DJWinfo—Dem Convention Blogger
ArchPundit
Dan was chosen as one of the Democratic bloggers (I didn’t apply between money concerns and the Missouri primary at the beginning of August). If you can help him out, do so….
July 2004
I’m a Punchline
I figure if I give it, I ought to take it. From today’s Hotline:
The Pick
NBC/MSNBC beat Fox by three minutes. Fox beat ABC by three minutes. Yesterday’s Hotline got the scoop on how a Pittsburgh-area airport mechanic posted information about new decals on the Kerry campaign plane on a bulleting board at 9:44pm Monday night. But it was bgibson on the Edwards Campaign Blog that solidified everything with a post at 6:24am: “Kerry is up now in his hotel about to call Gephardt and Vilsack and say I am sorry but I have chosen John Edwards, I have a friend at the Kinkos in downtown Pittsburgh who has been printing bios and campaign materials that he has been packing with pre-printed…. drum roll…KERRY/EDWARDS logos… You all are the first to know, however, according to this source the literature says, “as you now know either from your e-mail from this morning or the news media…, so you will be hearing this in about an hour or so…” Meanwhile, DailyKos pokes fun at the New York Post for their Gephardt-gaffe. Don’t be too hard on them — they probably got their info from ArchPundit. And CampaignDesk tried talking to a political editor at the Post about what really happened.
The Post refuses to explain what happened, and unfortunately so must I. I’m not sure you’d believe me if I told you, but let’s say that living in Saint Louis had nothing to do with how the tip came down.
Breaking News–Lance In Yellow!
Okay, missed the internet cast today and just got a look at the General Classification (GC) Lance in first with 27 seconds on the first non-Postal rider. The Posties took the Team Time Trial by 1:07. Phonak–Tyler’s team came in second.
In the GC
Tyler down .36
Ullrich .55
Leipheimer 1.08
Heras 1:45
Others that may yet challenge
Jens Voigt .45
Bobby Julich 1.00
Ibn Mayo lost 2.35 today down a total of 5.27 on Lance.
Noval of Postal barely finished in the time limit meaning he may be hurt–haven’t seen the news yet.
Overall, taking the Yellow now has its disadvantages because you have to defend it, but it also means everyone else has to be especially aggressive.
Now really, not back until tonight.
Power’s On–Cattle Call Open Thread
OK, power’s on, but a busy day ahead. Cattle call is way behind so I’ll run it tonight for the Illinois Republican Senate Nomination. Leave your comments below! And look for updates later.
Internet Thorn In Side of Leader is Real Life Gadfly
Frank Stoneham can often be found agitating regular Illinois Leader posters in the forums over there, seems to be a real gadfly who got arrested at a public meeting the other evening.
Good Article Summarizing the Process the GOP Is using to Replace Ryan
Nathaniel Zimmer writes the piece every major paper should have written already on how the GOP is going to replace Jack Ryan on the ballot.
An interesting note is here:
But Dam brought up the possibility that powerful Republicans who do not sit on the committee, such as Hastert, could use their influence to put a candidate over the top. “If Hastert strongly pushes for somebody, I will respect that,” he said. “I don’t want to ignore the reality that without (national support) we will have a difficult, uphill battle.” Others, such as Smith, bridle at the prospect of intervention. “There’s a little bit of resentment of some people who don’t have a vote on the committee saying this is who it should be, almost as if they had a vote,” Smith said. “I don’t like outsiders saying this is who it should be.”
What should be noted here is that while Hastert didn’t endorse Rauschenberger he was generally supportive and said early on that Rauschenberger should be considered in the primary race. While the situation is certainly different now, one can assume the Speaker has no serious objections to Rauschenberger.
I don’t fawn over many press accounts, but I think this is an excellent nuts and bolts article that gives some good insight into how the process will work. Everyone’s been reading tea leaves (including me–that isn’t a jab at most of the print media), but this puts it into the context of how the decision is actually made.
Sign The Petition
Really, I mean, could Democrats or Political Satirists be any happier than Jack Ryan’s return to the Senate race?
Crane to Nominate the Next US Attorney?
Oh my….Kristen McQueary has the scoop on what could be the worst outcome since Ashcroft becoming Attorney General. If Bean were to knock him off, then it falls to Hyde–another reason to vote for Cegelis as well–unless you want the next US Attorney to be primarily concerned with ignoring abortion rights.
The Column of the Week To Read
Is Rich Miller’s. While Blagorgeous bashing is fun and highly relevant, the reality is that despite the Illinois Republican House reforms, the control of the Lege is more and more controlled by the Four Tops.
Legislative leaders already have way too much power. They appoint committee chairmen, minority spokesmen and even committee members. Committee staff report directly to the party leaders, not the committee heads. Politically vulnerable members rely almost solely on their leaders for campaign cash, staff and even precinct workers. The House speaker and the Senate president have absolute control over which bills live or die. The leaders have even been known to tell members how many bills they will be allowed to move in a given year.
As Rich points out, the irony is the The Blagorgeous promised a more open system, yet his brinkmanship has brought about less input.
Party discipline can be a good thing, but within the context of being able to give input into how legislation is being shaped.
Still To Come
Ryan’s interview on 20/20. Haven’t had time to get to watch it through. The full bit and a brief overview is available at the ABC 20/20 site.