Blue Mass Group

And a lively panel it was — Dean Barnett of Hugh Hewitt’s media empire, and MetroWest Daily News’ Kara Miller. We talked Michael Bloomberg; ObamaGirl, Hillary Soprano and A Very Romney Christmas; Who booed Hillary?; etc. Let’s go to the tape …

Our campaign continues to build momentum and I’m excited to report a few recent developments.

Just over a week ago, I was joined by over 350 dynamic and dedicated women leaders from throughout the Fifth Congressional District and across the state, and I am grateful that so many politically active and committed women have decided to stand with me – they bring so much to my campaign. You can watch a slideshow of the event here.

And, yesterday, we launched the first television ad of the special election.

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I’ve always known that the vast majority of mass media tilts decidedly to the left.  Sort of like university professors.  But people on the left will claim the opposite, esp. regarding Iraq war coverage.  And the absolutely froth over the right leaning Fox News.  Do I really know that media tilts left or is it just a product of my own right leaning bias? Well let me tell ya something: http://www.msnbc.msn… http://www.msnbc.msn… Donations by journalists to major candidates are 9:1 D to R. Now many outlets are forbidding donations – nice – mask the problem.  ]Overwhelming liberal media bias, alive and well. (crosspost: RMG)

Timothy Egan offers some incisive observations in his NYT Op-Ed column today, “Republicans Losing the West.” His narrow point is that regressives who took a hard line on immigration got crushed in Arizona in 2006. His medium point is that the GOP’s “No Way José” nativists are pushing voters, especially Hispanics, to the Democrats.

His broad point, however, is that the bigoted extremists of talk radio (and, he might have added, Fox News) have defined the public ideology of the Republican Party — and that that is a losing electoral proposition. “[P]ragmatism is being drowned out by the bullies with electronic bullhorns, who?ve got their party leaders running scared,” Egan writes.

So far, so good. But here is my question: might our own beloved blogosphere become similarly destructive to the Democrats? We’re not there yet — the 2005 daily audience for U.S. newspapers was about 158 million, 80 million for talk radio, and 32 million for blogs, according to the Pew Trust — but if blogs keep growing we may be soon. Some of the national progressive blogs, for example myDD, wear their ideological intolerance as a badge of honor. And woe betide the would-be conservative commenter on DailyKos. In my opinion, that is shortsighted politics — and no fun. I think Egan’s article supports my point.

We’ve adopted a different philosophy at BMG. We’ve tried to be tolerant and encourage the widest possible range of debate (Charley offered some recent trenchant thoughts on the general subject here). Not everyone supports this approach.

Self-indulgent navel-gazing. Is there anything more delightful on such a beautiful summer day, with the Red Sox in first place fresh from an 11-0 win and the Yankee’s 6-1 losers yesterday. More to the point, David and I plan to attend YearlyKos in August in Chicago. This will perhaps be a subject of discussion there, and I’d love to know your current thoughts. Some relevant quotations from the Egan piece below the fold.

The Boston Globe gives front page treatment this morning of a Frank Phillips piece suggesting that Deval Patrick is a hypocrite (my word, not his) for conducting fund-raising from corporate CEOs after pledging, during the Governor’s campaign, to change Beacon Hill’s insider culture.

  While not uncommon during previous administrations, Patrick’s use of two heavily regulated industry giants to raise political funds stands in sharp contrast to his campaign promise to change the way business is conducted on Beacon Hill and to free politics from special interests.

Essentially, Phillips is saying, “The fundraising in and of itself isn’t news, but because I think he’s a hypocrite, it’s a story.”  So, does that makes this a news piece or an opinion piece?

One week ago today, 151 legislators supported marriage equality by defeating a measure that could potentially write discrimination into the Massachusetts Constitution. However, 45 lawmakers voted in favor of the amendment to take away the civil marriage rights of same-sex couples. Paul Donato (D-Medford) was one of these anti-equality lawmakers. As a result of last week’s historic vote, same-sex couples will keep their rights, but to make sure marriage equality is NEVER taken away, we need to keep the number of anti-equality legislators to well under 50. That’s why it’s critically important to continue to support candidates like Patrick McCabe. Blue Mass Group readers are already familiar with McCabe’s campaign to unseat Paul Donato in the 2008 Democratic primary election. This post is to remind you about the upcoming kick-off event to be held next Tuesday, June 26 at 7:30 p.m. at 146 Forest St. in Medford. Come meet Patrick and many of his supporters and review the McCabe campaign Web site at www.McCabeforRep.org to find out more about Patrick and how you can help elect a progressive leader to represent the 35th Middlesex House District. Please confirm your attendance by Sunday, June 24. Looking forward to seeing you there!

I saw an article in the Washington Post recently that really caught my attention. The author writes:

We used to have goals. Remember goals? Sending a man to the moon? Or how about ending poverty or balancing the budget?

Now we have “benchmarks.” Like “surge” or “insurgents,” it’s become part of our everyday language when we’re talking about Iraq.

Benchmarks are an important component of any plan – they help you measure progress, and they clue you into what is and is not working. But benchmarks absent any underlying plan or final goals are meaningless – nothing more than empty talking points meant to create the illusion of a plan that doesn’t really exist.

NANCI AND HILLARI?S BUDS KNOW HOW TO WIN IN IRAQ!!

A ?Think Tank? (euphemism for a bunch of unemployed LIB?RAL types residing outside the BELTWAY) has an altogether ?new idea? for whatever the phrase today is for Iraq Extraction.

First, we bash Bush, whose idea of a democratic Iraq is seen by LIB?RALS to be Sophomoric, at best. Second, we acknowledge that Michelle Flournoy and her pal Kurt Campbell are the brightest, if somewhat retired, bulbs on the Beltway Christmas Tree. (Please grant credit for my NON use of another similar sounding ?r? word!) Third, we stop trying to use our troops to interdict al Queda murderers and suicide bombers, and set ?more realistic objectives? of preventing al Qaeda safe havens from being established in Iraq. Hopefully, this means the murderers and suicide bombers just give up and go home. Nancy and Hillary would LOVE it!

  Final 6 performances of “Jimmy Tingle’s American Dream” in Boston Thru June 2007! See it before it’s gone! Discount to BMG readers:  $5 Off each ticket in your party when you print and present this page to the theater’s Box Office.  Good for these last Thurs. and Fri. Jimmy Tingle’s American Dream performances and at box office only.  Box office opens at 5:30pm for these shows.  Visit jtoffbroadway.com or call (866) 811-4111 to buy tickets now! Jimmy Tingle’s OFF BROADWAY Theater: 255 Elm Street, Davis Square, Somerville, MA (by Red Line T and reserved parking available here) Theater info: 617-591-1616 and jtoffbroadway.com