Calling out Kos and Jonathan Singer: Why?
Matt Gunterman November 20th, 2007
So the new Survey USA numbers come out today showing that McConnell’s approval is tanking, and several national bloggers pick up on what should be a purely happy and schadenfreude-filled story for all parties concerned with the effort to banish Mitch McConnell (R) from the halls of congress.
Unfortunately, many of those big-name bloggers took the good news and managed to alienate needlessly a significant portion of the grassroots in Kentucky with it. Of particular note are Kos of DailyKos and Jonathan Singer of MyDD who ended their posts on the matter with nearly identical lines. To quote Singer, “If you want to help turn up the heat on McConnell, head over to DraftCrit.com — which is seeking to get Democratic state Auditor Crit Luallen to run for the Senate — to get involved.”
Now, everybody here knows that Crit Luallen (D) isn’t the only Democrat considering a run against Mitch McConnell. Attorney General Greg Stumbo (D) and Lt. Col. Andrew Horne (D) are actively doing so, as well. Everybody knows that; it’s been talked about for months now.
And since everybody knows that, that’s what makes the singular focus of Kos and Singer on the draft Luallen movement (which is by no means a bottom-up, grassroots effort; it’s entirely driven by the Kentucky Democratic establishment) a blatant dissing of Stumbo, Horne, and their respective supporters.
DitchMitchKY as a blog has remained neutral among these various Democrats, while pretty much every other major blog has picked its pony. Only nice things have been said about the serious potential candidates here, from Charlie Owen (D), to Stumbo, Horne, and Luallen. No matter who the eventual Democratic nominee is against McConnell, this blog will enthusiastically support him or her. Our mission here is simply to ditch Mitch.
I have my own opinions about which candidate might be best at making that goal a reality, and I have my own opinions about the individual strengths and weaknesses of the potential candidates. I’m keeping those to myself, however, and we are using this platform to inform and edify the people who find their way here.
And, you know what? This nation and its progressives will rally around whichever Democrat is the eventual nominee. That’s a fact. So, Kos, Singer, and the like achieve absolutely nothing positive in thumbing their digital noses at Stumbo and Horne supporters. This race is for Kentucky Democrats to decide. The one thing they did achieve (along with whoever is encouraging them to focus solely on Luallen at this stage) is to tick off a lot — and I mean a lot — of Kentucky progressive activists.
No-one’s saying that honest discussion and handicapping of the candidates isn’t appropriate, but to ignore that the other candidates are in the race is simple arrogance. All supporters of the other candidates are asking is for a little respect for the Democratic process and for their candidates.
And by offering only implicit disrespect, these national bloggers are doing the budding Kentucky progressive movement no good.
UPDATE(Wed. 1:00pm ET): I retract my use of the word “entirely” above when speaking of Crit Luallen’s draft movement being a Kentucky Democratic establishment phenomenon. That’s simply not the case. I should have written “significantly”.
- 2008 KY U.S. Senate Race , Andrew Horne , Charlie Owen , Crit Luallen , Greg Stumbo
- Comments(36)
It all started with Mark Nickolas and Jonathan Miller.
Nickolas has long been a friend of Markos Moulitsas and is providing free advertising for Draft Crit.
Mark Nickolas is a mercenary blogger. He’s not from Kentucky. He doesn’t live in Kentucky.
This was a poor move by the Chandler/Miller/Meyer/&Co. cabal and Schumer. Lord only knows who’s really behind it, but we do know that Nickolas smells money, or he wouldn’t still be around.
Remember how he told Mark Herbert that he was going to keep Rocky Mountain Report going along with the resurrected Bluegrass Report? That didn’t happen, did it?
Remember how he was going to raise 1/3 of his $15,000 paycheck for the months he was covering the gubernatorial election? Didn’t ever hear much mention of that again, did you? Why? I’m sure it was a failure.
Remember the false-start Draft George Clooney campaign that Nickolas launched seemingly from his ass?
Until today, I figured that Nickolas’ kissing up to Luallen was just that: him kissing up to get a job. But with Daily Kos and MyDD joining in on the fun, I’m pretty sure it’s a deeper scheme.
The conservative blogs in Kentucky will have a ball with this one: Crit Luallen is the chosen candidate for crazy left-wing blogger Kos!
Speaking of the right wing blogs, try finding the name Lt.Col. Horne its not there. I think he scares the s**t out of them.
I just noticed that the KOS and MYDD posts look like they just pulled graphics from M Nichlos. If Nicholas is against Horne what changed his mind from his April post - “Calling Andrew Horne” that encouraged the Colonel to run against Mitch?
http://www.bluegrassreport.org/bluegrass_politics/2007/04/2008_senate_cal.html
One more nail in the coffin of Mark Nickolas’ blogging career in Kentucky!
What in the f*ck is Chuck Schumer thinking?
Kentuckians and Americans are FED UP with the status quo, and that includes establishment Democrats and Republicans.
AND HERE HE IS COMING INTO KENTUCKY TRYING TO PLAY KING MAKER!!!
And the national lefty bloggers are dancing to his tune because he takes them seriously!
WELL, I DON’T TAKE THEM SERIOUSLY, AND I HAVE SOMETHING THEY DON’T!
I GET TO VOTE IN KENTUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The way the Jonathan Miller Mafia, which has Mark Nickolas as it’s hired hitman, is treating Greg Stumbo and Andrew Horne really angers me. Greg Stumbo did more than any other Democrat in this state to get a Democrat back in the governor’s mansion. Andrew Horne served his country in uniform.
These two men HAVE EARNED the right to run in this race if they want.
When I saw Jonathan Miller on the campaign trail he was usually just peddling that book of his that’s filled with all sorts of stuff that should be commonsense and a bunch of platitudes.
Way to help the cause there, Jonathan!
I think it’s important to remember that a few other blogs have also picked their candidates…Both Bluegrassroots and PageOne have pretty clear affiliations. Let’s make sure to call everyone out evenly and be a little more fair.
Also, if you recall, the voters of Kentucky have twice voted for Luallen - the voters of Kentucky have never chosen Horne. Don’t call Schumer out on being a ‘king-maker’ if it’s not true.
Crit has run two of the most un-energetic campaigns I can remember. So what. She got elected auditor. Are you telling me that most people who voted for Crit voted for her or voted for her because she was the Democrat? Most people in Kentucky probably can’t tell you what office she has, and most people probably can’t tell you who the auditor is.
Crit has about as much energy as Fred Thompson.
Thanks for this. I made sure I put a link and a good word into the comments of both of those posts for my chosen candidate, Greg Stumbo. I think Stumbo is by far our best choice to run against McConnell, but will support our nominee.
with all of mitch money he will use every dirty trick in the neocons book.it will take a good campaign to beat mitch someone who can play the same game
Talk about sour grapes! I happen to know the young woman who started draftcrit, and to say that she’s in cahoots with Jonathan Miller and Mark Nicholas is ludicrous. In fact, she called ME about setting the site up, and trust me, I am a nobody in the Democratic party establishment. She’s just done a better job than you have at enlisting support. I had talked to her about how much I liked Crit, she had seen her speak, and decided to do it. She’s as sick of McConnell as everyone else. Perhaps her site has caught on more because she is supporting the better candidate and one who has more support around the state.
When you cheer the polls then you are bound to tick somebody off, after all over 40% still approve of him. The point is we all have opinions, and support one of the canidates. So what is wrong with some discussion, and cheerleading by Kos, or any other blog? This seems petty, and devisive. Aren’t we all allowed an opinion here?
How can you say that Crit has done a better job enlisting support than Stumbo when he has already raised over $100,000 for his Exploratory Committee? It seems like he is a little bit ahead of her at enlisting support. As Stumbo has pointed out, isn’t it unwise to run for another office a few weeks after winning a 4 yr. term to an state office?
Has Stumbo officially reported his fundraising?
Stop whining and get off that. Crit Luallen kicks ass and takes names. Don’t believe it go over to Richie Farmers hometown and ask some nervous pubic officials about some of those questionable blacktopped driveways.
Stumbo is awful and we all know it. He tied himself to Lunsford, the Fletcher donor and endorser himself, and the people of Kentucky told him where to go.
The Draft Crit movement has made more news than any of the other candidates because she will be a breath of fresh air for the Democrats. She has enormous support across the state, which you can see from the draft petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/draftcrit
It’s important we don’t trash her as a DC-pushed candidate, absolutely important when it’s not true. Schumer couldn’t make her declare, but the people of Kentucky can. We want Crit!
And Crit is not tied to Paul Patton?
We’ll all support the nominee, but don’t we want that person to be a strong person free of baggage? Don’t think you won’t be hearing about the corrupt Patton/Luallen administration the day after she announces…
Jeez fellas, you all gotta take a deep breath. I love this blog (and BlueGrassRoots too), but you guys are really beginning to sound like tinfoil-hat-wearin’ conspiracy nuts.
I’m a born-and-raised Kentuckian, I have no connections to Mark Nickolas, Jonathan Miller, anyone at Daily Kos or MyDD, and I happen to think Crit Luallen is our best chance at defeating McConnell. Let’s not tear her down before she’s even expressed any intention to run, for crying out loud.
Leave that conspiracy stuff for the conservative blogs, will ya?
Nice try, CoolerKing. Not a single one of the previous posts referred to you or any of your connections.
If you feel Luallen is the best candidate (and she may be), then why don’t you try and defend the Patton/Luallen record instead of screaming about conspiracy theories…
Luallen has done nothing wrong. She served a Democratic Governor who made a mistake - she did not know this when she accepted her position with him.
Stumbo on the other hand chose to tie himself to Lunsford. He has made many other mistakes and some are chronicled here:
http://theruraldemocrat.typepad.com/the_rural_democrat/2007/02/greg_stumbo_par.html
How about we just cool it a bit, eh? You want to insult someone, insult Mitch, not Stumbo and Crit, because neither deserve it.
Agreed.
goodgovtfan, not sure if you noticed but Crit has twice been elected to state office after serving in the Patton administration.
Also, you keep using the word corrupt. The administration wasn’t corrupt, you had a governor who made poor personal choices. That has nothing to do with Luallen and her fantastic record as state auditor.
Your tactics are shameful and destructive.
do the poor personal decisions account for the indictments as well?
i’d think awfully hard before touting a big 0.1 percentage win over linda greenwell to the high-profiled office of state auditor…
crit may be the best candidate, but you gotta come up with a better argument than this…
what we need to do is stop the bickering back and forth and raise the debate to the issues of what each candidate brings to the table. lets face it: all of our options are flawed. if you dont think mitch will spend $10 million talking about stumbo’s child support payments, your crazy. same if you dont think he spends $10 million attacking luallen’s involvement in the patton scandals.
you can sugar coat this all you want, but the ads are going to happen. now, what we should be discussing is who will be the strongest candidate after they are attacked and who can fight back…
There are no free rides here. All McConnell knows how to do is behavior by Visigoth:
rape - the government, destroying its ability to deliver
pillage - his opponent with lies, damn lies and twisted facts
plunder - the treasury with pork legislation that benefits Mastur (Hunter) Bates. What I’d give? … to discover how Bates (and his client list) kicks back to McConnell. Where are the consulting contracts? Where are the ‘Professional Association’ rubberchicken dinner-speaches? I just don’t believe McConnell who is so ‘ethically challenged’ isn’t profitting. This is just like a TV series spin-off.
By the way guys … Thanks, for a wonderful job. May you first be rewarded on Earth.
Mitch must be happy today to see this going on so soon.one of the thing that brought down the rep. party here in ky they were divided .do you want to loose in 08 keep this up
googgovt, your arguments would be completely relevant if this were 2003.
People there are some REAL issues out here!
Probably nobody here gives a crap what I have to say, since I’m just a dumb eastern Kentucky voter who hates what Mitch McConnell, and his evil wife are doing to our country.
What with my piss poor 5th grade Ky. education, and inability to express myself coherently, I attempted to find some inkling as to WHO IS THE BEST CANDIDATE TO DEFEAT MITCH !! You know, a discussion about the issues, and who can most effectively deal with them.
This is not happening here, or on several other local blogs that are participating in this PETTY argument. Few, if any of you, have given me any reason to change my mind about the candidates you are supporting.
WHY should I support Crit? Because she’s a female ? Is she going to campaign ? What does she do for us hillbillies? Change my mind about her, give me some F’ing facts!
WHY should I support LC Horne? Because he wore a uniform? Is his name even on the primary ballot?
What does he do for us eastern Ky. Hillbillies? Nothing here makes me like him any better (in fact less).
Why the hell should I vote for Stumbo? Can you defend his actions, and change my closed mind?
Who the hell are these other guys that are unknown in most of this state? Make your case.
Now we remember why we never liked politics.
Thanks to those others who attempted to restore sanity in the above comments
Happy thanksgiving.
C. Wash,
Why would you find out about a candidate at this post? If you want to check out Horne go to http://drafthorne.org/. It will tell you what you need. Also, no one is on the primary ballot so why would you pick on Horne, don’t you like vets?
I am not trying to trash anyone. Horne, and Luallen are both great Democrats. I support Stumbo for many reasons. First, during the dark period after Bush was re-elected when there was absolutely nothing for national Democrats to be happy about, Stumbo stood up for all of us at great risk to go after Fletcher. Say what you want about the charges being dropped, but Fletcher is still gone now.
Another more important reason is after he announced his Exploratory Committee I was able to recieve responses from him on two very important issues, the FISA bill and the SCHIP program. His responses to these things show that he fully supports the Constitution AND our children. That is a lot better than some Democratic Senators already up there.
Plus I just believe Stumbo is a great fit for this race. If McConnell is itching for a fight he will definately get one from Stumbo. Please don’t misunderstand my support for Stumbo. I feel he has earned my support more than Luallen or Horne has lost it.
My support will stay with Stumbo unless he announces he won’t run, but either way I will fully and completely support our nominee because any of them are a HUGE step up from MM.
I do hope it is Stumbo, but if not one of the other two, Luallen or Horne. These are our only viable options.
interesting that “Kati” worked for the very Bruce Lunsford she belittles
John Lowe,
My God ! Don’t I Like Vets? Hell I’m A Vet myself, don’t make me fucking qualified for the senate does it? My wife is a woman, she don’t qualify on that account either. But I guess that makes me hate women! Sorry ’bout that!
Why come to Ditch Mitch to discuss some opponents for Mitch ? Hell you got me there! They want to ditch Mitch without a thought as to who will replace him? Guess I got the wrong idea, but you put me straight. Thanks!
Richard D.,
Thanks for some civil discourse, may be that we’re wrong abour Stumbo.
Re “Kati/Kim”: It is quite possible that she worked for the Lunsford-Stumbo campaign for a few days in May. I hope s/he’s not home on break from D.C. because that would be disappointing.
Page One has not shown support for any candidate. We have, however, accepted an advertisement for Draft Horne. Anyone is free to approach us for ad sales. Even Republicans. And we’ve offered advertising to Liz Fossett of Draft Crit, which I can prove via e-mail.
I may have a personal bias in this race but you don’t see me spinning for any particular potential candidate. If that changes in the future you’ll know about it. So let’s not work on assumptions alone, “Kati.”
What’s with this argument, anyway? From the first day Page One reported that Crit was interested in the race and had been to D.C. we’ve received strange blanket threats from her supporters. If it’s those same supporters getting up in arms here? That reflects poorly on Crit as a potential candidate because those individuals are so closely tied to her office. That would be a shame.
Have to say on the flip side that Crit and her spokesperson were more than accommodating when we ran our first story on her. They spoke on the record. It’s only been a few rogue supporters who have gone defensive– telling us we’ve burned bridges and accusing us of being less than credible.
People need to chill out. If there’s news then blogs are going to report it. This is news. The root of this discussion is that certain bloggers have literally been PAID for their explicit support. And others (national bloggers) may have been directly and unduly influenced by those bloggers, wrongly assuming them to be adequately informed when they’re just paid-for promotional arms. That’s kind of, oh, fucked up and Gunterman is right to point it out.
C. Wash,
Thanks for your service. I would much rather talk about why I like Stumbo than why I wouldn’t like the others. The fact of the matter is we simply MUST beat McConnell this time around even if it is Wile E. Coyote that does it!!
Best wishes!!
according to a post at BlueGrassRoots by Liz Fossett: Kati, Kim and Liz are all the same person. Her excuse is that multiple people use the same computer. Which means several people must have the exact same language and grammatical patterns.
This means the organizer of the Draft Crit movement is out openly attacking people and trying to hide it
I want Mitch out any way that it can happen. I even mailed him a Ditch Mitch 08 shirt in a Ditch Mitch 08 tote bag. Sent it to his Washington office, and never got a thank you. The only contributions that I will be making this time is to the person running against Mitch. The last election cycle, I helped every Dem that asked for it. P.S. I got an invitation to Gov. Beshears inauguration and ball (a day late). He is off to a good start.