Lefty Bloggers Still Don't Get ItTheir self-delusion continues unabated. Kos
wants to claim credit for Stephanie Herseth's election to the at-large congress seat from South Dakota. Herseth was first elected in a special election to replace Bill Janklow, who was forced to resign after being convicted of killing a motorcyclist while speeding. She had come close to beating Janklow in 2002, and started the race with a large lead in the polling. She was the grand-daughter of a former South Dakota governor, and the daughter of a former SD legislator. She ended up winning by fewer than 3,000 votes.
Kos makes this point:
Backing the underdog means you will lose more often than not. Backing outside-the-establishment candidates mean we have to build momentum over time. Good thing for the modern conservative movement that they didn't pack it in after Barry Goldwater got crushed. They knew they were in it for the long haul, unlike the bitter, obsolete crew over at New Republic, cursing that newfangled people-powered media that has stripped them of whatever ill-gotten influence they used to wield.But of course, Kos didn't just back the underdogs. He backed the underdogs who had no chance to win and told his readers they were in the running. Suppose I were to push you all to contribute to Hillary's senate opponent this year, writing all the time about how Hillary was going down, that we had her on the ropes. How would you feel if election day Hillary won by 20% or more (as I expect her to)? You'd feel cheated, right? I know I would.
Atrios goes to the other extreme:
If my goal in life was to support people who were "winners" I'd be writing checks to Joe Biden, Hilllary Clinton, and Ted Kennedy. All 3 of those candidates will win their next election. All 3 of those candidates have far more money than they need to win their next election. All 3 of those candidates still have no problem getting people to line up to give them even more money for their campaigns. If there's wasted money in campaigns that's where it is. And, yes, I know, that those candidates tend to pass on some money to other candidates, but I'm not sure how supporting party "kingmakers" is really of much value.Of course, there is little sense in donating money to guaranteed winners. Kudos to Atrios for recognizing it. Being smart means recognizing the candidates who could win, but are not guaranteed it. We pushed John Thune as such a candidate in 2004. We're pushing Heather Wilson this time around on the same basis.
Aravosis, waging a
pre-emptive strike against a supposed hit piece on liberal bloggers:
We'd expect, and hope, that the paper of record could do a more serious and deeper look at just how successful liberal bloggers and blogs have been, and how the future is pretty amazing if the bloggers and the established politicians can finally get together at full strength.Yep, those liberal bloggers have been awfully successful. After all, they brought down Jeff Gannon!
