Left’s bloggers try to play kingmaker

[Tigermike 3,035]

Left’s bloggers try to play kingmaker in lower races

By Jonathan E. Kaplan

Four of the most powerful left-wing political bloggers have developed a new joint strategy to steer financial support from the “netroots,” or Internet-based activists, to Democratic challengers, many of whom they know have little chance of winning their mid-term election races.

Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of Daily Kos, Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers of MyDD and “DavidNYC” of Swing State Project have endorsed 16 candidates and posted their names at Act Blue, a website that allows visitors to contribute money to campaigns.

A Democratic challenger need not pass any policy litmus test to earn endorsement; the four bloggers merely need to agree to go ahead. The endorsements depend on the candidate’s having won a measure of support from bloggers in his or her district.

Crucially, the candidate does not have to have a good chance of winning. Bowers said their hope is to “stretch Republican defenses” and turn less-noticed races into top-tier races, which will encourage more activity on the Internet.

“The point of the netroots endorsement is to beat Republicans directly [in a few races], lock down their resources indirectly and support” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean’s 50-state strategy, Stoller wrote at MyDD, referring to Dean’s efforts to run strong candidates in Republican areas.

The 16 challengers include Democratic Senate candidates Ned Lamont (Conn.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and former Navy Secretary Jim Webb (Va.). Lamont has raised $79,000 at Act Blue, Tester $39,000 and Webb $14,000.

Political observers compare bloggers’ role this year to that of conservative talk-radio hosts in the early 1990s, when scores of Democratic incumbents were ousted from Congress.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) last week hired a blogger, and Warner has hired Jerome Armstrong, Moulitsas’s former partner at Daily Kos. Both hires garnered a level of publicity that in previous election cycles had been reserved for top-notch political consultants.

Warner and retired Gen. Wesley Clark appeared in Las Vegas last month at YearlyKos, a convention for political bloggers and the so-called netroots, which attracted the biggest political reporters from New York and Washington.

But playing powerbroker is not as glamorous as hosting a glitzy Las Vegas convention. On June 30, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing deadline for money raised in the second quarter, Moulitsas pleaded for his denizens to make last-minute contributions.

“I hate doing this,” he wrote. “So let me get down on my knees and beg you to give something to someone.”

Moulitsas, who did not respond to e-mails for comment, appears to be a reluctant but pragmatic kingmaker.

“Here’s the beauty of people-power — would you rather they be working their butts off to inspire you into giving more money, or would you rather they be talking to corporate donors to get them to open up?” he wrote in the same posting.

He continued, “[Once] a candidate can show broad support, he or she can do two things: 1) prove to the big money donors, labor unions, and PACs that the candidacy is viable and worthy of higher level support, and 2) build a list for future activism and fundraising.”

Despite their newfound fame and influence, left-leaning political bloggers have not determined the outcome of an election or raised significant amounts of money, several Democratic aides noted.

They came close with Paul Hackett’s race against Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) in August 2005. Hackett, an Iraq war veteran, harnessed the Internet and courted bloggers to raise $500,000. He narrowly lost in the GOP district.

It’s unclear how their endorsements will affect the outcome in several competitive open-seat races, such as in Pennsylvania, where Joe Sestak and Patrick Murphy are challenging GOP Reps. Curt Weldon and Mike Fitzpatrick, respectively.

The bloggers also have suggested in recent postings that long-shot candidates running against Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), as well as Nevada Senate candidate Jack Carter, former President Carter’s son, will be included in the next round of endorsements.

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheH...ign/070506.html

[Bottomfeeder 244]

We can't afford the liberals. We need American candidates, not reb or dem, JUST American.

I'm angry and tired of the crap, and it's passed time we turn this #### around to favor US and not them. Them being those who are in favor of the centralized governmental body, instead of the Constitutional Republic that we are supposed to be. I'm tired, angry and disappointed. And, I don't know what to do about, except let go, and let GOD.

[DKW 86 7,426]

Steering cash into lesser offices and away from the National offices could backfire big time on them.