (5.00 / 8) (#23)
by Big Tent Democrat on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:06:21 PM EST
He'll get blackballed when it comes out.

Mark my words.

[ Parent ]

No doubt (5.00 / 5) (#27)
by rooge04 on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:07:23 PM EST
that he'll get blackballed. The same way that Krugman is now a Clinton shill. Never thought I'd see that particular day.

[ Parent ]
That is stunning. (5.00 / 4) (#88)
by lucky leftie on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 03:46:47 PM EST
Krugman has been a staunch defender of democratic values for the past seven years.  I have a quote of his tacked up in my kitchen, to remind me that "liberal" is not a dirty word-  

I believe in a relatively equal society, supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty.  I believe in democracy, civil liberties, and the rule of law.  That makes me a liberal, and I'm proud of it.

Can anyone doubt that this is a decent person, committed to the ideals of our party?  

[ Parent ]

I'll buy a copy (5.00 / 3) (#29)
by andgarden on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:08:56 PM EST


[ Parent ]
And that's (5.00 / 2) (#51)
by cal1942 on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:09:37 PM EST
the tragedy of what's been going on.  We may very well end up with a completely fragmented left of center.

Boehlert's words (paraphrase) ' we can't say you can't treat Democrats this way except for this one'

Were dead on the mark.  What's happening at sites like Dailykos and TPM is, in addition to other things, another version of what we've seen when a Democrat in Congress gets attacked in the press and other Democrats are either silent or decide to pile on.

On top of everything else it's plain (as I see it anyway) that KOS fancies himself a kingmaker and he'll do anything to take some credit for getting Obama nominated.

The really big joke in all of this is that their chosen one is by all indications the most conservative of the two.

[ Parent ]

Not surprising to me (4.00 / 2) (#57)
by shoephone on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:13:25 PM EST
After all, Markos is a former Republican and Josh was a big Lieberman supporter who also supported the Iraq War. I really don't think they care about liberal vs.conservative. I think they care about the power of being the Big Boys of the Blogs.

"Crashing the Gates" my a**.

[ Parent ]

What are they so pissed about? (none / 0) (#80)
by lucky leftie on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 03:28:41 PM EST
 The vitriol directed at Senator Clinton, particularly on kos, seems so out of proportion to anything that she has said or done.  One gets that sense that these people detest her and are delighted to have a pretext for denigrating her.  What's that about?  Is it her ties to the DLC and it's presumed dissing of the left-wing blogosphere?  No doubt the DLC HAS been dismissive of liberals at times but good God, there are other things at stake here besides a few slightly bruised egos!  

Since many of the Hillary supporters left the site en mass in protest, dailykos is an echo chamber, with everyone in complete agreement-Obama is above reproach, Hillary is a lying traitor, and Obama supporters are more intelligent/principled/virtuous than anyone still supporting HRC.  Very depressing.  

[ Parent ]

The weird part (5.00 / 2) (#90)
by Daryl24 on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 03:59:53 PM EST
for me is that she embodies the fighting dem they have been asking for. Funny when they call Pelosi and Reid weak but turn around and tell Senator Clinton to stop fighting and drop out of the race.

You alluded to the DLC. That's the only thing that I can figure eventhough she has shown herself to be very supportive of the netroot causes.

[ Parent ]

Yep, Hillary is fighting like a she-devil. (none / 0) (#93)
by lucky leftie on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 04:15:19 PM EST
And I like it.  I'm sick to death of democrats taking the high road and losing.  Our candidate will need to be a street brawler.  Unless, of course, kos and Co. can convince John McCain to drop out of the race. ;)

And I agree, I've often heard kos mock "timid" democrats in DC.  

[ Parent ]

It can't be the DLC thing. Kos is a big fan of (none / 0) (#85)
by tigercourse on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 03:38:40 PM EST
DLCers like Richardson and Sebelius.

[ Parent ]
Didn't know they were DLCers... (none / 0) (#91)
by lucky leftie on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 04:01:18 PM EST
...but you're right, kos likes them.  In fact, I believe both of them are on his short list of potential veeps.  So it's not the DLC that he objects to; I'm stumped.  

[ Parent ]
if he does (5.00 / 1) (#63)
by Turkana on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:24:09 PM EST
we should raise funds and bulk buy, and distribute at all blogger conventions.

[ Parent ]
I've been meaning to pick up a copy (5.00 / 2) (#25)
by andgarden on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:06:44 PM EST
of #1. I have a pretty good idea of what it will say, but I should make it part of my "loan to other people" library.

[ Parent ]
Hunting of The President (none / 0) (#61)
by cal1942 on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:22:45 PM EST
After you've read it you'll be even angrier, downright furious at Bush I, Republicans in general, Richard Mellon-Scaife, Ted Olsen, the right-wing attack machine, various Arkansas politicians, mainstream media who flocked to Arkansas smelling blood and a cast of thousands.

[ Parent ]
Well with Barack Obama (5.00 / 1) (#26)
by white n az on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 01:06:57 PM EST
I can see them 'turn the page'

because there is no way that the smear machine will let Obama win.

[ Parent ]

Press coverage (none / 0) (#45)
by MKS on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:00:37 PM EST
Obama does better surviving crisis.  For whatever reason, he has been able to survive Wright so far....

Hillary has made two major mistakes in the campaign:  the drivers license question in the October debate and the Bosnia sniper fire account.  She paid very heavily for both....There is very little room for her to make a mistake....

I suppose one could say this phenomenon is because of bias in the MSM and blogosphere....but that begs the question.  Why does she have so little good will?  One could chalk it all up to misogyny....but that seems facile.  Perhaps she has been around for awhile and people have gotten used to assuming the worst.  Perhaps her combative style invites a harsh response.  Perhaps she and Bill have been on stage too long when the new thing is what most people want.

The Republicans seemed to snap out of their funk when they could lambast Hillary over the sniper issue.  That seemed to really get them going again....

Hillary is fixed in most people's views....That may be her hardest challenge.

[ Parent ]

Low information voters neither know about (5.00 / 1) (#47)
by shoephone on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:04:05 PM EST
the Bosnia comments nor do they care.

"It's [still] the economy, stupid."

[ Parent ]

Obama hasn't survived the Wright issue. He (5.00 / 5) (#53)
by tigercourse on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:10:13 PM EST
was given a slow acting poison. The full affect should be felt sometime around November.

[ Parent ]
x (5.00 / 1) (#83)
by CognitiveDissonance on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 03:36:45 PM EST
Exactly. And let's not forget that there has yet to be a single primary or caucus since the Wright revelations went mainstream. There is no way to assume that this hasn't hurt him until the voters vote. At this point, you can't trust polls. They have been cooked too often this election cycle to trust.


[ Parent ]
blame the victim (5.00 / 2) (#59)
by ColumbiaDuck on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:16:54 PM EST
I don't really care why clinton is the victim of unfair coverage.  It just shouldn't happen.  Period.

You brought up drivers licenses - that's a case in point.  Clinton gave a meandering answer on a complicated issue on october 30.  (Fine by me - not every issue is yes/no and licenses are a state issue anyway).  She got hammered.  Obama gave the same meandering response at the next debate sponsored by cnn.  He got a pass.  Ridiculous.

[ Parent ]

These trends tend to continue (none / 0) (#62)
by MKS on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:23:18 PM EST
Hillary is cut no slack....Obama gets the benefit of the doubt...Once the trend sets in, it is hard to reverse as Al Gore found out....

 

[ Parent ]

sure (5.00 / 2) (#66)
by ColumbiaDuck on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:29:18 PM EST
But I don't think that obama will continue to get a pass if he is the nom.  And it's a sign of clinton's strength and support that even with her opponent getting a pass and even with the media out to get her that she is still in this race and still winning states.  When the media turned on dean, for example, he was toast in pretty short order.

[ Parent ]
One of the MAJOR reasons that (5.00 / 1) (#67)
by MarkL on Sun Mar 30, 2008 at 02:30:30 PM EST
people flocked to critically thinking oriented left wing blogs after 2000 was the way that Gore was treated in 2000. The media shamelessly lied about him, over and over.
Are you saying that the blogs make no difference at all---that Democrats are powerless to prevent the trashing of their own, still?

[ Parent ]

The Blogosphere's Big Mistake In Campaign '08 | 116 comments (116 topical)

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