| Mickey Kaus, one of the first political bloggers and noted blower of goats, is apparently desperate for attention. Back in the day, he made a name for himself as a so-called "liberal" who supported George W. Bush, who was an early adopter of the swiftboating of John Kerry, fed talking points to wingnuts about ACORN supposedly "stealing" the MN-Sen election for Al Franken, and is probably the best known example of a "concern troll" in the entire country, apparently isn't getting enough attention these days.
There's no other way to explain his decision to take out papers to run against Barbara Boxer in the Democratic US Senate primary:
Pioneering political blogger Mickey Kaus took out papers filed to run for U.S. Senate in California, he told LA Weekly. The Venice resident said he'll run this year against Barbara Boxer for her seat. He said he took out filed papers at with the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, although a spokeswoman there could not yet confirm the filing.
The Democrat has been centrist and even conservative on some of the issues on which Boxer has taken a more left-leaning stand, including immigration: He does not favor amnesty and favors a more restrictive national policy.
The journalist's Wiki entry says he's also "skeptical of affirmative action, labor unions (particularly automotive workers' unions and teachers' unions), and gerrymandering of congressional districts."
In short, Mickey Kaus seems to think that Californians don't really want Barbara Boxer and her liberalism, despite having elected her three times to the Senate - he thinks we want Ben Nelson or Joe Lieberman. He's gone from being a right-wing "Democrat" to being truly unhinged.
David Atkins offered this insightful take on Kaus's politics to Calitics:
Race resentment fuels nearly every dispute Kaus has with mainstream Dems. He's upset about welfare, immigration, and affirmative action. He loved the Clinton welfare-reform sistah-souljah version of the Party, and is really upset at the progressive resurgence. He's DLC through and through.
Doesn't surprise me that he would want to take out Boxer. What's surprising is that he thinks he has the remotest shot. If I had to guess, he probably just wants to take potshots at boxer to set up a Campbell win, as Campbell espouses that corporatist bipartisanship of which Mickey's such a big fan.
Gotta agree here. Kaus is doing this for attention and to further undermine the progressive movement he so despises. I doubt this campaign of his will get very much traction, especially since most California Democrats are very happy with Boxer and plan to fight for her this year. |
