In 2006, Democrats took back control of Congress because of public outrage at George Bush and the War in Iraq. But we should remember it almost didn't happen - until August, when Ned Lamont proved that Democrats can galvanize that energy to beat an incumbent Senator in a primary. Tomorrow, Pennsylvania Democrats will be asked to dump ex-Republican Arlen Specter - and in Arkansas, conservative Senator Blanche Lincoln also faces a primary challenge. And just like Joe Lieberman, the Party establishment is circling the wagons in both states - with President Obama shooting a radio ad that claims Lincoln "took on big insurance companies" to pass health care. A new poll shows that voters prefer Democrats over Republicans, which suggests that 2010 may not be the nightmare everyone fears. But it also showed that voters hate incumbents. If Democrats want to avoid a bloodbath in November, Specter and Lincoln must be defeated.
Yesterday the Calitics staff sat down with Sen. Christopher Dodd, Senate Banking Committee chair and candidate for President in 2008, for about a 30-minute interview. Dodd impressed me as someone who thinks clearly about issues and the implications of them, who carefully ponders all of his decisions, and who always strives to do the right thing. In other words, a Democrat.
He's also embraced new media, hiring Tim Tagaris, who should be familiar to the netroots as having worked on Ned Lamont's campaign (here's a bio). Dodd talked about the new media era and how it can impact a campaign like his that is looking to get their views out in the face of the media-hyped monster that his Hillack Clintobama.
The full interview (not transcribed, but paraphrased) on the flip:
Swanson derided supporters' glee over the Internet wave washing over the ad.
``Sixteen thousand hits? That's a drop in the bucket compared to the 4 to 5 million people they'll need to convince,'' Swanson said. ``Everyone heralded the netroots as the next great thing, and you saw it propel Howard Dean initially. But when it came to translating it to votes, it didn't happen.''
The irony is that this story is about an ad from Bill Hillsman and talks about the Lamont campaign, which translated enough votes to win, beating a sitting US Senator.
You may remember Bill Bradley from Dday's adventures: Wherein the biggest media insider in CA (Bill Bradley) flips out on me: UPDATED, if not... well you missed out on a hell of a diary, and you should really open that up in a new window just to check it out, and not just because Dday is a great writer either. Bradley sometimes posts on dkos, runs a side called New West Notes, and is most definitely NOT the former Senator who ran for President in 2000. Garry South is one of the most famous campaign consultants in California, he ran Gray Davis's winning campaigns, but ditched town during the recall to help Joe Lieberman with his (*ahem*) Presidential bid in 2004.
Anyway, as most of you in CA already know... a bunch of us have started a site called GovernorPhil.com. You might remember us from that whole AngelaBradstreetfiasco from last week that made it to the mydd front page and prompted a response from Dianne Feinstein, and had DiFi showing at Phil's economic event on wed. Anyway, today Dan Ancona and I had a real "crashing the gates" moment on New West Notes today. Where among other things, Ned Lamont's candidacy is defended, Jim Webb's record as a netroots draftee is and I got to personally call out Garry South for being the instigator in the horribly negative Democratic gubernatorial primary in California. You know, the one that probably cost us CA-50?
Ned Lamont squeaked by Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut Senate Primary. The ramifications are still being sorted out all around the blogosphere. It was a great night for the netroots, and a powerful statement about the War in Iraq. Hearty congratulations go out from the California blogosphere to both Mr. Lamont and the people of Connecticut. I'm also happy to point out our own Barbara Boxer has offered to campaign for Lamont after strenuously supporting Lieberman in the primary.
But, I'll leave the grandiose statements about the Lamont victory in a national context to others, but I think there are real lessons that can be focused upon the state of California and our politics. I'll be focusing on the role of Lamont's web-related strategies and their applications for California. These strategies could be used in this campaign cycle, for Phil Angelides, but should also be considered in future cycles.
Let's go to the extended for a more detailed look...
