Liberal bloggers declare war in Philly over media, McCain

[Middle finga]

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The primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seems far from over (no matter what the numbers say), the war in Iraq just marked its grim 5th anniversary with renewed bloodshed, and a host of issues from domestic spying to the U.S. attorney scandal are still up in the air, too.

No matter. A group of some 150 top liberal political bloggers gathered in Philadelphia this morning, and they declared a new war before there is anything remotely resembling a ceasefire in the old struggles. The focus is GOP presidential candidate John McCain – but that’s the strategic goal of the campaign, not the new tactical weapons.

The left-wing blogosphere is declaring an all-out war against the mainstream media – desperately concerned that inside-the-Beltway reporter-love for D.C. fixture McCain is already creating too large a mountain for any Democratic nominee to scale.

“This campaign is not going to be between the Democrats and the Republicans,” said Philadelphia’s Duncan Black, who writes under the name Atrios and whose highly popular progressive political blog, named Eschaton, inspired the gathering of bloggers and political activists called Eschacon '08.

It’s between the Democrats and the media.”

The first panel of the morning at Eschacon – the ballroom of Philly’s Courtyard by Marriottt – focused on the blogosphere as a political tool, and the session was dominated by a sense of frustration that McCain’s personal popularity among mainstream TV talking heads like MSNBC’s Chris Matthews will overshadow any talk of his political liabilities. There was a huge and knowing laugh after the citation of another MSNBC analyst, former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough, and his remark that some male reporters would marry McCain if they were in Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, Firedoglake’s Jane Hamsher proclaimed frustration that the mainstream media hasn’t picked up upon the blogosphere’s exposure of campaign finance shenanigans by McCain, who bills himself as an ethics reformer, or other flip-flops by the GOP’s presumptive nominee, even his personal ethics. Vermont blogger NTodd Pritsky noted the recent flap when a questioner of Chelsea Clinton mentioned the Monica Lewisnsky scandal.

“People are asking Chelsea Clinton about Monica,” he said. “Why aren’t we asking McCain about Cindy” – his current wife, who McCain left his first wife for after returning from Vietnam – “or some of his lobbyist connections.

“We’re got to be ready to cause pain for the media when they give him a free ride,” Hamsher agreed.

Digby, a widely read pseudononymous blogger froim Santa Monica, Calif., agreed and went one further, saying that McCain opponents need to get personal with reporters who seem to favorable to the GOP candidate. “They need to be shamed before their own public,” Digby said.

Nevertheless, it was a little unclear to the panelists – or those in the audience – how to do that. In informal chats after the panel, there was talk of viral email campaigns or other ways to reach everyday voters outside of the news media filter. They realize the problem in undercutting McCain is made even harder by his record as POW in Vietnam.

“He’s now a sleazy politician,” Digby said. “He was a brave POW – but that was 40 years ago!”

[depakid]

1. These guys get it

Whoever starts handing smarmy sycophants like Russert and Matthews, et al. their asses in their hands is going to gain a lot of populist mileage.

Dishonest media figures- more than any, are responsible for the sorry state this country is in-

[madfloridian]

2. “He’s now a sleazy politician,” Digby said. “He was a brave POW – but that was 40 years ago!"

Nothing sticks at all. The DNC filed a complaint with the FEC...so did the bloggers.

The media simply won't cover that McCain is breaking the election laws.

They just won't cover it at all.

[Swamp Rat]

6. We the People will have to 'cover' McCain.

:D

[BeyondGeography]

3. A hardy band of bloggers is no match for the lack of common sense among the American people

My one (admittedly partisan) source of consolation lately is that, for all the relentless flogging of the Rev. Wright stoy, it has only minimally damaged Obama judging by the polls. At the same time, the comparatively underexamined SniperFib has tangibly hurt Hillary, but her negatives were already very high. The concern about McCain is that he enters the race with much lower negatives, so when the media lets him off easy, the public will be more likely to follow suit.

[SeattleGirl]

4. They're absolutely correct.

Regardless of whether Clinton or Obama is the nominee, the problem for them is going to be the media, which holds McCain as untouchable.

I can't imagine what it was like for John McCain in the Hanoi Hilton, but as Digby said, that was 40 years ago. It cannot, and should not, be used as an excuse by the media to let him off the hook.

[SoCalDem]

5. Why they don;t pick on Mccain?

barbeques & good-ole-boy schmoozing..and easy access to the candidate..

They sell out because they like him..

There is plenty of ammo out there, but they are content to wait until the dem candidate attacks him, and then they will repport on the attacking of John Mccain...but probably not on the substance of the attack