Politico: Reid nixed Fox debate after being told his dKos polling was down
posted at 9:14 pm on March 12, 2007 by Allahpundit
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No one, John Edwards included, grovels to the fightin’ nutroots as heroically as Dirty Harry. He flies under the radar because he’s soft-spoken and genteel, two qualities not typically associated with them, but he was there at Yearly Kos, he was there on Election Day, and the last time they tried to intimidate someone into pushing their agenda, he was right there, too. The question is why. He doesn’t need their votes: he won his last race by 26 points and isn’t up for reelection until 2010, so he should give less than a shinola what his personal dKos approval rating is right now. Maybe he figures he can’t do much to make happen the things they really want to happen, like ending the war, so he figures he’ll throw them a bone periodically by helping out with some comparatively harmless, characteristically petulant pet cause. That keeps their small stream of fundraising dollars coming and gets them off the party’s back for awhile.
In which case, here’s baby getting its bottle.
In a 20-minute conference call, a group of bloggers told Reid an uprising was brewing over the decision by the Nevada State Democratic Party to partner with Fox for the August debate in Reno. Among the bloggers, some were national — Matt Stoller of MyDD, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of DailyKos — and some were local — Hugh Jackson of the Las Vegas Gleaner.
In the call, Reid explained that he had been focused on the Iraq war debate the past few weeks and didn’t seem to have closely followed the controversy over the Fox sponsorship. (When the debate was announced last month, Reid called it “great news for Nevada” and declared himself “happy.”)
Stoller said the bloggers told Reid that the issue was spoiling his popularity with the party’s Netroots: his DailyKos straw poll approval rating, they told him, had gone from the mid-80s to around 40 percent recently.
Reid backed off of his support of the debate, contending that he had had nothing to do with the decision, adding, “I don’t like Fox News.”
Another “top Democratic official” credits the nutroots with having played a “significant role” but insists the decision was about Fox’s attacks on Obama and (non-)threats against Edwards. Unlikely: Obama laughed off Ailes’s joke and, as Brit Hume conceded yesterday, Edwards is the one with all the leverage vis-a-vis Fox. Clearly this was done to appease the nutroots. But why? Ponder that while you digest our quote of the day:
MoveOn is now doing victory laps. “We hope that this sends a clear message to states like Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina and presidential contenders that Fox is a right-wing mouthpiece. We hope the result is that Fox is permanently chilled within Democratic circles from being considered a neutral news source worth legitimizing,” said MoveOn organizer Adam Green.
“Permanently chilled.” He chose those words knowing they’d end up in a news article.
I won’t quote anymore because I want you to read the whole thing, especially the part at the end about how the wstate Democrats were sandbagged on this. 21 of them signed a letter supporting the debate that was published on the state party website on March 8. Now it’s gone, disappeared down the memory hole with several letters from state party chair Tom Collins in a sort of coup de grace for this whole Orwellian caper. Here’s the Google cache version.
Exit question: Does Reid really care what these slackjaws think or is he just humoring them?
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Easy to make an argument he’s one of them.
Stephen M on March 12, 2007 at 9:23 PM
“Does Reid really care what these numbnuts think “
Since when can these dumbasses think? And to answer your question - yes Reid does. Im starting to believe that Kos has become one of the biggest powerbrokers in Democrat circles. When he tells them to jump, they jump.
) Kos wants Howard Dean as DNC chair. Dean gets the job.
2) Kos wants Lieberman chastised by the party. Democrats fall all over themselves attacking Lieberman.
3) Kos wants Fox News “permanently chilled ” and a Major political party turns down free and uncritical publicity for their candidates. I would be willing to bet that the democrats running for president do fewer and fewer interviews on Fox as the campaign heats up.
4) Kos wants an oily !@#$job from Edwards and…you know the rest.
p.s. Wheres Howard Dean been hiding?
amish on March 12, 2007 at 9:29 PM
Dittos.
Just because he talks nice doesn’t mean he is. Forget what he says, watch what he does. Watch what he does………
TwinkietheKid on March 12, 2007 at 9:31 PM
Pathetic is an apt description for Harry “I can’t find my Malkins” Reid. To say any more would be a waste of space and time.
hillbillyjim on March 12, 2007 at 9:51 PM
Ah hell, the Dems should just have their primaries online at this point.
reaganaut on March 12, 2007 at 9:55 PM
And these kooks are pushing a “fairness doctrine”. Bwahahahahahahahhahahahhaahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahaahahahahahahahahahaha.
SouthernGent on March 12, 2007 at 9:59 PM
Reid is a nasty nasty man. Cut throat partisan to the core.
roninacreage on March 12, 2007 at 10:08 PM
The Democratic Party is owned by the radical looney left and Reid is nothing more than a string puppet. The electorate must be educated on the danger these loones present to the Republic, its institutions and its heritage. This isn’t simple two party politics . . . it’s war.
rplat on March 12, 2007 at 10:12 PM
There’s some tolerance for ya!
On one hand I wouldn’t mind seeing a boycott of an ABCCBSNBCMSNBC debate but I realize that it’s self defeating. Why not just rush over to the Nevada Republican HQ and offer the debate to them? Sort of a Sin City version of a camp meeting…all day preachin and gamblin on the grounds.
Pilgrim on March 12, 2007 at 10:12 PM
Like it or not, the nutroots are the primary voters, so the democrats will cater to them.
lorien1973 on March 12, 2007 at 10:26 PM
Blackmail?
WisCon on March 12, 2007 at 10:35 PM
Their attempt to “chill” Fox is puerile. They will only hurt the party, but they don’t care, except when they wake up one fine morning, in early Nov. ‘08.
Cadavres don’t think.
Entelechy on March 13, 2007 at 12:15 AM
Correction - s/b Cadavres don’t care.
Entelechy on March 13, 2007 at 12:16 AM
Third option, he’s an IDIOT? (with dusty farts)
I will choose “IDIOT”! (with dusty farts)
PinkyBigglesworth on March 13, 2007 at 12:33 AM
1) the “obama” joke was in fact a “bush is stupid” joke.
2) the comments under the politico piece… sheesh!
jummy on March 13, 2007 at 12:36 AM
It is really pathetic. I wish he was running for reelection in 2008.
Ouabam on March 13, 2007 at 1:03 AM
Frankly, sometimes I have trouble wrapping my brain around the idea that anybody gives a rat’s ass about what a maggot like Kos thinks. But it gives you some idea of the caliber of the followers who–like Dingy Harry–mindlessly swallow his every drooling utterance.
ReubenJCogburn on March 13, 2007 at 1:25 AM
Whore or pimp for the moonbats?
Is Harry both ??
Janos Hunyadi on March 13, 2007 at 1:33 AM
I want to know when this liberal Democratic BRIBE-TAKING pig is going to be on TV being frogmarched into federal court for his corrupt deals.
As for KOS, gaze upon America’s BROWNSHIRTS and know that this is ultimately going to end up as a revolution in the streets as they go for control of the country before too much longer.
These neo-fascists have taken over the Democratic Party and this is the proof.
georgej on March 13, 2007 at 2:51 AM
This is common among conservatives. We think about what we believe and have to try really, really, really, hard to switch into a braindead emotional hate filled view of life when we see that kind of behavior from the moonbats.
Rational people question what they see, hear, and read. You’re doing fine Rueben. :-)
csdeven on March 13, 2007 at 7:01 AM
Bottom line…if the Dems are stupid enough not to involve Fox in their ‘08 campaign, they loose. Does anyone REALLY listen to anything that Dirty Harry has to say? This whole event just gives Fox the green light to ONLY highlight Republican candidates….and this is long overdue.
lynnv on March 13, 2007 at 8:09 AM
The more the liberal bastards hate Fox News, the more I know Fox is doing what’s right.
I welcome the uproar.
JackM on March 13, 2007 at 8:17 AM
What a bone-headed thing to do. Really, if you can’t handle Brett Hume, how do you expect people to believe you can handle terrorists. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
honora on March 13, 2007 at 8:32 AM
Why, I do believe the village idiot is starting to come around.
seejanemom on March 13, 2007 at 9:02 AM
Listen you sanctimoniuos little fool, a village idiot is one who holds that all merit and all goodness resides on one side of the aisle. Sound familiar? And if you are going to insult me, have the guts to do it directly.
honora on March 13, 2007 at 9:04 AM
The democrats cannot handle terrorists.
Everyone knows that.
JackM on March 13, 2007 at 9:27 AM
For the Dems, their only true core value is “government is the answer.” So, when an issue arises that doesn’t address that directly, and there’s a puff of wind strong enough to snap the windsock up a notch or two, that’s the position they’ll take that day. So in terms of “Does Reid really care what these slackjaws think…” - the slackjaws have a huge wind machine that keeps the sock fluttering in their desired direction. So, I guess that’s “caring”.
And why isn’t that just “paying attention to your constituents”? Because an attack by FireDogKosMyDD is an online version of a march with lots of pink signs, die-ins, noisemakers and giant puppets. It makes a big display, but with the Dem leadership lack of a core, they can’t tell flash from any substance which may or may not be behind it.
eeyore on March 13, 2007 at 9:54 AM
“Permanently chilled?” Isn’t that what Republicans do to free speech every time they point out that libs’ position on the War on Terror is indistinguishable from Al Qaeda’s?
I’m so unpatriotic.
Enrique on March 13, 2007 at 11:09 AM
That’s known as the truth.
JackM on March 13, 2007 at 11:32 AM
Actually that’s a twofer, because it also counts as questioning their nonexistent (well, at least for our country) patriotism. So you get a lot of bang for your buck there. Screw “Global Warming”, the really inconvenient truths are the ones that are honest representations of liberal positions.
ReubenJCogburn on March 13, 2007 at 11:39 AM
And that’s what I call hitting the nail on the head (maybe a troll too)
KelliD on March 13, 2007 at 12:14 PM
The netroots are going to go ballistic when the ‘race to the center’ happens in a year. All of the pandering that was done to/for them is going to be for not.
By the way Honora (and other left-leaning commenters), the same will hold true for ‘values voters’ like me. All of these candidates that are wooing the evangelical vote now will soften their stance in a year as they try to capture the ‘undecideds’.
Matticus Finch on March 13, 2007 at 12:28 PM
God, I love that pic of Harry. What a sour-puss.
What was that line from the Robin Williams movie? Oh yeah:
“The man in most desperate need of a blow job in the history of western civilization.”
mojo on March 13, 2007 at 12:33 PM
I immediately thought that the MoveOn crowd does not want the rank and file Dems who are not avid news consumers, those who are registered “D” but only vote in major elections, to listen to Brit Hume phrase reasonable questions. Rank and file Dems who don’t think patriotism is a euphemism for oppresion might find they liked Brit and Fox News. Heavens! Can’t be having that.
Taleena on March 13, 2007 at 12:39 PM
Reid knows that bowing to the power of Kos is the path to victory. Just ask…hey, who was that guy running against Lieberman again??
the wolf on March 13, 2007 at 1:35 PM
Won’t happen georgej - they know how short it w/b and who’d win it…they can only wield the pen & phone, from a safe and airconditioned basement. Real world…nah…
Entelechy on March 13, 2007 at 2:13 PM
The foolish power mongering Democrats have joined the camp of the unhinged lunatic fringe and now they lack the guts and good sense to break loose. If they continue in this direction they will ultimately disintegrate as a viable political force.
rplat on March 13, 2007 at 3:11 PM
Harry is a butt boy for nutz.
Wade on March 13, 2007 at 5:59 PM
I can’t believe how brilliant these guys are. They think they’re hurting Fox by chilling it in Democratic circles? That’s like saying we’ve chilled the Eskimos on the idea of using air conditioners. This Fox deal was supposed to help the Democrats get access to a demographic that might be helpful to their prospects in the elections. Boy Kossaks, you sure showed . . .er, somebody.
smellthecoffee on March 13, 2007 at 11:08 PM
On O’Reilly’s Viewer Mail tonight there was a letter from a guy in Reno, alleging that Reid cost the Reno area several million dollars in tourism by cancelling the FOX debate. Granted, that figure is just hearsay, but obviously there’s going to be a significant monetary loss. Way to look out for the people who elected you, Dingy.
ReubenJCogburn on March 14, 2007 at 1:07 AM
I don’t think seejanemom can be any more direct than that. You can dish it out, but can’t take it. Not a surprise.
We want to make sure you don’t continue your path to the conservative side. You are the type we want on the other side of the aisle, not on our side. You just don’t get it.
You see, the people you hold up as your leaders, can’t lead. Backing out of this local dabate pretty much tells the story of how the Democratic party decides important issues.
right2bright on March 14, 2007 at 8:35 AM
The conservatives have already “softened”, look at the Rudy polls. Two years ago that would not have happened. Abortion, a major issue, is now moved to a “state” and not a federal issue, gays, who have always been accepted by the majority of conservatives, is one bastion that the MSM and libs are trying to wedge. The only real issue is the Black vote, the leftist are doing everything possible (except helping or educating) to keep the blacks in line…keep them on the plantation. Telling them the conservative way of hard work and education is wrong and bigoted. Ignoring that the first major appointments of minorities to power was from a Republican president, because he has faith in their abilities.
right2bright on March 14, 2007 at 8:46 AM