Regarding Ben's questions:
1. "Will candidates who get the endorsement use it in outreach to the average voter?"
I don't know, and it's totally up to them. Having said that, I would note that Henry Light has the RK endorsement logo on the front page of his campaign website. As does Morris Meyer. I would also point out that most candidates, with the glaring exception of Johnny Joannou, who apparently doesn't even use e-mail (!), have been actively reaching out to the RK community and to the Democratic blogosphere in general. Also, they have been contacting their supporters and urging them to come make their case on RK. We'll see what happens in the general election, but so far, candidates seem interested in the RK endorsement and are widely sharing it from voters.
2. "What will voters think when they see 'Raising Kaine PAC' has endorsed a candidate? Will they assume that means Tim Kaine has endorsed?"
That's a good question, and I frankly don't know. Raising Kaine has been around for 2 1/2 years now, and I would think that most people who read blogs, or at least are familiar with them, know that it's an independent blog. During the Kaine Kilgore, Webb-Miller and Webb-Allen campaigns, we had remarkably little confusion on this subject. So, you never know, but I'm not too worried about this.
3. "Assuming voters think that (and it would be easy for someone who doesn't read blogs to assume to Raising Kaine PAC is affiliated with Kaine) how will it impact the primaries?"
To the extent that there is confusion among voters - and as I said above, I think that will be minimal - I would think that an association with anything related to Tim Kaine would be helpful to the candidate in question. But I'd say this is all very marginal, given how few voters appear to be confused about "Raising Kaine" vs. Tim Kaine.
4. If voters do start to think that, will the opposition do a negative mail piece on Raising Kaine PAC to say it is NOT affiliated with Tim Kaine? If they don't, what else can they do with voters assuming that Kaine endorsed their opponent?"
I'll be surprised if anything like this happens. Frankly, I think it would be a complete waste of money. Note that the Kilgore, Miller and Allen campaigns never did that.
5. "What will Tim Kaine say?"
I haven't heard of the Governor endorsing anyone in a Democratic primary. I would presume if there were any confusion as to that point, he might issue some sort of statement emphasizing that he would be campaigning heavily for the Democratic nominees come June 13, but until then, he's very busy being Governor of Virginia.
Finally, let me address a few other comments. First, that "[n]obody will care outside of the general blogging community." That could be the case, but the fact is that most politicians DO care about the blogging community. Go to Daily Kos, NLS, or a Republican equivalent, and you'll see a constant stream of candidates coming on there - or to Blog Talk Radio - to state their case directly to the blogs' readers. Does anyone care outside the "general blogging community." Well, ask Senators Miller and Allen about that. Also, ask the politicians who keep coming on the blogs, both right and left, why they're doing it.
Second, "Can candidates demand that they not be included in future RK polls or posts because they don't like the way the polls are conducted?" Nobody has demanded that yet and I haven't heard any complaints from candidates about the way our endorsement process is conducted. If they don't want to participate in our polls or other activities, that's totally their choice of course. Raising Kaine will continue to discuss what it wants to discuss, and consider endorsing (or not) in various races. Candidates can use that however they see fit.
Third, one of the silliest, most off-base comments I see at NLS comes from "novamiddleman," who certainly is NOT in the "middle" politically based on his strongly pro-Republican writings. The comment is that "everyone knows Raising Kaine is a far-left group." That's wrong on two levels. First, as we've stated only about a zillion times, Raising Kaine is a diverse group and community blog, basically with a strong pro-Democratic and pro-progressive (as in Teddy Roosevelt/RFK/Webb progressive). I'd describe most RK "front pagers" as mainstream Democrats, the vast majority of whom are huge Jim Webb fans politically. We have not endorsed any 2008 Presidential candidate so far, but I don't see any support for Dennis Kucinich or Mike Gravel. Quite the contrary, what I'm seeing is support for several of the leading candidates, combined with a strong desire that Democrats win the White House in 2008 no matter what.
More broadly, I'd say that the charge of "far left" is an attempt to marginalize Raising Kaine to the fringes. Why would someone do that, distorting everything that we are and all that we stand for in that way? Obviously, you'd have to ask them, but all I see in that is fear and anxiety, nothing more. It's certainly not based in fact, unless you consider a bunch of people who believe in responsible, non-corrupt government that "gets things done" for ALL Americans to be "far left." And unless you consider a bunch of people who are sick of the Iraq War - as are the vast majority of Americans, not to mention Republicans like Tom Davis (ha) - to be "far left." Or, perhaps "novamiddleman" considers being pro-environment to be "far left." I wonder if he thinks that Christians and other religious people who believe in "protecting God's creation" are "far left" as well.
The bottom line is that this is just silliness, if it isn't simply maliciousness (I vote for a combination of the two). Raising Kaine has not ever been far left and will never be far left. We will always fight for our Teddy Roosevelt/RFK/Jim Webb progressive values. Just as those on the right will fight for the rich and powerful, for ExxonMobil over the enviroment, for taking peoples' rights and civil liberties away from them, for running up huge deficits, for staying "addicted" to oil, for harming our military, and for endless war in Iraq. Great stuff, huh?
Finally, by our old friend "I.Publius" comes this gem: "what will RK say when their left-wing candidates of choice run like hell to the middle after the primary?" More silliness. Obviously, we want our candidates to win. We endorsed people like Donald McEachin, Henry Light and Morris Meyer because we think that they are great candidates who will do a fantastic job in Richmond starting in January 2009. We certainly do not believe that any of these canddidates are "left wing" any more than other Democrats are "left wing" (unless, of course, I.Publius is arguing that the entire Democratic Party is "left wing" in some bad way, just as "right wing" would be a bad thing applied to Republicans). The fact is that, broadly speaking, we have two major political parties in America, one right-wing or even FAR right wing (e.g, the Pat Robertson/Jerry Falwell Republicans), the other centrist and POSSIBLY center-left in some cases. Frankly, I would argue that America does not even HAVE a major "left wing" party, such as the Socialists in France or even the Social Democrats in many other countries. If anything, the criticism of Democrats in recent years has been that they are too ties to corporate interests, which is perhaps why Jim Webb's economic populism has touched such a chord with the American people and the voters of Virginia.
As far as our endorsed candidats are concerned, I would argue that Donald McEachin's voting record, is very moderate, even a bit conservative. Don't believe me, check out Project Vote Smart. Henry Light will bring honest representation by a real Democrat - as opposed to one who is totally in the pocket of House Republican leadership - back to his district. Finally, Morris Meyer will fight to save the Chesapeake Bay Virginians and for the 99% of Virginians who "work hard and play by the rules" when he gets to the House of Delegates. All of these candidates will work with Tim Kaine to "get things done." Whethr that's "left wing" or "moderate" or whatever, I'm proud to say we at RK support it!
Alaska. Red. Decades of corruption. Rape. Earmarks. Bribery. Oil spills. Pork. Series of tubes. Bridges to nowhere. Nepotism.
Defend that shit, red world.
Meanwhile, here in Virginia, the last Republican governor, Jim Gimore, was an unmitigated disaster. The right-wing Republicans in the House of Delegates spend more time on bashing gays, women and minorities than on fixing transportation, the environment, education or health care in Virginia. No wonder why they keep losing seats in the General Assembly, no wonder why they're about to lose several more this November, and no wonder why we've had two straight Democratic governors, plus a new Democratic Senator. If I were still a Republican, I'd be flailing around at this point as well...desperate and lost.
Why is it so hard for some people to see that they made a mistake? Is their self-esteem that low?
I just happened to read Mark Twain's "Corn-pone Opinions" essay recently for the first time, and I think he had human nature pegged pretty well.
"I am persuaded that a coldly-thought-out and independent verdict upon a fashion in clothes, or manners, or literature, or politics, or religion, or any other matter that is projected into the field of our notice and interest, is a most rare thing -- if it has indeed ever existed."
It's reprinted on the web here:
http://www.paulgraha...
On the other hand, I agree with a refrain that Bill Clinton always liked to say, that if they get the information and the time, "the people will figure it out." Here's an example:
"So, you know, this may sound naïve to all of you, but I can tell you, you know, I've ordered people into battle, I've dropped bombs, I've done all those things that you're supposed to do in the real world, usually to good effect. I'm proud of what we did in Bosnia and Kosovo. And I wish I had been successful in my efforts to get Mr. Bin Laden earlier. But in the end, in the end, what's going to determine the shape of the 21 st century, is whether we have an ethic that says, 'I think we like our differences. We like who we are. We like the color of our skin, the way we pursue our faith, we like what's about us that's different. We like our little boxes, we all have to have them to navigate reality.' You laughed when I said Cal and Stanford. You gave me a good reception because I was a Stanford parent, right? It gives you a way to organize things. But the older you get, somebody's a scientist, another person's an economist; somebody's a Democrat, somebody else is a Repub lican; somebody's Asian, somebody else is something else. But in the end, most people figure out that these boxes with which we navigate reality, as important as they are, are not as important as our common humanity. And if we don't figure it out, then a whole lot of experience is denied us, and a whole lot of wisdom never comes into our spirits."
Before I start, I have two items. First, Lowell, you mistyped -- "the usual right-wing suspsects" -- is that paying homage to the right-wing's spelling abilities?
Second, hot news item on Fark -- Laura Bush skipped her college graduation and recently investigated to see who the speaker was -- George 41! http://www.star-tele...
I think, like a lot of people on here, we are for change in those parts of our political system we don't see as working well. Here are some things I believe in that are sometimes espoused by the right:
Abolish the federal Dept. of Education: Maybe not abolish it, but eliminate programs that just collect our federal tax dollars and send them back to the states in the form of not-always-desired programs. I'd reduce our federal tax burden by that amount proportionately. If states want to reinstate the federal programs, they can -- on their own citizens' tabs. I've been hearing educators for years saying they doubted the efficacy of various federal programs but participated because it was "free" money.
Simplify the tax code. I would not go to a flat tax, like conservatives want, but a "progressive" tax rate. But I'd eliminate all those policy making and politically motivated deductions. Basically, the EZ form would be the only one. For my other comments on the tax code, see tomorrow's Washington Post.
Keep government out of the bedroom: This should be a plank of the conservatives, and many actually do believe in it. But the religious right got its claws into the GOP . . .what's the world coming to when you can't sell a vibrator in Alabama?
Free trade: I'm a Bill Clinton type on trade, sorry. Most Republicans who are being honest will say Clinton's trade policy was just fine.
Lower the deficit: that USED to be the conservative position. I have no idea what it is now.
Only in la-la land, could RK be considered "lefty", never mind "far-left"...
For some crazy reason I thought people would actually like learning and debating. I guess I was wrong.
I will close on this.
Remember that neither party really gets it. You can call me a tool of the right but yall are tools of the left.
I hope and pray that yall never rule the world because Al-Qaeda would love it if you were in charge.
For those of you who actually claim independence look at the last set of posts.
Taking one quote out of context and posting on it.
Trumpting Virginia Partisans and Virginia Now (Two of the most partisan and extreme groups of the far left).
Always endorsing the candidate that is the most liberal
Yeah Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Jim Webb love the progressives for the money and volunteers.
Warner is smart enough to not fully endorse this. Kaine and (I say this with a very heavy heart) Webb are tools of the far left.
Look at the top "Latest News" item on the DOJ website:
Prepared Remarks of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales at the House Judicary Oversight HearingMay 10, 2007