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Lynn R. Mitchell - body
- Interesting thoughts, Shaun ... I linked.
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007WaPo: Do Liberal Bloggers Help or Hurt Dems in 2008?Depends on which bloggers we're talking about, and whether Forgit's race in VA-01 are tea leaves worth reading. The bottom line on VA-01 is this: That the DCCC did not play in Virginia's 1st District was a personal embarrassment to Virginia Democrats -- and yes, it demonstrated a lack of confidence in Democratic momentum. It gets worse if you consider the DCCC lost both Ohio (where they did play) and Virginia. That's not a momentum that has merely been slowed. That's a momentum that has been checked. Against the glass. Hard. It gets worse. For all the chest-thumping of the Virginia leftosphere, the WaPo's Tim Craig dwells upon the liberal blogger's effect on the Democrats chances in 2008 and comes to a pretty clear conclusion: Liberal bloggers may have helped Webb win the Democratic nomination for Senate last year, but they have yet to prove they can help a Virginia candidate win a general election in a district in which a majority of voters are more used to voting Republican.In other words, the liberal bloggers can show no forced fumbles. Sure they can point to where candidates came close, but they can't point to a single race where -- on their own efforts -- they knocked a candidate loose. On the other hand, conservative bloggers -- specifically the Old Dominion Bloggers Alliance -- can point to at least one pickup in 2007: the Ferguson/Poindexter race. Republican bloggers forcibly stripped away what was considered a relatively safe Democratic seat by refusing to allow a despicable act from Ferguson's campaign manager (or as the Roanoke Times reports, "political prankster") to go unnoticed, and the electorate responded to the low shot. Whether or not candidates for the 2008 race are going to be able (or willing) to embrace a Virginia leftosphere whose leading lights arguably aren't well respected -- by either the media or party activists -- is another call, one that will have to be answered by Democratic challengers such as Judy Feder and Leslie Byrne as the campaign season picks up steam. What Poindexter's win accomplished for bloggers is that it defined a boundary, albeit a very low one, which political bloggers may not cross. Unfortunately for politics in general, that set ethical bar is awfully low, and it hurts the respectability of our medium in the long run. We're not tabloids yet... but boy are we dangerously close to earning that reputation... As the Virginia blogosphere continues to mature, hopefully it will rise to what all sides (both Democratic and Republican bloggers) originally envisioned where Sorenson Institute meetings, genuine debate, and informative perspective still dreamed to enhance rather than degrade the political process. Virginia's public square should be worth defending. I'm for it. Anyone with me?
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JEFFERSONIAD POLL: Whom do you support for Virginia Attorney General?1) John Brownlee2) Ken Cuccinelli AboutShaunKenney.com is one of Virginia's oldest political blogs, focusing on the role of religion and politics in public life. Shaun Kenney, 30, lives in Fluvanna County, Virginia.ContactThe Jeffersoniad
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