Clinton message-testing on foreign policy spat with Obama

Over at Iowa Independent Dien Judge reports that “We haven't seen the end of the Clinton-Obama diplomacy feud.”

The chairman of the Democratic Party in Monroe County (southeast Iowa) got a phone call from PSA Interviewing, which conducted a message-testing poll for Clinton in Iowa earlier this year.

Most of the poll questions were about Hillary, and they concerned both policy matters and electability. The survey specifically asked about the CNN/You Tube debate question about whether the president should meet with foreign dictators, and under what conditions.

There's been a lot of debate in the blogosphere over who was helped by this dispute. If Clinton tries to keep this story alive in her speeches and/or campaign ads, it's a safe bet that her internal Iowa polling showed it was a winner for her. If she doesn't bring it up much in the future, we can assume that the polling showed most Iowans agreed with Obama.

ARG Iowa poll: Clinton, Edwards, Obama, Richardson

ARG, which has shown Clinton leading in Iowa all year, released a new poll today with similar findings. Details and a spirited discussion of this poll can be found over at MyDD. Here are the key findings:

Clinton 30 (down from 32 in last ARG poll)

Edwards 21 (down from 29 in last ARG poll)

Obama 15 (up from 13 in last ARG poll)

Richardson 13 (up from 5 in last ARG poll)

These numbers just don't ring true to me. I don't believe Clinton leads Edwards in Iowa, and certainly not by that kind of a margin. All year ARG has had Clinton around 30 percent in Iowa, and I can't remember any other pollster finding her with support that high.

ARG's new numbers for Republicans in Iowa are also at odds with recent polling by other firms. ARG finds:

Giuliani 22

Romney 21

McCain 17

Undecided 15

Fred Thompson 13

Gingrich 4

all others 2 percent or less 

What do other people think about this poll?

I guess when other firms release their results we'll find out which is the outlier: ARG or the latest KCCI Iowa poll conducted by Research 2000.

New Obama Ad Touts Reform Efforts

On Iowa’s airwaves you’ll start seeing a new TV ad titled “Take It Back” touting reform efforts his campaign has taken to get rid of the influence of Washington lobbyists and PACs by not accepting donations from them to his campaign as well as highlight his work in the Senate on ethics reform efforts.  For some reason, I can’t find a version of the ad that I can embed here on Bleeding Heartland, but you can view the ad by clicking here.

It is a good ad that follows on the same theme/guidelines established in his first two biographical ads that went up on the air in Iowa, as in they help to keep telling the “Barack Obama story.”

What interests me about this ad is the highlighting of ethics and campaign finance issues as the primary focus in what is Obama’s first true issue ad in Iowa.  Will the issues really resonate with Iowans at this point?  I’m not sure.

Ethics and government reform were major Democratic campaign platforms in 2006 and were even considered to be one of the deciding issues in 2006 (right behind the catch-all issue of Iraq).  But now with House passing really comprehensive lobbying reform legislation (that will likely be passed in the Senate as is and sent to the President’s desk) it seems like Democrats are already taking big efforts to fully push through reform.

Maybe I’m just naive or way to focused on other issues like Iraq but to me the clean campaign Obama is running just makes logical sense and should be what all the campaigns are doing, and then other issues should become the real focus.

Either way, it is just a TV ad, and a good one.

Keeping track of endorsements

I was thinking that it would be helpful to have a box somewhere listing all of the Iowa politicians who have endorsed presidential candidates this year. I know Chris Woods has been keeping track of those, but I don't have a comprehensive list. Even if I did, I am not able to redesign the page.

What do people think? Is this a feature you'd like to see at Bleeding Heartland? Might be useful as a reference.

Speaking of which, has Patty Judge endorsed Edwards? Someone told me yesterday that she has, but I don't remember reading about it, and I couldn't find a link on the Des Moines Register website. 

When Democrats Attack in Iowa

Howard Dean was at the top of the polls in Iowa leading up to the 2004 Iowa Caucuses. Richard Gephardt was polling well, but trending down. Gephardt had placed all his bets on Iowa and had to find a way to win. So Gephardt started running ads going after Dean. Dean countered back with ads attacking Gephardt.

While Gephardt's and Dean's ads turned Iowans off from their campaigns, John Kerry and John Edwards kept focusing on the issues and organizing. The night of the caucuses saw Kerry and Edwards come out on top with Dean and Gephardt coming in 3rd and 4th. Iowa was witness of a murder-suicide of the Dean and Gephardt campaigns.

After this week's spat between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, I can see this scenario happening again. It is important for Clinton and Obama to finish ahead of the other one in Iowa. As the Iowa caucuses approach, whoever is behind is likely to air ads attacking the other. There is a good chance Clinton and Obama will do exactly what Dean and Gephardt did and we will see yet another murder-suicide scenario.

So with Obama and Clinton mainly focusing on beating each other and seemingly willing to do whatever it takes to do so, there is an opening for other candidates to have big victories in Iowa.

Originally posted at Century of the Common Iowan. 

**Update**
It was brought to my attention that David Yepsen had a post yesterday that had basically the same connection to the Dean-Gephardt attack ads back in 2004.  I had not read his post nor had heard about before posting mine.  I got the idea from reading Joe Trippi's book, The Revolution Will Not be Televised about the Dean campaign last week.

 

KCCI/Research 2000 poll: Edwards, Clinton, Obama, Richardson

Judging from the low number of undecideds, they pushed leaners too hard, but for what it's worth, here is the latest KCCI Iowa poll conducted by Research 2000, conducted July 23-July 25:

Edwards 27

Clinton 22

Obama 16

Richardson 11

Biden 3

Kucinich 2

Dodd 2

Gravel 1 

Undecided 16

It's good news for Edwards that there was no “Bubba bump” for Hillary–on the contrary, she was down 6 points compared to the last Research 2000 Iowa poll in May. Not good news for Obama at all. But the movement is not far outside the 4 percent margin of error for this poll. I still believe that around half of Iowa Democrats are undecided.

On the Republican side:

Romney 25 

F. Thompson 14

Giuliani 13

McCain 10

Gingrich 6

Huckabee 2

T. Thompson 2

Tancredo 2

Brownback 2

Hunter 1

Paul 1

Undecided 22 

How depressed would you be if you were Tommy Thompson, Huckabee, Brownback or Tancredo? Clearly the GOP base is unhappy with the crop of frontrunners, yet these second-tier conservative candidates can't get any kind of traction, despite spending lots of time in Iowa.

I don't know what is going to happen on the GOP side. It looks like everyone is unelectable to me, but someone is going to emerge from the primaries. Please, let it be Gingrich! 

Who has the best and worst bumper stickers?

Over at MyDD, Todd Beeton put up a thread linking to a Newsweek story about the brand messaging of major presidential candidates, based on their bumper stickers.

Click the link to the Newsweek story and scroll down to see a designer's expert analysis. He liked Hillary's branding, thought Obama's design looked good, and considered Edwards' use of a green trail off a star “crazy and daring.”

I had to go look at my own bumper sticker; not being a visual person, I hadn't even noticed there was any green on the Edwards sticker.

On the Republican side, he thought McCain had the worst logo and didn't like the militaristic star. Rudy's logo looks like “a brick wall,” and Mitt Romney's sticker looks like it belongs to “someone who's not going to win.” 

I also encourage you to read the comments below Beeton's post, because several MyDD readers had interesting things to say. For instance, Hillary's bumper sticker is apparently too tall to fit on old-fashioned chrome bumpers–only would work on newer vehicles. 

Several commenters also agreed with me that while McCain's logo may not be great, Romney's is by far the worst. McCain at least has good branding if he wants to appeal to the veterans' vote, which is important in GOP primaries.

What do you think about these and other bumper stickers? Have you seen many lately? Driving around town, I've just seen a few Edwards and Obama stickers, plus one Hillary sticker and one for Ron Paul.

What did you think of the debate?

I wasn't able to watch because of the kids–will try to catch it later.

Who did well, who missed opportunities, who stole the show?

UPDATE: If you missed the debate, check out the great liveblog  over at Iowa Independent.

I haven't found all of the candidate-submitted videos in one place. I liked the Edwards “hair” video–the music and the visuals make it quite memorable.

Marshalltown Union Leader Arrested on Immigration Charges

Earlier this month, 4 more people from Swift and Co. were arrested on immigration charges, including Braulio Pereyra-Gabino, who is vice president of Local 1149 of the food and commercial workers union.

“This is the first time a union employee has been charged in an immigration case,” Cashen said. “We're concerned and we're anxious to get all the information to make sure he's not being held accountable for things that are not his responsibility. We don't hire. We're not required to check immigration status.”

The Des Moines Register had a special editorial yesterday on Pereyra-Gabino's arrest.

Union representatives or citizens have no duty to report someone they suspect isn't legally in the United States, according to immigration attorney Lori Chesser of Des Moines.

“Union officials typically do not hire workers, so they don't have the employer-employee relationship that requires them to ask, 'Are you legal or not?' ” Chesser said.

To the contrary, unions believe they are bound by law to represent all workers in the Marshalltown Swift plant.

“As elected representatives of the workers at Swift and elsewhere, we are legally responsible to represent those workers,” Cashen said. “We can't discriminate. We can't pass judgment on who we will or won't represent.”

It would be interesting to ask all of those presidential candidates that are visiting Iowa about this case.

After having 1,200 workers nationwide arrested on immigration charges last December, Swift and Co. has yet to be fined or charged with anything.

Originally posted at Century of the Common Iowan

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The Republican Party is in worse shape than I'd realized

My dad was a Rockefeller Republican. He was disappointed by the turn the party took in the 1980s and 1990s, and though he died before George W. Bush was selected president, I've always felt that he would have definitively made the break from the GOP during this decade.

At the same time, I've felt that the number of disenchanted Rockefeller Republicans (liberal on social issues and supportive of things like progressive taxation and the estate tax) is not big enough to cost the GOP much in the electoral arena.

Tonight I ran into a former colleague of my father's, whom I hadn't seen in a long time. It was an eye-opening conversation to me; the circle of Republicans who are disgusted by their party's standard-bearers is broader than I had realized.

More after the jump. 

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50-State Blog Network Weekly Roundup

Which bookstore will you be visiting at midnight tonight? Would you be surprised to learn that only one presidential candidate has played the Harry Potter card so far?

Either way, here are some updates from around the 50-State Blog Network, brought to you this week from Minnesota Campaign Report‘s Joe Bodell.

Alabama
Left in Alabama
A decidedly non-establishment challenger emerges in Alabama’s First congressional district. Ben Lodmell may be shaking things up a bit in Alabama Democratic Party circles.
Arizona
AZNetroots

A chilling future-imperfect scenario on terrorism. Ugh.
California
Calitics

Yet another contact will be testifying against John Doolittle(R-Roseville) in what can only be described as a ticking clock until his indictment.

Colorado
SquareState
Colorado’s congressional representatives fight back against President Bush’s threatened veto of SCHIP reauthorization. What’s SCHIP? “State Children’s Health Insurance Program”. Kick the kids while they’re down, right Mr. President?
Connecticut
My Left Nutmeg
Thank you Ed Koch, who helped give us six more years of Joementum…at least you’re being reasonable enough to admit that your support for continued American presence in Iraq was wrong-headed.
Delaware
Delaware Liberal
Delaware Liberal’s Jason Scott formally challenges Cong. Mike Castle (R-DE) to a debate on his Iraq policies.
Florida
FLA Politics
Christine Jennings, would-be Congresswoman but for 18,000 Diebolded undervotes in Sarasota County in 2006, is coming back for another run in 2008. Go Jennings!
Georgia
Tondee’s Tavern

State Senator John Douglas gets pulled over by a off-duty cop for erratic driving. After being let go with no ticket, Douglas threatens the city he will hold up grant funding opportunities and local legislation next session. Our favorite (R) punching bag.

Hawaii
Poinography!
Dueling op-eds from state legislators on veto overrides — an interesting read.
Idaho
43rd State Blues
That repeated whacking noise is 43rd State Blues’ shoe against Sen. Larry Craig’s noggin on oil, energy, Iraq, and…well, everything.
Illinois
PrairieStateBlue
Illinois activists are looking at Congressional seats in 2008. In IL-6, Operation : Turn DuPage Blue is gaining increased prominance after Tammy Duckworth opted not to challenge Peter Roskam for a second time. In IL-10, Dan Seals was named a “Future Leader” at YearlyKos, but don’t forget he has a primary challenger.
Indiana
Blue Indiana
Republican Governor + Trickle-down Reagan-style economics = bad economic markers for Indiana. Pretty simple, actually.
Iowa
Bleeding Heartland
I’ll have to work on getting Amy Klobuchar to guest-post on MNCR, but until then, I’ll be in awe of Bleeding Heartland and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin’s post on the recent all-night Iraq debate.
Louisiana
Daily Kingfish
Republican scion Bobby Jindal has retained a political consultant with a reputation for working on losing campaigns. Sort of. Read about it.
Maine
Turn Maine Blue
It’s from earlier in the week, but Sen. Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe together. Mainers — please, please, please remember that Sen. Collins hanging out and working with Joe Lieberman in no way makes her a bipartisan get-things-done sort of Senator. Quite the contrary. Also at Turn Maine Blue, Tom Allen is guestblogging in his effort to unseat Collins.
Maryland
Free State Politics
Free State Politics has encouraging news for progressives in potential replacements for departing DINO P.J. Hogan from his Maryland State Sen. seat
Massachusetts
BlueMassGroup
A historical note on liberty, government overreach, and a really enormous ball of cheese. Also, a look at fundraising in the 5th CD race, with some interesting developments therein.
Michigan
Michigan Liberal

I am shocked — SHOCKED!!! — to hear word of a Republican official seeking to suppress voter turnout and disenfranchise voters. If you can’t win with fair rules, just change the rules, right?

Congrats to Michigan Liberal’s founder, Matt Ferguson, on the birth of his brand new twins. Good luck Matt; you’ll need it.

Minnesota
Minnesota Campaign Report
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) can always be counted on for a good legal complaint against political actors who are being naughty. In this case, it’s the Republican Party of Minnesota getting slapped for playing fast and easy with their retirement fund contributions and other financial shenanigans.
Mississippi
Cottonmouth Blog
Cottonmouth Blog picks up on the NRA getting involved in the Lieutenant Governor’s race. “Effective grassroots organization”, huh?
Missouri
Fired Up! Missouri
A Republican Governor misusing state government for political ends? Oh get out! I mean….oh, forget it. Incredulity just doesn’t go far enough to cover the things these people think they can get away with.
Montana
Left in the West
The continuing shift toward strong protection of civil liberties and a hands-off governmental approach to social issues continues in Montana, courtesy of Matt Singer and Forward Montana. The media are starting to pay attention, too.
Nebraska
New Nebraska
Nebraska’s state government still finds itself beholden to the big Telecom companies, who staunchly refuse to build large-scale, affordable high-speed Internet access in the state — and they’re preventing the government from doing it instead.
Nevada
My Silver State
Welcome My Silver State aboard 50-State Cruise Lines! They have some coverage of presidential candidates’ exploits across the state:

Q2 Donations to Bill Richardson, staffing expenditures, and heavy web traffic for Barack Obama.

New Hampshire
Blue Hampshire
Republican Sen. John Sununu is in big trouble in 2008. Big. Trouble.
New Jersey
Blue Jersey
2006 was a bittersweet victory for many Democrats around the country. For as much good as Rahm Emanuel did as head of the DCCC, there were some cases where just a little bit of support could have given him even more victories (instead of tilting at windmills in Tammy Duckworth’s unsuccessful run). Hopefully this means there’s more progress to be made, and a bigger majority to be built, in 2008.
New Mexico
New Mexico FBIHOP

Heather Wilson and The Albany Project
Details on a campaign finance deal reached recently in Albany — and TAR says it’s pretty good.
New York
Daily Gotham
Great fundraising numbers coming out of NYC-area State Senate races
North Carolina
Blue NC
Is Sen. Liddy Dole about to break from President Bush on Iraq? If the people of North Carolina have anything to say about it, she might want to consider doing so.
North Dakota
North Decoder
Ouch — the Center for Public Integrity says for its laws regarding financial disclosures for its Governor.
Ohio
As Ohio Goes
As Ohio Goes keeps a close eye on the statements of Sen. Voinovich and just how serious he is about criticizing President Bush‘s conduct of the Iraq occupation.
Ohio
Buckeye State Blog
Buckeye State Blog provides first-hand coverage of John Edward’s vist to the poorest city in America (Edwards in Cleveland’s Mt. Pleasant). Also, read It’s With Sadness I Announce I’m Leaving BSB.
Oklahoma
blue oklahoma
Oklahoma has a new state poet laureate — read all about him. Very interesting stuff!
Oregon
Loaded Orygun
With a recent move to SoapBlox, Loaded Orygun is up and running, highlighting a DSCC poll showing House Speaker Jeff Merkley within six points of Sen. Gordon Smith. Smith is one of the “moderates,” along with Minnesota’s own Norm Coleman, who are going to be heavily targeted for removal in 2008.
Pennsylvania
Keystone Politics
Keystone Politics finds a bombshell in the midst of U.S. Attorney investigations in Penn.: “Wecht charges prompt inquiry”.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island’s Future
Mark Democrat Jack Reed down on the list of U.S. Senators who are going to be safe as can be in 2008. Here’s to hoping that if no serious Republican opposition appears, Senator Reed will contribute generously to Democratic challengers around the country to help build his caucus’s majority
South Dakota
Clean Cut Kid
Who do state officials work for? Themselves, or the people who elected them? Clean Cut Kid takes on Governor Mike Rounds on exactly that topic.
Tennessee
Knox Views
It’s apolitical, but ospreys are really, really, really cool birds, and this is a great shot of one with its catch. In more political events, Knox Views goes after Mitt Romney for his approach to sex education and child molesters.
Texas
Burnt Orange Report
In large states like Texas, where there are lots of colleges and universities, young voters actually can make a big difference in terms of elections, outreach, and activism. Details on YDA’s activities in Texas here.
Texas
Texas Kaos
Do Texas Republicans just not care about public education? Seems that way
Utah
Wasatch Watcher
A great photo gallery from a recent visit by Bill Richardson.
Vermont
Green Mountain Daily
Brattleboro, VT passes an ordinance banning public nudity from some areas of town. You really can’t make this stuff up: “Don’t people have a Constitutional right not to be offended?” … Ah yes, the ethereal and seldom-mentioned 0th Amendment, which read “The right not to be offended by anything, anytime, anywhere, anyhow, shall not be abridged. By naked people. Ever.”
Virginia
Raising Kaine
Raising Kaine highlight a one prominent flip-flop over the Virginia Transportation Plan in “Jeannemarie Then…and Now”.
Washington
WashBlog
State Rep Rodney Tom announces a run for U.S. Congress in the 8th district, where Darcy Burner lost a close race to Dave Reichert in 2006.
West Virginia
West Virginia Blue
West Virginia Blue notes that even as the West Virginia State GOP is facing an uphill battle (even Republicans don’t trust the WV GOP), incumbent Republican Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) is enjoying an “Incumbency protection racket: Capito shakes down carpenter’s union”
Wisconsin
Uppity Wisconsin
President Bush’s approval rating is 19% in Wisconsin, with 73% disapproval. That is not a good place to be, generally (cue theme to 1980s cartoon “Captain Obvious”).

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Blogosphere Day 2007: Support Act Blue and Democratic Infrastructure

Blogosphereday

Happy Blogosphere Day!

Blogosphere Day started three years ago today after Rep. Jim Greenwood announced that he would not be returning to Congress and the netroots started raising money for the Democratic candidate in PA-08, Ginny Schrader.  You can find Mr. Liberal’s recounting of the original post that started it all here on Daily Kos.

In 2005, the netroots rallied behind OH-02 candidate Paul Hackett as he competed in a special election.

In 2006, the netroots rallied behind Ned Lamont in the Connecticut Senate primary.  Lamont won the primary, but unfortunately lost the general election to Cryin’ Joe Lieberman.

All of the fundraising the netroots did was done online, via the Democratic fundraising clearinghouse known as Act Blue.

So, let’s help Act Blue!

While the previous candidates of choice for Blogosphere Day donations haven’t achieved lots of success, we’ve seen the liberal activist online rally behind causes and candidates in a way that hasn’t really ever been done online.  And Act Blue has been the focal point of that effort on the past three blogosphere days.  Today is our chance to support Act Blue and help them raise money to expand and improve their services, and as a way to say thank you for their years of support and work for Democratic candidates.

To get just an idea of what the netroots are doing on this blogosphere day in support of Act Blue, check out these posts:

Today is a day about supporting Democratic infrastructure and a way to build it through fundraising and organizing at the local, state, and national level.  In the past three years, ActBlue has sent $25 million to 1700 Democratic candidates, from over 200,000 contributors, and helped channel the rising tide of grassroots energy and commitment to retake Congress in 2006.

ActBlue is on the road to raising $100 million this election cycle. But that won’t happen if we wait to support their work.  It’s a 16-month journey to November 2008, and if we wait until we only have a year, or six months left left, we won’t reach our destination.  Please support ActBlue today.

Iowa’s Democratic infrastructure can be helped via fundraising on Act Blue as well and Common Iowan has already set up a page for Iowa bloggers as well.  Senator Tom Harkin’s campaign will be doing their fundraising online solely through Act Blue.  So, Act Blue is helping us.  Let’s help them.

As of 1:30 PM Central Time 169 contributors have given $8,715.  Let’s get it to 200 contributors and $10,000 by 3 PM.  We can do it with your help!

Saw my first Ron Paul yard sign today

It's ridiculously early for yard signs–I don't think any of the Democrats are handing them out yet. So I was surprised to see a “Ron Paul–Hope for America” yard sign today in a fairly Democratic neighborhood on the west side of Des Moines.

If you know Des Moines, the house is just off Polk Blvd, close to the Waveland Cafe. I don't know the precinct number, but if memory serves, this was an area where Kucinich was viable in 2004.

Anyone else seen any yard signs up yet?

Senate GOP Blocks Levin-Reed Amendment Vote

The final vote was 52 in favor of cloture and 47 opposed (Reid switched to “No” at the end so that he could bring a motion to reconsider at a later date–a procedural move).  Dems picked up one new Republican waverer in the form of Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.

Greg Sargent’s got the best write-up of the GOP blockage here.  As he says:

What this means in a nutshell is this: While a majority of the U.S. Senate favors withdrawal from Iraq, the Senate can’t vote on a measure that would accomplish this — because the GOP Senate leadership won’t allow it.

Repeat that line to everyone you know.  Senate Republicans are blocking a true change of course in Iraq.

And in response, Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid has pulled the Defense Authorization bill and it appears that he won’t bring it back to the floor until he can be guaranteed an up-or-down vote on the Levin-Reed Amendment and three others that will be offered (Warner-Lugar, Salazar ISG, and Landrieu).  Talk about playing hardball.

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New Richardson Ad Calls On Congress to "Stand Up"

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s campaign went on the air in Iowa with a new TV ad calling for an end to the war in Iraq and calling on Congress to “stand up” to President Bush.

As I type, the US Senate is currently voting on cloture for the Levin-Reed Amendment.  On this cloture petition, 18 Senators had signed their names.  Now a vote is taking place.  Bill Richardson  is right.

He’s calling for all US troops out of Iraq and he wants it done now.  It is a vigilant position and one that may even be politically dangerous for him to some degree, but it is the right one.  The American people want this war ended and Bill Richardson will do that.  He may not be the only candidate, but he’s the first to say it so bluntly and forcefully in an ad.

Up All Night

(Sen. Harkin gives us the low-down from the Capitol. Leave your comments and his campaign will try to get to them as soon as possible--if you haven't noticed, they're a bit busy up there. - promoted by Chris Woods)

Earlier tonight, I stood on the floor of the Senate to show my support for our men and women in uniform by trying to bring them home.

As you know, the Senate held a rare all-night session because Republicans are filibustering our efforts to get an up or down vote on re-deploying our troops out of Iraq.

It’s that simple.

In an extraordinary display of fealty to President Bush and his failed Iraq policy, Republicans are literally refusing to allow a vote on an amendment to bring home our soldiers and reduce the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

The American people deserve to know where every Senator stands on the most important issue facing Congress. We must not allow Republicans to block an up or down vote with procedural semantics.

I wanted to make sure my colleagues knew where Iowans stand on the issue. So earlier tonight, while on the floor, I read some letters that I have received from Iowans, including Iowa soldiers and their families.

I hope that this one sleepless night in the U.S. Senate will awaken Republicans to the reality that their loyalty belongs not to the President, but to the American people.

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Contact Senator Grassley and Tell Him to Allow a Vote on Levin-Reed!

The Democratic National Committee has put together an action page on their site asking for Democrats to help fight against Republican obstruction on a straight up-or-down vote on the Levin-Reed redeployment amendment.  Check it out here.  According to the DNC’s Internet Outreach guy, Kombiz Lavasany, the responses won’t only go out in email form but as a fax into Senate offices as well.

If you’re from Iowa make sure to go send a letter/fax to Sen. Grassley and ask him to stand with Sen. Harkin and move for a straight up-or-down vote on the Levin-Reed Amendment–and tell him to support it, too!

Caucus Reporting for the Big Blogs

Mike Lux posted this earlier over at Open Left:

If you are living in Iowa, please send me your thoughts and stories regarding the state of play as things move forward to

openleft at gmail dot com

I’d love to hear your on-the-ground perspective.

The caucus reports from those on the ground is going to be a new feature at Open Left and he’s looking for activists, writers, and anyone else to send him their thoughts.  That means you.  Drop him a line every once in a while, and tell him what you think its like on the ground here in Iowa.

And while you’re at, leave your thoughts in diaries here as well.  Bleeding Heartland only grows when you post your own thoughts, leave comments, and invite your friends to take part in our community.

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Let's Debate All Night Long

I haven’t decided if I plan on staying up all night long to watch the Senate debate on the Reed-Levin Amendment but if I do, I’ll be on the lookout for Tom Harkin.  As I reported this morning on Iowa Independent, Harkin is supporting Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid’s move to keep the Senate open all night to make the Republicans publicly display the filibuster they’re putting forward on the Reed-Levin legislation.

But I’m glad to see Senate Democrats standing up and truly playing hardball with obstructionist Republicans.  I value the filibuster–it is a worthwhile political tool in the Senate for the minority–but when threats of filibusters are used time and time again to stymie meaningful legislation (that could just as easily be (or will be) vetoed by President Bush) then it is time for Democrats to make sure that the American public get a chance to really see what Republicans are doing and saying.  Democrats never took the filibuster option this far on Iraq legislation or anything other that judicial nominations when we were the minority in the two most recent congressional sessions.  Maybe that’s because we were being naive or something, but we didn’t.  Clearly, we weren’t prepared for Republicans to do it us and now it is time that we respond in a way that proves our leadership.  We’re on the side of the American people and they should be allowed to see us fighting for them while Republicans protect the President, not the troops in Iraq.

Before we get too far into the debate (which is already happening currently on C-SPAN 2), let’s take a look at what exactly the Reed-Levin Amendment to the Defense Authorization bill does.  From Spencer Ackerman over at TPM Election Central:

How It Would Work: Again similar to a measure pushed by Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), the chairman of the armed services committee, in the spring. Joined by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) this time, the Levin amendment would start troop withdrawals from 120 days after passage, to be completed by April 1, 2008. In the interim, troops in Iraq would have their mission shift to training Iraq troops, fighting al-Qaeda, and protecting themselves from attack.

Likelihood of Passage: It’s not a certainty for inclusion as an amendment. Harry Reid successfully shepherded the measure’s predecessor through the supplemental, where it inevitably met President Bush’s veto pen. Both men will probably do the same thing again.

Political Purpose: The big enchilada: getting out of Iraq by a date certain. Many Senate Dems clearly think that the public has coalesced around withdrawal, and even in defeat, they’ll get the opportunity to distinguish themselves from Bush and the GOP going into 2008 while hanging the war around their opponent’s necks as an albatross.”

This is where Sen. Tom Harkin’s call for bloggers to put the Republican defectors feet to the fire on the issue of Iraq and to put the pressure on those who are abandoning the troops in Iraq to give President Bush political cover:

“Now more than ever we need the progressive blogosphere to do what they do best—to rally around those that support a change of course in  Iraq and to call out those who would rather follow the orders of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney than the voice of the American people.”

Democrats are prepared to debate all night with the Republicans who say they’re ready to filibuster.  Those of us activists and bloggers out there who support the Democrats, let’s make sure we show it.  As my colleague and friend Lynda Waddington reported, there will be a counter-filibuster sponsored by MoveOn and Iraq Summer here in Des Moines tonight; if you can make it, please do.

Oh, and I finally heard a Democrat use “up or down vote” language today on the floor of the Senate.  Thank you Majority Whip Dick Durbin.

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Is Clinton Genuinely Reaching Out To Bloggers On Iraq?

Earlier today Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign actively solicited bloggers to join in on a conference call hosted by their blogger, Peter Daou, in announcing a “special endorsement.”  The campaign didn’t release any more information about the endorsement and it was a pretty cryptic move, yet I still decided to join in on the call along with several other major bloggers from across the progressive blogosphere.

So, at 12:30 PM Central time I got on the call to find out that the special endorsement was coming from former Ambassador Joe Wilson, the husband of outed CIA operative Valerie Plame.  And by 12:53 PM I broke the news on Iowa Independent that Amb. Wilson had chosen to endorse Clinton.

Multiple blogs picked up the news and reported the news, as they should have because it was a substantial endorsement.  But the traditional or mainstream media didn’t pick up the story at all.

Greg Sargent of TPM’s Election Central posted these thoughts about the call:

“A few quick points about this. The Hillary campaign, which rolled out the Wilson news on a conference call with liberal bloggers, clearly hopes the Wilson endorsement serves at least the partial goal of winning over liberal activists and netroots types who might still be unhappy with Hillary for all the reasons you’ve heard repeatedly by now. Wilson carries great cache among such folks, who were energized by his speaking out against the administration and everything else that happened as a result of his protracted fight with the White House.”

Taylor Marsh wrote:

“The ’08 selection season is not over by a long shot and I am staying neutral in the primary. But the endorsement of Clinton by Joseph Wilson is a big step for her campaign. That Clinton offered the scoop to a group of bloggers shows just how far she’s come and how far she’s willing to engage a community, which on the whole is very critical of her on all fronts. She’s also accepted the invitation to YearlyKos, which I’m looking forward to very much. Clinton is illustrating her ability to engage on all fronts, even where she knows she’ll take heat. The strength of Clinton’s candidacy continues to expand.”

The campaign seemed like they were genuinely reaching out to the netroots constituency, giving them a big story, and were going to let them break the news.

However, the blogs didn’t get credit with breaking the news.  The Clinton campaign didn’t direct the traditional or mainstream media to blogposts about the endorsement and then elaborate and what was reported by citizen journalists.  Instead, they waited until later in the afternoon and put out a release from the campaign.  Their campaign didn’t even post the announcement on their blog until two hours after the conference call occurred and didn’t link to any other bloggers’ reactions (of which their was plenty).

The Des Moines Register first reported their story on the endorsement at 6:15 PM this evening, a full 5 hours after the news was broken at Iowa Independent, on their own blog.

Now, I admit, I’m probably a little pissy and being a bit selfish.  Both because I broke the story on Iowa Independent and because I’m a blogger who has been harsh on Clinton in the past.  Multiple other blogs around the country, even ones more than important than Bleeding Heartland, have been critical of Clinton (even unfairly so) so when I got today’s invitation to the call I was hopeful that it would be genuine interaction with a constituency or interest group that hadn’t been on her side for a long time.  Particularly on the issue of Iraq, she’s had to fight for respect on the blogs.

Other campaigns have been great about highlighting how the netroots help in breaking and spreading news about the campaigns, and even engage them like the traditional media (see Chris Dodd’s, John Edwards’ and Bill Richardson’s campaigns as an example).  Heck, Bill Richardson’s campaign sends out a weekly “Richardson Round-Up” in Iowa that highlights what the media–both traditional and new–have been saying about the candidate in the past week.

Instead, the Clinton campaign let the blogs break the news and then let it fester amongst themselves.  Then gave the traditional media a heads-up a few hours later and even let Wilson do some one-on-one interviews over the phone.

Maybe I’m just jealous.  But it sure seems like if you’re going to reach out, make it count and put some force into it.  Don’t do it half-assed.

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