Google Bombing, continued

Apparently I am not alone in noticing the great Google Bombing Plot planned for Election Day 2006.

More thoughts on Obama…

The subject of a Barack Obama candidacy in 2008 has been mentioned briefly here at RR and again over at Phyillis Randall’s blog.

Now Charles Krauthammer offers his view in the WaPo.

CK suggests an Obama run in 2008 is a win/win/win, and offers the following scenarios, where Obama would:

A) Win the nomination and presidency, OR
B) Loses the nomination but gets the VP nod and the Dems win, which sets him up for 2016, OR
C) Loses the nomination, gets the VP nod and the Dems lose, which sets him up for 2012.

For a moment, assume Obama runs and is not nominated for the Presidency. The biggest advantages to this scenario are experience and candidate queueing. Obama’s biggest experience gap is in foreign policy, something that will be remedied by a term or two as VP. Plus, a good showing as a nominee candidate moves him to the front of the candidate queue for the next open democratic presidential slot, be that from the VP position or as a sitting US Senator.

CK suggests that right now Obama is hot, hip, and happening. He must strike when the iron is hot. As I have noted before, in politics sometimes you have to not when you want to, but when the opening presents itself…and 2008 will be the first completely open year since 1952, with neither an incumbent president running for reelection nor a sitting VP going for the top spot himself.

The ultimate point here is that Obama has more to gain from running-even if he loses-than by not running IF his ultimate goals is the White House.

…and more endorsements for Wolf, Webb, Davis, and Moran

I noted yesterday that the Loudoun Connection had endorsed James Webb and Frank Wolf in their respective races. It actually went farther than that…it was the entire Connection paper chain (with papers in Loudoun, Fauquier, Clarke, Prince William, and Fairfax Counties) that endorsed both candidates, plus in other parts of their readership the Connection also endorsed congressional incumbents Tom Davis and Jim Moran.

The Time Community newspaper paper chain, with papers in Fauquier, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Clarke counties, has begun its endorsements. Its papers in Fauquier, Loudoun, and Fairfaxendorsed both Webb and Wolf, plus incumbents Davis and Moran.

Democrats set to GoogleBomb 2006 Election

WebPronews.com reports that Democratic supporters have made plans to GoogleBomb Republicans in the run-up to the 2006 elections. Targets in Virginia include George Allen, Thelma Drake, and Frank Wolf.

Chris Bowers of My Direct Democracy announced plans on his web page on October 22, with a Daily Kos cross post that has already drawn over 350 responses.

Why do this? As described in the DailyKos postings:

“The idea is to associate a particular term (in this case, a candidate’s name) with a particular webpage (in this case, a news article with unfavorable facts about the candidate) and increase the web traffic linking the term and the page so that the web page turns up in the top-ranked results whenever the term is Googled.”

A fuller description of the process can be found here and
here. For a discussion of the “miserable failure” GoogleBombs in the 2004 presidential campaigns go here.

The logic behind this effort is that many voters will go web searching in the last days of a campaign to get information on candidates. Bowers’ idea is to create Google Bombs that link these candidates with the worst articles abotu them from non-partisan sources.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Of course, this seems to be another example of a practice that if done by the GOP is is linked to voter supression or misinformation, but if done by Democrats it is considered clever.

WaPo at it Again…

Desparate for a new way to throw mud at George Allen in the absence of any mud to throw, the WaPo returns to its old favorite, the slanted news story.

The folks over at From on High have it about right.

If the James Webb campaign had purchased a full page of advertising in the Post (which is about the print space it would takes to show this article), how much would that cost? The real $$ total of campaign funds spent by Webb will never be accurate until some type of in-kind contribution from the WaPo is added.

Rush Limbaugh is an ASS-Medically speaking, of course

The Washington Post reports that actor Michael J. Fox, in the throes of a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, is campaigning for Democratic Party candidates this year, and Rush Limbaugh doesn’t like it.

Fox recently cut advertisements in support of embryonic stem cell research and against candidates who oppose it.

Relying on his vast medical knowledge and training, talk show host Rush Mr. Limbaugh came out swinging:

“He is exaggerating the effects of the disease,” Limbaugh told listeners. “He’s moving all around and shaking and it’s purely an act. . . . This is really shameless of Michael J. Fox. Either he didn’t take his medication or he’s acting.”

To quote Bugs Bunny, “what an imbesile [sic], what an ultra maroon.”

Expert opinion suggested that Mr. Limbaugh’s knowledge of modern medicine is not as great as implies.

“Anyone who knows the disease well would regard [Fox's] movement as classic severe Parkinson’s disease,” said Elaine Richman, a neuroscientist in Baltimore who co-wrote Parkinson’s Disease and the Family. “Any other interpretation is misinformed.”

Limbaugh later reluctantly apologized via a web page transcript…:

“Now people are telling me they have seen Michael J. Fox in interviews and he does appear the same way in the interviews as he does in this commercial,” … “All right then, I stand corrected. . . . So I will bigly, hugely admit that I was wrong, and I will apologize to Michael J. Fox, if I am wrong in characterizing his behavior on this commercial as an act.”

…but changed his focus, saying :

“Michael J. Fox is allowing his illness to be exploited and in the process is shilling for a Democratic politician.”

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Limbaugh’s medicinal knowledge is limited to matters regarding prescription medicine, and clearly not to be influenced by common sense. It is not unusual for Mr. Limbaugh to presuppose his own omniscience on political matters big and small. However, one would think that perhaps Mr. Limbaugh would check with physicians before venturing an opinion outside his experience. Instead he assumes to know what he is talking about, and presumes to judge others, making himself look tres stupido.

Why does this bother me? First, I have enjoyed Mr. Fox’s work for years. His talents have afforded me many hours of entertainment, and I am saddened by his condition. Second, politics is not making mud pies. We can advocate for the causes we want within the limits of the law and our abilities and our opportunities. If Rush Limbaugh is angry about these ads it is because he knows they are going to be effective, not because he has concerns about Mr. Fox being “exploited”.

I think we should probably pity Mr. Limbaugh, as clearly he is suffering from his own debilitating condition. I imagine the medical term is something:

Assumptive
Stupidity
Syndrome

Unfortunately, in a man of Limbaugh’s years there is normally no treatment. However, he could start by inviting Michael J. Fox on his show, apologizing in person, and then allowing Fox to talk about the effect of Parkinson’s disease and what people can do to help end it.

Reagan 1984-A Bear in the Woods This AM I join the…

Reagan 1984-A Bear in the Woods

This AM I join the Richmond War Room in bringing back a classic campaign advertisement…however, this is the amended version. The original ended with the hunter leveling his rifle at the bear.

Wolf and Webb in Loudoun Connection

The Loudoun Connection has made it’s Tenth District Endorsements, and they mirror the Washington Post.

The paper endorsed Frank Wolf for the US House:

As a member of Congress, Frank Wolf appears to wake up every day and consider how he can use the power of his office to make the world a better place. He is a man with tremendous empathy and a moral compass. He is an independent thinker who doesn’t let ego get in the way of bringing various sides together to do the right thing.

After 26 years in office, he is if anything more passionate than ever about human rights — working to curb human rights abuses in Darfur and other places around the world. He has traveled to the Sudan repeatedly, working to keep the ongoing atrocities in public view and advocating for action. He has also traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan repeatedly in the past five years.

Wolf is just as passionate about problem solving on a local level.

One of the things that makes Wolf so effective is his ability to listen. He listens to law enforcement officers carefully, often identifying trouble in the works long before anyone else. Examples are his early warnings and funding to help fight gang activity, and his efforts to fight the spread of methamphetamines.

Wolf has worked to contribute to solutions for the region’s traffic congestion, from promoting flextime and telecommuting especially for government workers, to funding for Metro, to thoughtful and incremental approaches such as spot intersection improvements and timing of traffic lights.

Wolf is creative at problem solving, proposing an independent review, the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan 10-member group co-chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton, which could offer a path to solutions in Iraq that might be acceptable to all sides.

Wolf also worked to establish a similar panel to examine federal spending and tax policies to develop proposals to head off the impending federal budget train wreck.

and James Webb for the US Senate:

There’s no doubt that Jim Webb is not a natural candidate. That’s just one more reason to vote for him for Senate over George Allen.

Webb would make an excellent addition to the Senate, with intellectual capacity and experience to help unravel some of the critical problems that body will face in the coming years.

Recently converting from Republican to Democrat, Webb opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, vigorously and publicly arguing against it in the months before invasion.
But Webb has significant credentials. A former Marine, Webb served in Vietnam, and was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts. During the Reagan administration, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense of Reserve Affairs and as Secretary of the Navy.

If elected, Webb might be the only senator with a son or daughter serving in combat in Iraq. But Webb does not trumpet his own service or his son’s on the campaign trail, aside from wearing a pair of his son’s used combat boots.

Webb has written nonfiction books and six novels, and while his opponent would seek to make fun of Webb as a “fiction writer,” Webb’s accomplishments show no small amount of intellectual capacity and work ethic.

There are also powerful reasons to vote against George Allen.

Allen’s six years in the Senate lack legislative legacy or accomplishment. While this week he has tried to show that he is not in lockstep with President Bush on Iraq, he lacks ideas for any alternative to the current mess there.

And the past months have brought fresh, visceral evidence of Allen’s racial and ethnic insensitivity, reinforcing decades of racial insensitivity. If you haven’t watched the “macaca” video for yourself, you should. It compounds and confirms concern about Allen’s views, adds to evidence of Allen’s fascination with the Confederate flag and past display of a noose, a symbol of racial hatred and torture, in his office.

Virginia can’t afford racial insensitivity because of its past, and because of its future. History: Virginia’s past economy was built on slavery, and Virginia was a haven for segregation, closing schools rather than allow integration even into the early ’60s. Future: Virginia is an increasingly diverse state, and its future economic and cultural development depends on embracing that diversity.

Now, if one uses a link one typically does not print the whole shebang…but what I found interesting is the Frank Wolf endorsement is completely pro Wolf, full of what he has accomplished and what he can do in the future. The Webb endorsement is half about why vote for Webb and half why one should not vote for Allen.

It boggles the mind…six months ago George Allen was in the tall cotton on a relatively short list of folks who could be the next President of the USA-now he is in the weeds with a great deal of uncertainty about his future.

Color Me Surprised…

In a move I never saw coming, the Washington Post today endorsedBob Ehrlich for reelection as Governor of Maryland.

Now I need to clean up the coffee I spilled when I read the endorsement…

Turnabout…

During my coffee break meanderings I found a series of August 2006 postings to the Carpetbagger blog with a discussion of whether Joe Lieberman would caucus with the Democrats if he were elected as an independent.

What I found interesting was the vehemence with which these folks denounced Lieberman, how he is a conservative lapdog, and how he would caucus with whichever party made him the best deal. Just reading the posts made the paint on my office walls curl up.

I cannot but wonder how these same posters reacted five years ago when Jim Jeffords announced he was becoming an Independent…and leaving the GOP to caucus with the Democrats-which just happened to be enough tilt to move the Dems into the majority in the Senate and give Jeffords better committee assignments.

Same question, different reactions…

I guess in politics the some issues occur repeatedly and the certain responses are almost reflexively produced. Who says them is just a question of whose ox is getting gored.