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March 08, 2006BELTWAY BLOGROLL
The Netroots Lose Another One
Hotline On Call is reporting that Rep. Henry Cuellar won enough votes in the the 28th District of Texas yesterday to secure the Democratic nod without a run-off primary against former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez. That means that yet another favorite of netroots bloggers has gone down to defeat.
All of the major Democratic blogs, including Americablog, Daily Kos, Eshcaton and MyDD, had endorsed Rodriguez' bid to reclaim the seat and had helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for his campaign in recent weeks. Rodriguez also began posting diary entries at Daily Kos starting in early February.
Their effort was looking good as early returns were posted, with Rodriguez leading much of last night. But the project ultimately fell short thanks to Cuellar's strong polling in precincts near his home of Laredo. With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Cuellar had won nearly 53 percent of the vote to Rodriguez' 41 percent. He needed only 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a Democratic run-off.
The defeat is the latest is a long string of losses for netroots-backed dating back to 2004. Republican bloggers love to gloat about the fact that none of the "Kos Dozen" (actually 16 candidates endorsed by Daily Kos in 2004) won their respective elections. They crowed again when Democrat Paul Hackett lost to now-Rep. Jean Schmidt in an Ohio special election last summer. I expect to hear more of that talk today.
The Democratic bloggers who supported Rodriguez may adopt a refrain similar to the those they have voiced after the other setbacks: that the very existence of electoral competition, rather than victory, is important because it forces Republicans to spend money in districts or states where they otherwise would; and that some of the Democratic candidates, like Hackett, have scored surprisingly well in GOP strongholds.
In the case of Rodriguez, however, he scored worse in the district this time than he did in 2004, when he lost the Democratic nod to Cuellar by only a few dozen votes.
Check the extended entry for commentary from other bloggers.
Bull Moose: "Congressman Cuellar's primary victory in the Great State of Texas is just another example of the fact that there are more bytes than bite in the blogosphere. One could say that the bloggers crashed at the gates and now they must move on. Yes, you can raise money on the internet, but not necessarily votes. At the end of the day, Democrats should be spending far more time at mega-churches and at exurban malls than in the blogosphere. ... The blogosphere is fun, entertaining and informative, but not all that politically significant."
Daily Kos: "We're a nascent movement a scant two years old. The right built theirs over 30 years. We won't take over the world in two. But this netroots/grassroots/labor coalition is the blueprint for a more effective national progressive movement, and this was the first time we all worked together. It won't be the last."
Eschaton: "It's pretty much a given that Ben Chandler probably wouldn't have won without support from bloggers. It's also the case that Stephanie Herseth got a tremendous boost from bloggers, though I won't say I can claim that blogger support was necessary. Neither of those members of Congress are my favorites, but the fact that they were supported despite being rather right wing undercuts the usual media narrative that lefty bloggers only support candidates that are crrrraazy lefties who are otherwise unelectable. Herseth and Chandler won against Republicans in conservative districts."
GOP Bloggers: "If the Democrat blogs can't sway the race in a Democrat primary (especially in a red state where they need to be more competitive), will this make [Senate Minority Leader Harry] Reid, [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi and [Sen. John] Kerry rethink their ties (and their pandering) to Kos and his worshippers?"
MyDD: "I'd like to point out that Texas apparently has an open primary system, where Republicans can actually vote in a Democratic primary, and vice versa. Given this, Ciro almost certainly won the day among registered Democrats, and at the very least would have forced a runoff in a closed primary. ... As disgusting as it sounds, if Cuellar wins the Democratic primary without a run-off, it will be because of the Republican vote."
Personal Democracy Forum: "I can't fault the Daily Kos community for wanting to change the party. The Democratic Party is screwed up and needs fixing. But they shouldn't be eating our young. And they shouldn't be taking elected Democrats and weakening them through intra-party squabbling. That's what I think Kos and his community are doing. Their tone is negative. They aren't willing to compromise or, it seems, to even discuss alternatives to their view. Who knows, maybe they would learn something if they listened more and ranted less."
The Plank: "[E]lectoral politics in the United States is a zero-sum game and, at some point, these bloggers are going to have to make enough of a difference to actually win a race -- something they've so far failed to do. ... But more often than not, these liberal bloggers (especially Kos) act like they already have taken over the world --writing manifestos, issuing threats and engaging in all sorts of chest-thumping behavior. But, like I said, their batting average is still a big fat zero."
RedState: "Thus far the lefty netroots has aggressively pushed numerous out-of-touch losers but has yet to generate a winner. Lefty netroots support continues to be the kiss of death, and that support is, unfortunately, eroding the credibility of the netroots in general. It should be noted that the right side of the blogosphere has not been as aggressive in building and backing candidates ... but the right has managed to show itself more in touch with reality."
Posted by | 01:28 PM
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