The Hotline is cool
because it points out how bogus is the anti-Kerry talking point about his pro-filibuster work from Davos this week (sorry, Ezra):
Yes, yes, Kerry was at Davos. Effete, snow-skiing filibustering liberal. Ha Ha. Funny. Original, too!
Well -- so were Sens. Sununu and Chambliss and at least a half dozen Bush administration officials, along with delegation leader Sen. John McCain...
More good snark follows.
I reserve my judgement about the wisdom of this last-ditch Alito filibuster attempt (do the Dems really look strong if they go down on cloture? if they can prevent cloture, do they win the nuclear fallout? Do we end up with an embittered Luttig instead?), though I think it's pretty obvious that both Kennedy and Kerry are very serious about this. Kerry is, in effect, keeping a campaign promise. As to suspicions that this is just a blatant pander by Kerry to the base, if so, it's a pretty bad one. Strategically, it may prove to be a better chance for Hillary Clinton to rack up liberal cred than for Kerry, who everyone already knows is a liberal. And if Kerry ticks off his own caucus and the network of money and influence connected with them with a display of belated grandstanding, then it's pretty unlikely a groundswell of bloggers is going to whisk him to the 2008 nomination or otherwise lionize him into a position of greater power within the caucus (though I'm not sure the latter would be such a bad thing).
But please, please, don't tell me we live in a political world in which Senators can't conduct domestic business from important international economic conferences for fear that CNN will paint them as effete. It's a bone-dumb criticism of Kerry, and Dems should stand up to the dumbness, not modulate their behaviour to accomdate it.
Yes, yes, Kerry was at Davos. Effete, snow-skiing filibustering liberal. Ha Ha. Funny. Original, too!
Well -- so were Sens. Sununu and Chambliss and at least a half dozen Bush administration officials, along with delegation leader Sen. John McCain...
More good snark follows.
I reserve my judgement about the wisdom of this last-ditch Alito filibuster attempt (do the Dems really look strong if they go down on cloture? if they can prevent cloture, do they win the nuclear fallout? Do we end up with an embittered Luttig instead?), though I think it's pretty obvious that both Kennedy and Kerry are very serious about this. Kerry is, in effect, keeping a campaign promise. As to suspicions that this is just a blatant pander by Kerry to the base, if so, it's a pretty bad one. Strategically, it may prove to be a better chance for Hillary Clinton to rack up liberal cred than for Kerry, who everyone already knows is a liberal. And if Kerry ticks off his own caucus and the network of money and influence connected with them with a display of belated grandstanding, then it's pretty unlikely a groundswell of bloggers is going to whisk him to the 2008 nomination or otherwise lionize him into a position of greater power within the caucus (though I'm not sure the latter would be such a bad thing).
But please, please, don't tell me we live in a political world in which Senators can't conduct domestic business from important international economic conferences for fear that CNN will paint them as effete. It's a bone-dumb criticism of Kerry, and Dems should stand up to the dumbness, not modulate their behaviour to accomdate it.
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