By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Apparently, the "Creative Class" blogosphere just fell off the political turnip truck. Josh Marshall approvingly quotes (now seconded by Matt Yglesias, will it make the complete rounds of the "creative Class"?) Harvard sociologist Theda Skocpol:

I have been in meetings with the Clintons and their advisors where very clinical things were said in a very-detached tone about unwillingness of working class voters to trust government -- and Bill Clinton -- and about their unfortunate (from a Clinton perspective) proclivity to vote on life-style rather than economic issues. To see Hillary going absolutely over the top to smash Obama for making clearly more humanly sympathetic observations in this vein, is just amazing.

Um, if the difference between internal campaign discussions and candidate statements on the stump (and Ms. Skocpol's characterization of Obama's statements is extremely charitable at best) is beyond Josh Marshall, then it is pretty clear he has no clue about politics. But let's face it - Josh does know the difference. This is just more of his Clinton Derangement Syndrome. Oh BTW, I would not be trotting out a Harvard sociologist to defend Obama from a charge of elitism if I were the Obama campaign.

The Clark County democratic convention was held Saturday. It was a do-over from February. Hillary won and she now leads Obama statewide in delegates to the state convention.

More than 6,300 delegates participated Saturday, according to the Nevada Democratic Party. Clinton won 1,330 delegates from Clark County while Obama won 1,133 delegates.

Heading into Saturday, Obama had won the majority of the delegates in the state’s other 15 county conventions, 512 of 900. But Clinton’s win in Clark County, by far the state’s most populous county, gave her the lead statewide 1,718 to 1,645, for delegates to the May 17 state convention in Reno, where Nevada Democrats will select delegates to the national convention in Denver this August.

Nevada has 33 national delegates. As to why Hillary won in the January caucuses, here are the reasons: [More...]

A very old one from the Rolling Stones. Renamed Glastonbury Girl for this concert. What are you listening to tonight?

This is an open thread.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Ezra Klein is now upset about the Media coverage. Obama is getting hit so it bothers him now:

It's not damaging because we think it foretells him doing something harmful to the country. It's not damaging because it suggests his policy agenda is poorly conceived, or his priorities are awry. If you think of policy and politics as two circles in a Venn diagram, this is damage that only exists in the politics circle, and doesn't even come close to the area of intersection.

Indeed. Funny how Ezra Klein, noted health care blogger, has not a WORD of concern about how Hillary Clinton was falsely smeared on the Trina Bachtel story. Even though Hillary Clinton was actually making a substantive point about an actual issue (indeed, one Ezra claims to care a great deal about), health care. Paul Krugman noticed. Ezra Klein chose not to. To complain now about this standard issue crappy political journalism after standing silent for all the BS that has been thrown at Hillary Clinton on a substantive issue makes Ezra Klein not credible. I do not respect him or the Left blogs precisely because they have stood by and said nothing about the media coverage in this contest. As Eric Boehlert said:

John Aravosis at AmericaBlog writes that every top blog "has had it with Clinton". That is patently false, whichever way you slice it.

One example: MyDD, which has more traffic than AmericaBlog.

In fact, out of the top trafficked liberal blogs, only Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, and America Blog favor Obama over Clinton. Huffington Post as a news source seems to editorially favor Obama, but its multitude of bloggers can't be pigeonholed so easily.

Most of the top bloggers writing about the elections are not taking sides: Crooks and Liars, Atrios, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Digby.

These blogs will vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is. They have not "had it" with Hillary. Just as TalkLeft, which favors Hillary over Obama, will vote for Obama if he's the nominee. Democrats don't give up on each other.

Perhaps John has caught a bit of Obama's sense of hyperbole. Here are the top liberal blogs that write about the elections and weekly page view numbers, from the Liberal Blog Adverstising Network:

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Oliver Willis compares this McCain statement to the Obama Gaffe:

It’s the influx of illegals into places where they’ve never seen a Hispanic influence before,” McCain told me. “You probably see more emotion in Iowa than you do in Arizona on this issue. I was in a town in Iowa, and twenty years ago there were no Hispanics in the town. Then a meatpacking facility was opened up. Now twenty per cent of their population is Hispanic. There were senior citizens there who were–’concerned’ is not the word. They see this as an assault on their culture, what they view as an impact on what have been their traditions in Iowa, in the small towns in Iowa. So you get questions like ‘Why do I have to punch 1 for English?’ ‘Why can’t they speak English?’ It’s become larger than just the fact that we need to enforce our borders.”

More . . .

I can't help wondering what John Edwards thinks about Barack Obama's slam of rural Americans. Hillary increasingly has been adopting Edwards' positions over the past months. She showed it again this morning in Indiana:

Clinton took the stage to John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” a song that was used primarily by former presidential candidate John Edwards. Edwards prided himself in being the candidate for working class Americans, often reminding the crowds that he was the son of a mill worker. With Edwards now out of the race, Clinton is hoping to take the reigns. “When my dad grew up, it was a working class family in Scranton,” Clinton told the audience. “I grew up in a churchgoing family, a family that believed in living out and expressing our faith.”

I have to believe his phone is ringing off the hook with calls from reporters today. What would he say?

No one understands swift-boating better than Edwards, given the effect it had on his and John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid. The last thing he wants is a John McCain win in November. [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Via Matt Yglesias (who misunderstands Wills' post imo), Garry Wills revisits Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Cooper Union Address and compares it to Barack Obama's address on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Race. For nearly four years now, I have been, along with Digby, writing about the political lessons of Lincoln 1860. My first post ever Talk Left post discussed what Obama needed to learn from Lincoln's Cooper Union address. Wills rightly describes Lincoln's political challenges when he delivered it:

I'm on the Hillary Clinton press teleconference call. I'll be live blogging, so check back for updates.

Speakers: Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and some PA mayors. How it works: There will be a theme announced, various people address it from the campaign and then they open it up to questions from reporters.

Phil Singer: The topic is the comments of Obama in San Francisco.

Gov. Vilsack: He grew up in small town in W. PA. After reading and reviewing Obama's comments, he found them condescending. They undercut his message of hope. Obama suggests they are bitter. PA residents don't want a pat on the head, they want a pat on the back. It's why they have been gravitating to Clinton. The most glaring example is Obama's comments about G-d and guns. Vilsack says guns are a reflection of what we do with our families.

It's hard for a candidate to win in the general election if he has these misunderstandings about people in small towns.

More...

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

Do you think the "creative class" blogosphere just started watching politics today? Or are they playing ignorant? Ezra Klein writes:

I'm not really sure what the big deal over Obama's comments in SF is supposed to be . . . As far as I can tell, few actually find the argument underlying Obama's statement controversial. It's a pretty standard thesis, and has been delivered, in various forms, by everyone from John McCain to Bill Clinton.

I would be curious to see what statements of Bill Clinton and John McCain Ezra Klein is talking about. Personally, I have never seen a pol say what Obama said. Political scientists, bloggers, intellectuals, ME, yes. But pols? Never. See, pols have a different job - get votes. Obama already has trouble getting white working class votes. This statement certainly does not help him. But I think he will ride it out - precisely because of his "Creative class"/Media Darling status. More...

Via Politico, here are Hillary Clinton's comments today in Indiana on Obama's gaffe. Video here.

Now, like some of you may have been, I was taken aback by the demeaning remarks Sen. Obama made about people in small town America. Sen. Obama's remarks are elitist, and they are out of touch. They are not reflective of the values and beliefs of Americans. Certainly not the Americans that I know — not the Americans I grew up with, not the Americans I lived with in Arkansas or represent in New York.

You know, Americans who believe in the Second Amendment believe it¹s a matter of Constitutional rights. Americans who believe in God believe it is a matter of personal faith. Americans who believe in protecting good American jobs believe it is a matter of the American Dream.

When my dad grew up it was in a working class family in Scranton. I grew up in a churchgoing family, a family that believed in the importance of living out and expressing our faith.

The people of faith I know don't "cling to" religion because they're bitter

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