Redstate

Posted at 3:05pm on Jul. 9, 2008 They're winding up FISA now in the Senate.

Took 'em long enough.

By Moe Lane

[UPDATE and bump]: Final vote is 69 Ayes, 28 Nays. A look at the final apostate list in a moment, but I'd just like to note something. There were two Senators who were serious Democratic Presidential candidates, and they both voted on FISA. One of them voted against telecom immunity - a matter of extreme importance to the netroots - all the way down the line (and despite the fact that Democrats in Congress have assessed the public mood, and have clearly decided that the bill must be passed). The other voted against it... except for the final vote, which is the only one that the population will actually care about. In other words, we have a case of actual integrity versus equivocation.

The funny part is that the netroots went with the equivocator. Barack Obama brazenly lied to them about his intent to filibuster FISA, and they support him anyway. And now they have to go give him some more money, so that he can lie to them some more. Funny, I don't recall Hillary Clinton being nearly as bad in that regard this election cycle.

Have a nice day.

-------

Senator Bond is finishing up his commentary, and we'll be seeing the start of the process of watching the amendments go down in flames any minute now. (Ooh, he just kicked the netroots!)

While we're all waiting for the inevitable, check out Jake Tapper's piece on the subject. Especially the bits about Obama's flip-flops on FISA.

[UPDATE]: Below is the approved list of Netroots-Acceptable Democratic Ideological Purity. To stay on it, all the Democratic Senators have to do is vote Aye on all three amendments, and Nay on the vote itself. Shouldn't be too hard, right?

Akaka Baucus Bayh Biden Bingaman Boxer Brown Byrd Cantwell Cardin Carper Casey Clinton Conrad Dodd Dorgan Durbin Feingold Feinstein Harkin Inouye Johnson Kennedy* Kerry Klobuchar Kohl Landrieu Lautenberg Leahy Levin Lieberman Lincoln McCaskill Menendez Mikulski Murray Nelson Nelson Obama Pryor Reed Reid Rockefeller Salazar Sanders Schumer Stabenow Tester Webb Whitehouse Wyden

*I think that he may not be present. Which would explain why McCain's not there, either.

On Dodd/Feingold: 32 Ayes, 66 Nays. Embarrassingly bad, that.
On Specter: 37 Ayes, 61 Nays. Not quite as bad. Not quite.
On Bingaman: 42 Ayes, 56 Nays. I guess that I got this wrong: the pro-FISA people clearly didn't need much in the way of cover at all.

...And Reid is recessing, in order to let the GOP go have its (delayed by the Helms funeral) lunch. Isn't he just the best, most biddable Democratic Senate Majority Leader that the GOP could wish for?

[UPDATE] Well, we're back, and I believe that this is the cloture vote (yup, it is). Bit garbled, but I heard 26 Nays; it clearly passed. Final vote - finally, the freaking final vote - coming up next.

Posted in Congress | FISA | Kneel Before Zod | The Great Netroots Betrayal — Comments (136)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:24pm on Jul. 5, 2008 The Pending Revenge Of Bitter Clinton Supporters

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

One month after the Democratic Presidential nomination basically got decided and settled, former Clinton supporters continue to be unwilling to migrate in significant numbers back to the Obama camp:

One week after Sen. Hillary Clinton made a public show of unity with Sen. Barack Obama, a new survey suggests supporters of the New York senator are increasingly less likely to follow her lead.

 A growing number of Clinton supporters polled say they may stay home in November instead of casting their ballot for Obama, an indication the party has yet to coalesce around the Illinois senator four weeks after the most prolonged and at times divisive primary race in modern American history came to a close.

According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Friday, the number of Clinton supporters who plan to defect to Republican Sen. John McCain's camp is down from one month ago, but -- in what could be an ominous sign for Obama as he seeks to unify the party -- the number of them who say they plan to vote for Obama is also down, and a growing number say they may not vote at all.

In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey completed in early June before the New York senator ended her White House bid, 60 percent of Clinton backers polled said they planned on voting for Obama. In the latest poll, that number has dropped to 54 percent.

In early June, 22 percent of Clinton supporters polled said they would not vote at all if Obama were the party's nominee, now close to a third say they will stay home.

In another sign the wounds of the heated primary race have yet to heal, 43 percent of registered Democrats polled still say they would prefer Clinton to be the party's presidential nominee.

As I have continually written regarding this subject, I expect that eventually, the number of former Clinton supporters backing Obama will go up. But it may not go up all that much and if it does not, the apathy of former Clinton supporters may work to make all the difference in what is increasingly shaping up to be a closer election than many pundits have expected.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | Kneel Before Zod | Let's You And Him Fight | Rooting For Injuries — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:34am on Jun. 28, 2008 One Big Happy Family?

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I think not. Check out this report concerning the meeting Senators Clinton and Obama had with some of Senator Clinton's donors and supporters:

One major Clinton donor described it this way:  "This felt like when your mom forces you to go visit your Aunt Ida and she has to pinch your cheeks and you're sitting there in an uncomfortable suit and you can't wait to leave."

Another Clinton-leaning person who was in the room said after the meeting wrapped up that there is still "a lot of anger" toward Obama among Clinton's wealthiest fans.

"It was pretty bad," this source said.  He said donors were joking that the scene was like "an Irish wake" and that you "could cut the air with a knife" it was so tense in the room.

"He better go back to the internet," said one donor about the Democratic nominee's fundraising tactics.

Marc Ambinder's report is marginally more optimistic. Marginally. Barack Obama may yet unify his party but he is not out of the woods yet with Clinton supporters. The danger that they might stay home or that they might go and vote for John McCain likely continues.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | Kneel Before Zod | Let's You And Him Fight | Rooting For Injuries — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:11pm on Jun. 26, 2008 Trouble In Paradise

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Now that the Democratic nomination contest is over, the effort to get the Clinton and Obama camps to sing from the same songsheet is getting a lot of attention. However, there are discordant notes:

Some Clinton supporters are grousing that Obama has yet to make the symbolic gesture of writing a check for $2,300, the maximum allowable campaign donation, to help retire her debt of over $12 million.

At her headquarters two weeks ago, a potluck dinner for women who had volunteered for Clinton turned into a forum in which many of her most loyal supporters expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the contest and with Obama, attendees said. And some of Clinton's aides said Obama's campaign had made only a perfunctory effort to hire Clinton staff members; the Clinton campaign payroll is ending for most employees in less than a week.

Obama's aides said that while he was prepared to help her pay off the debt, there was only so far he would go, given his campaign's own desire to raise record sums for the general election. In addition to the $12 million that Clinton owes to outside suppliers, she pumped more than $10 million of her own money into her campaign.

I actually thought that there would be a serious, comprehensive effort to help Clinton retire her campaign debt--if only to ensure that Clinton and her team would be fully on board in preparation for the general election campaign. Evidently not, or at the very least, the Obama people are not making this a priority. Of course, if they fail to keep Clinton supporters happy, there may very well be lots of problems down the road.

This will definitely be worth watching. I am sure that there will be a picture of unity at the end of all of this but the reality behind the scenes may be far, far different.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | Kneel Before Zod | Let's You And Him Fight | Rooting For Injuries — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:15pm on Jun. 26, 2008 Hey, thanks, Glenn Greenwald.

Have to say, you anti-FISA folks have been really helpful with doing our oppo research.

By Moe Lane

And you're right, this is spinning:

And yet you're voting for him anyway. He can't even participate in a cloture vote - the last even semi-realistic hope that you had to slow FISA down - and you'll still vote for him. This would be sad, if it wasn't as predictable as tomorrow's sunrise. But enough about my amusement; let's talk about your pain. How does it feel to live with the fact that your (assumed) candidate for President is a moral coward?

I wouldn't know myself, you see: I'm a Republican.

Moe Lane

PS: Just keep going after those Blue Dogs, Glenn. Thanks a bunch.

Posted in Barack Obama | FISA | Kneel Before Zod | Liberals — Comments (4)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:52am on Jun. 24, 2008 "You know, you're allowed to laugh at him."

Pardon me while I spoil the innocent enjoyment taken in the Daily Show by a certain percentage of its demographic.

By Moe Lane

I could gussy this up with random blathering:

...but why bother? This beatdown from Stewart clocks in at just under four minutes, and is all the better for its ostensible cheeriness. It won't decide the election, but it will make you at least chuckle. Which is fine for a Tuesday morning.

Moe Lane

PS: To those either scowling at the end of this clip, or just being gritted-teeth good sports about the whole thing, please accept our reassurances: we're not laughing with you.

Posted in 2008 | Daily Show | Kneel Before Zod | Obamafiles — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:03am on Jun. 24, 2008 Campaigning In A Town Called "Unity" Doesn't Make You Unified

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are going to have their first joint appearance since Clinton dropped out of the race. The site is Unity, New Hampshire. It's symbolic of what the Democrats want to achieve, of course, but something is interfering with the symbolism. And that something is the Clintons:

People close to Clinton are frustrated that the Obama campaign has yet to propose a way to help her retire her campaing debt, while some close to Obama think the Clintons are being sore losers who won't go out of their way to praise Obama.

A case in point was Bill Clinton's appearance Sunday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

During his address, the former president mentioned Obama only once, and that was to praise Obama for supporting one of programs begun during Clinton's administration.

"I was delighted to read that Senator Obama said he would reinstitute the COPS program," Clinton told the conference.

And when Hillary Clinton made her first public appearance this weekend since her concession speech, she never even mentioned Obama's name.

The closest the New York senator came to citing Obama during her speech at a Bronx high school's graduation was to say, "No one five years ago, or four years ago, could have conceived that an African-American and a woman would be competing for the president of the United States."

Don't think that the Clintons' supporters won't take note of this. They pay attention and the lack of enthusiasm that the former First Couple is showing for the new Democratic nominee most assuredly can trickle down to Clinton supporters.

The vast majority of those supporters will back Barack Obama. But they may not do much more than vote. Combine that with the supporters who may either stay home or vote for John McCain and you see why this may well be a closer race than many people believe it will be.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | Kneel Before Zod | Let's You And Him Fight | Rooting For Injuries — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:32pm on Jun. 21, 2008 *Not* the return of the Security Majority in Congress.

"Return" implies that it ever went away.

By Moe Lane

FiveThirtyEight.com has some numbers up of how the Blue Dogs jumped on FISA. As they note, the final vote was 105 Yea to 128 Nay on the Democratic side, which in itself is instructive of the failure of the progressive netroots to impose their desires on their Party; but among competitive-seat Democrats (31, as per the Cook Political Report*) the ratio was 23 Yea to 8 Nay. A fairly significant difference: and one that suggests that the Democrats have a fairly significant disconnect between rhetoric and reality. But we'll discuss that below.

By the way, those 23 Yea votes were from: Harry Mitchell AZ-5, Gabrielle Giffords AZ-8, Jerry McNerney CA-11, Tim Mahoney FL-16, John Barrow GA-12, Jim Marshall GA-8, Melissa Bean, IL-8, Brad Ellsworth IN-8, Nancy Hoyda KS-2, Dennis Moore KS-3, John Yarmuth KY-3, Don Cazayoux LA-6, Travis Childers MS-1, Kirsten Gillibrand NY-20, Michael Arcuri NY-24, Zack Space OH-18, Chris Carney PA-10, Paul Kanjorski PA-11, Jason Altmire PA-4, Joe Sestak PA-7, Patrick Murphy PA-8, Nick Lampson TX-22, and Ciro Rodriguez TX-23. I mention this because I am given to understand that ActBlue is making it a point to target these individuals (as well as House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer), and far be it from me to stand in their way. Go ahead and spend that money, netrooters.

The rest of you, read on.

Posted in Congress | FISA | I was for the war before I was against the war before I was for the war | Kneel Before Zod — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:40pm on Jun. 21, 2008 Barack Obama Gets People Mad At Him (Part II)

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Apparently, that party unity on the Democratic side is going to be a little harder to achieve than some thought it would be:

A Thursday afternoon meeting between Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus grew tense and emotional for a moment -- perhaps illustrating that weeks after Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., suspended her presidential campaign, some nerves remain frayed.

[. . .]

Sources at the meeting said that Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a Clinton supporter, expressed the desire that Obama and his campaign would reach out the millions of women still aggrieved about what happened in the campaign and still disappointed that Clinton lost.

Obama agreed that a lot of work needs to be done to heal the Democratic Party, and that he hoped the Clinton supporters in the room would help as much as possible.

According to Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Obama then said, "However, I need to make a decision in the next few months as to how I manage that since I'm running against John McCain, which takes a lot of time. If women take a moment to realize that on every issue important to women, John McCain is not in their corner, that would help them get over it."

That last line didn't quite go over well:

Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., a longtime Clinton supporter, did not like those last three words -- "Get over it." She found them dismissive, off-putting.

"Don't use that terminology," Watson told Obama.

Between this and the Patti Solis Doyle hire earlier this week, Hillary supporters have been given a fair number of things to be mad about. Having beaten the Clintons and their supporters, Obama is now causing many of those supporters to believe that he has contempt for the Clintons and for the campaign that they ran. Any more such efforts at party unity and we might have ourselves a full-blown schism before September even hits.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Hillary Clinton | Kneel Before Zod | Let's You And Him Fight | Rooting For Injuries — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:14pm on Jun. 20, 2008 Obama Retreats on FISA

This Line Can't Be Crossed! [Pause] No, *This* Line!

By Dan McLaughlin

I asked yesterday how Barack Obama, who opposed the FISA bill last time it came around and specifically opposed the telecom immunity provisions, would handle the compromise by which nearly the same bill has now passed the House and will return to the Senate with sufficient votes to pass. You will recall the emphatic nature of Obama's statement in opposition:

I strongly oppose retroactive immunity in the FISA bill.... No one should get a free pass to violate the basic civil liberties of the American people - not the President of the United States, and not the telecommunications companies that fell in line with his warrantless surveillance program. We have to make clear the lines that cannot be crossed.

Well, anyone who was observing this campaign to find out whether Obama has credibility when he draws that kind of line now has their answer: he folds like a cheap suit:

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | FISA | Great Netroot Betrayal | Kneel Before Zod | Obamafiles — Comments (16)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:44pm on Jun. 20, 2008 Some thoughts for our esteemed visitors regarding the passage of the FISA bill.

And may I offer my condolences for Senator Obama's sudden attack of laryngitis?

By Moe Lane

Good afternoon, our colleagues from the Other Side. As you no doubt know by now, the FISA bill has passed the House (293-129-13), complete with sufficient protections for the telecom industry so as to prevent precisely the sort of discovery expeditions that so many of you have so eagerly dreamed of. The Senate will in due course ratify it; the President will of course sign it; and it will not be repealed, even if "your" party somehow manages to win the Presidential election in November.

But I would like to offer these words of comfort. When you look back on your quest to fight this bill, I want you to appreciate the amazing amount of work that you spent on the issue. You called. You networked. You wrote letters and blog posts. You contributed to opposition groups. You reached out, and found people just like you, and you banded together to fight. And you kept going, and calling, and struggling, and you put your time, your money, and every atom of your being on the line. For some of you, this was your finest moment. You fought for this. You fought so hard for this.

Oddly enough, I didn't do any of that, but I won anyway. That's because you suck, and I don't.

Well, I didn't say that they were words of comfort for you.

Moe Lane

PS: Now go give money to Barack Obama. That's all you're good for, anyway.

Posted in Congress | FISA | I'm Sing-ing in the Rain... | Kneel Before Zod | The Great Netroots Betrayal — Comments (34)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:31pm on Jun. 19, 2008 "House passes Iraq war funds bill backed by Bush"

By Jeff Emanuel

Thanks to Reuters for the tasty headline, quoted above, that really rams home the fact that the Democrat-"led" House of Representatives has once again given President Bush pretty much exactly what he asked for on that pesky little war they inconveniently promised to end if elected in '06.

Well, I suppose that the "inconvenience" is more felt on the part of those friendly, gullible netroots who "ate up" the knowingly insincere promises of the Democrats they donated so much time, treasure, and typing to.

Voting results are here.

Guess those "blood-soaked" dollar bills Code Pink protesters planned to shower the voting Members with during tonight's polling didn't convince any of them overmuch. It's a shame; I hear they were dipped in the actual blood of the Iraqi children the witches of Code Pink keep fighting so hard to abandon to the mercy of terrorists in Iraq.

Well, maybe not. But would it honestly surprise anybody?

Updated below the fold...

Posted in Code Pink | Congress | Kneel Before Zod | The Great Netroots Betrayal — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:50pm on Jun. 5, 2008 That Ned Lamont thing? It just keeps paying dividends, boychik.

*Dividends*.

By Moe Lane

Latest payout?

Citizens for McCain.

John McCain knows he is going to be the President of all Americans, not just the ones that voted for him. No matter what party you belong to or who you supported during the primary campaign, we want you to be part of our team.

And do you who's helping Senator McCain with that?

(slow, mocking smile)

Guess.

Lieberman launches grassroots organization
From CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Joe Lieberman – who has taken on increasingly high-profile campaign roles on behalf of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain – announced Thursday that was launching and heading a new grassroots organization, "Citizens for McCain," with a direct appeal to Hillary Clinton’s disappointed supporters.

“The phones at the campaign headquarters have been ringing with disaffected Democrats calling to say they believe Senator McCain has the experience, judgment, and bipartisanship necessary to lead our country in these difficult times,” Lieberman wrote in a message sent to the Arizona senator’s supporters. “Many of these supporters are former supporters of Senator Clinton.”

Over the past few weeks, some supporters of Hillary Clinton – whose campaign announced Wednesday that she would be suspending her presidential run this weekend — have said that they would consider voting for McCain if she were not the Democratic nominee.

Lieberman highlighted McCain’s “very good working relationship with Senator Clinton” – which he said would continue in the future – and his comments praising her in a speech at a Louisiana campaign event Wednesday.

Oh, I'm sure that once Senator Clinton concedes the race Saturday...

- by which I mean that she: explicitly drops out of the race; explicitly endorses Senator Barack Obama by name for President; formally and explicitly releases her delegates to vote for Senator Barack Obama; and promises to give Senator Barack Obama all the help that she can, explicitly including her contribution lists and whatever general election money that she can legally transfer. That's what's going to happen Saturday, right? -

...this will all be, as they say, moot. But until then, hey, lots of fun all around. Not to mention a blatant reminder how Lieberman got away and continues to get away with breaking away (at least in public) from the Democrats over the Iraq War. But, hey: the Democratic Party will no doubt promise that they'll be stripping the apostate of all his chairships with the new Congress. And you can believe them when they say that: after all, when was the last time that they lied to the netroots?

(pause)

Ah, 7:50 PM, Eastern Standard Time. Why do you ask?

Posted in 2008 | Joe Lieberman | Kneel Before Zod | The Best Democratic Primary EVER | The Great Netroots Betrayal — Comments (44)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:20am on May 29, 2008 Pass The Popcorn

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

The Florida-Michigan imbroglio looks to be brutal to solve, indeed. Political junkies will feast on the spectacle.

The Democratic party? Not so much.