cross-posted at skippy as well as a literal cornucopia of other community blogs.
via atrios, the washpost has hired (as in, paying money to) ben domenech, former bush appointee and red state cofounder, to write their “red america” blog. tom edsall, in the post politics hour, suggests that you write jim brady if you want to suggest they hire someone to write a liberal blog.
more, including the mistake domenech makes on day one, after the jump.
while researching this post, we accidentally read the blog red america, and already found a factual error.
(we graciously ignored remarks like “smart democrats read this kind of rhetoric [‘crashing the gates’ by markos and jerome] and recognize that if they continue to be the party of howard dean, the floor may be nonexistent.” we try to rise above pointing out obviously mean-spirited oratory.)
we stumbled upon this “fact” about that same book:
an odd publication when one considers that dkos endorsed candidates are 0-19 in elections.
excuse us for remembering so correctly, but dkos endorsed, supported, and stood behind current office holder rep. stephanie herseth in south dakota.
so apparently ben domenech is 0-1 in his representation of reality.
you might want to mention that obvious mistake in your letter to jim brady.
disgust among yourselves.
Ben Chandler, of Kentucky’s Sixth District. Kos began encouraging people to donate to Chandler’s campaign at least three weeks prior to the special election in Feb. 2004 and posted a good half-dozen front-page stories during the run-up to the election.
And much like Herseth, Chandler is hardly anyone’s idea of a wild-eyed liberal.
We’re probably better off if the radical right thinks we’re all crazy – they won’t take us seriously until it’s too late that way. Look at the way we once blew off Rush Limbaugh as a crackpot that would never go anywhere – let them “misunderestimate” us until it’s too late, I say…
Yeah, kos DEFINTELY has a future as a Democratic campaign consultant and adviser.
2-17….
Yeah.
Right.
If that was a pitcher’s won-lost record, I’d be questioning why that guy was still in the starting rotation. Just sayin.’
…those races. These weren’t slam-dunks. They were districts everyone knew would be tough, districts the national Democratic Party had essentially surrendered. Supporting Dems in those districts with blog-raised money was dicey from the beginning.
actually, if you think that two winners out of 19 contests make it 2-17 instead of 0-19, i’d be looking for a different statistician. just sayin’…
snark aside, see my response to stormkite above.
other bloggers elsewhere have also reminded me of ken salazar in colorado, barack obama in illinois, and gov. tim kaine in virginia.
but secondly, and most importantly, the so-called losers that kos has endorsed started out as longshots that few people had heard of, and wound up as close seconds, which was kos’ original intention (backing longshots, making the repubbbs spend money where they weren’t actually expecting to.
this is the exact mistake (and or straw man, however you want to call it) that dommie darko makes…it wasn’t a win/loss column to start with, it was an “influence in local politics” social experiment that kos set out to create…
If so, that might well make him more competent as a tactician that I gave him credit for; my experience with dKos was such that I probably do sell him/them short.
I’m not sure making sure losses into “close” defeats accomplishes anything under the current regime, but that’s in the realm of strategy, not tactics, and not really to the point here. As to whether it’s a good use of resources, I guess in twenty or thirty years we can look back and discuss it. Until then…
it’s not a short-term strategy.
‘cuz, if it is, your original point is well-taken.