I don’t think Dems should be trusting of what outlets like Novak, Drudge or Fox put out, period, and they shouldn’t use those reports to attack fellow Dems. But if a campaign needs to get their message out, I don’t see why they don’t use whatever they have. Should Sen. Obama find a way to get stuff on Drudge, he should totally do it. Of course Drudge is gonna savage any Dem who gets in the WH. So what? That’s why we’ve got a huge and thriving blogosphere and institutions like where I work and CAP to name a couple.

Choosing your candidate based on how you think others view them is a fool’s game Democrats keep playing. How about you pick the one you like the most and think will fight for you? That’s why I’m in favor of Clinton and Obama, I think they both fit that criteria in different ways. But I’m not excluding one based on their lack of appeal to some mythical voter. Go with your gut.

It’s not voices, it actually people. Different people think he’s a shill for different candidates.

Same here. Which means half of Kucinich’s supporters have posted in this thread.

And to end a conciliatory note – in the name of unity – “carrying water” was probably an unfair characterization of your blog.

Maybe you’re right about the necessity of a bunker mentality. But I don’t see how that’s different from Obama defending himself, even if these are only “rumors of war.” This whole Clinton line of not accepting the Republican playbook is just B.S. That’s how Bill Clinton got elected and survived in a generally conservative era – use their ideas and tweak them – hence the third way.
And I just find HRC uninspiring. She may be most battle tested and vetted from the 90s, but she’s a lousy public speaker, and if appealing for unity is too idealistic, I don’t want to be part of the other brand of politics. It may gain small victories, but it breeds a cycle of recrimination. I’d rather focus on other ways to change the world.

In the real world, Sen. Obama was stupid to accept on face value a poorly sourced Bob Novak story. Even for Novak’s b.s. the voices were murky. The retort that Clinton shouldn’t feed stuff to Drudge is ridiculous. Drudge is a right wing idiot but its also clear he’s a driver of news coverage. If a campaign can get something on Drudge, they’d be idiots not to do it.

My main issue with Sen. Obama is that I don’t know if he’s there with us up on that wall. I think he may be guilty of being too optimistic and thinking that his appeal to unity is 100% how the world is. Just as Sen. Clinton may have too hard of an edge on her, Sen. Obama may be too soft.

And no, I’m not in Clinton’s camp either (I’m a Kucinich supporter), but I’m being realistic.

Don’t say, “just wait and see.” Explain why it will help Obama, otherwise you are just carrying water for your guy.

The fact that Novak’s story was clearly not credible will now hurt Obama.

Obama is DLC to the bone. Perhaps he was better as a state senator, but he’s a worse triangulator than either Clinton ever was and I do not trust that he will not sell us out.

Atrios says that anyone that wants to be president is truly insane this go around and I thought he was referring to the Republicans. But I’m not so sure.