Tuesday Morning Linkdump
December 11, 2007
Celebrification of Politics Update: Never mind all that complaining I did about celebrities and politics yesterday. Because today I see the light. And it’s shining from none other than Sean Penn. Yeah, the same Sean Penn who recently made the best movie I’ve seen in a long, long time: Into the Wild. As you’ll see in the video below, Penn is endorsing Dennis Kucinich. And he has to put up with some hecklers in the process. Notice how Penn deals with the heckler – it’s a bit different than the Ann Coulter method of squawking like a hawk child (or something like that).
Speaking of Penn, you can also read one of his recent screeds at CounterPunch by clicking here. Unlike Oprah, he’s talking about issues. Imagine that.
Iowa Update: My home state of Iowa is now less than a month away from delivering a shocker to the nation in the form of a surprise in its first-in-the-nation presidential caucus. On the Dem side, my guess is that the surprise will be a better-than-expected showing by John Edwards. He’s been able to be positive over the last several weeks as Obama and Clinton get down and dirty with one another. And, as history indicates, Iowans like the candidate who is positive at the end – even if it’s the long shot. Remember, in 2004 John Kerry was way behind Dean and Gephardt and then leaped over both of them when they started to sling the mud. (The “scream” came AFTER the caucus.)
Edwards is also said to have a very strong and deep organization in Iowa, led by a very enthusiastic union presence. That’s critical given the odd nature of the caucus process. Remember, Iowans don’t go into a voting both to quietly and anonymously mark their preference. Instead, they go into a room full of people and are instructed to publicly “caucus” with the others in the room who share their presidential choice. And if there aren’t enough of you with a certain candidate, you discuss amongst yourselves which of the leading candidates you’re going to join. Sooner or later, someone wins.
So if you’ve got a strong organization with deep support, these people will be strong, visible and vocal during the caucus. And if you’ve tried to remain focused on the issues and not cutting the throat of the other candidates, their supporters are more likely to swing into your camp during the caucus process. At this point, Edwards is hoping that the growing disdain between the Obama and Clinton camps will mean that he’s the second choice of both camps and, as a result of the caucus process, walk away with a victory. Got that?
The Obama campaign understands it. That’s why they’ve started going negative with Edwards, especially within the union crowd. And it wouldn’t surprise me to see Clinton follow suit real soon.
One thing’s for sure, Iowa is loving the attention. And the money. It’s better than ethanol.
Welch Update: It’s good to see that Vermont’s Congressman Peter Welch has come out against the latest Dem plan to trade some domestic funding for continued funding of the Iraq War. Hmm, I wonder if he had any thoughts about that Barre meeting with anti-war activists when he made that decision? Let’s hope Welch’s actions will match his rhetoric this time. But, more than that, let’s hope he does more than just vote against this ridiculous compromise. He could, for example, lobby the Dem leadership to scrap the entire plan. If he’d like some help leading a sit-in at Pelosi’s office, I think I know some folks who’d join him….
Defining Political Losers:
Sue Allen of the Times Argus was one of the panelists on Vermont This Week last week. And while discussing next year’s campaign for governor, she said that Doug Racine had to be careful about entering the race and losing because another loss could ruin his political career. Okay, and why doesn’t the same standard apply to the Progressive Party’s Anthony Pollina? Pollina, of course, has done nothing but lose one campaign after another for one decade after another but media folks like Allen don’t bury his political career. Instead, they give his every utterance of “intent” a front-page story. But if Racine loses two races – after having won many more than that – he’ll be considered politically dead? I don’t get it.
Giuliani Update: Here’s a fun little summary of Giuliani’s appearance last Sunday on Meet the Press. I saw it and it was bizarre. Let’s hope the Republicans nominate him.
For more on Giuliani’s appearance, check out the Rude Pundit’s take.
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Uh… Mr. Colby…Pollina has always been a surprisingly successful candidate.
When he last ran for Lieutenant Governor, he garnered 25% of the vote in a three way race. The Democrat challenger barely beat him, despite the fact that the Democrats far outnumber the Progressives in this state.
When he runs, it forces the Democrats to move to the left in order to court the Pollina voters.
By any measure, Pollina has been wildly successful for the Progressives. He has made a super-minority party into a force to be reckoned with.
Sometimes in politics winning isn’t everything. I thought you would have recognized that since you support an anti-war effort that has failed to gain any traction in Washington, DC.
Why the double standard?