UPDATE: Full disclosure, as many of you know, I have been publicly supportive of Carolyn Maloney beyond this one post and I have discussed her potential candidacy with her personally. If she runs - which I hope she does since she'd be a great Senator - I'd be honored to work on her campaign. --

Interesting news out of NY:  A Quinnipiac poll released today looking forward to a possible matchup for the 2010 Democratic Primary for US Senator from NY, shows US Rep. Carolyn Maloney ahead of incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and challenger Jonathan Tasini.

It is pretty extraordinary to show an incumbent Senator losing a primary to an opponent who hasn't begun to campaign. Just as significant as the head-to-head poll, despite a well-publicized six-month effort by Gillibrand to sway New York voters, her favorable numbers have not moved.

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The Moveon results in the New York primary are as follows:

We wanted to let you know, MoveOn won't be making an endorsement in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary. In voting over the last day, neither Hillary Rodham Clinton nor Jonathan Tasini garnered the two-thirds support from MoveOn members necessary for an endorsement. The margin in our online vote was 56 percent for Clinton and 44 percent for Tasini.

Jonathan Tasini's challenge was about making an argument, not winning an election.  I heard from some former Tasini supporters that his campaign was not particularly competent, so it's intresting he was able to stop the Moveon endorsement just by his very presence in the race.

In the netroots poll in June, Clinton had a 65-33 favorable/unfavorable rating, with those ratings dipping among people who read blogs.  The 56-44 vote total represents either a dip of online support, or suggests that those who voted disproportionately read blogs.  Regardless, this was just for her Senate reelection campaign, not the Presidency, which suggests that there is a large opening to the left of Clinton in 2008.

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Moveon is now polling its members on Hillary Clinton versus Jonathan Tasini for the Senate.  I had interest in Tasini early on, but I did some research and concluded that Tasini didn't have the infrastructure ready to seriously challenge Senator Clinton.  I didn't blog about Tasini, but it's good he's getting some time to push Senator Clinton on key issues.

Chime in on this one, New York Moveon-MyDD readers.  And please, if you don't live in the Empire State, don't clog up the thread.  I want to know what New Yorkers think about their Senator.

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(cross-posted at Deny My Freedom and Daily Kos)

I'm going to preface this entry by saying that I live in New York, so I feel I have some right to speak as a constituent of Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY). In addition, the reason why the title of this entry is Why I would vote for Hillary Clinton is simply this: I attend college in Pennsylvania, and I feel that my vote in the 2006 midterm elections will be much more valuable to Pennsylvania's Senate Democratic nominee, Bob Casey, then it will be for Clinton, who is going to easily cruise past her primary challenger, Jonathan Tasini, as well as her eventual Republican opponent in the general election.

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Like the New York Times editorial board, I was originally very excited about NY Senate primary challenger Jonathan Tasini, not because I thought he could beat Hillary Clinton but because I thought he could force more of a public debate that we need.  Exposure to the electorate is good for politicians, and if Senator Clinton had had to defend her record before the voters of New York, I bet she would have done so effectively and become a better politician for it.  She would have sensed the progressive undercurrent in the country and sought to tap into that stream for her Presidential campaign.  I wanted Tasini to force her to do that, and had he done so, he would have done the country a great service.

At the same time, the new progressive movement has limited resources, and while I have blogged about Donna Edwards, Jennifer Lawless, and Ned Lamont, I've left Jonathan Tasini alone.  Why?  It's not because, as Tasini asserts, that the progressive movement is scared of the Clinton machine and unwilling to stand up to her.  It's not because Tasini's a bad candidate running an unprofessional campaign.  It's because Tasini is a troll.  

Anyone who is a progressive would recognize Ned Lamont's campaign as a progressive vehicle for change, but not Tasini.  He's on record as saying that "Ned Lamont is not a progressive Democrat." Oh really?  Lamont has brought up Jimmy Carter's conservation strategies, something that only die-hard progressives would touch with a ten foot pole.  And Tasini's response to his lack of support is to say that progressives, his only potential allies, are scared of the Clinton machine.  Way to rally that support, champ.

The problem with trolls is that they are movement killers.  A movement is based on a set of conversations, and a presumption of good faith on the part of other actors in that conversation.  Trust, in other words, is very important.  It's fine to be out for yourself; ambition is a good and necessary thing, as is passion.  But if you are unwilling to recognize that respect for others must necessarily go along with that ambition, then you create a dangerously authoritarian and antisocial precedent.

Progressives can and should disagree with each other on strategy, ideology, and tactics.  I spent a little bit of time looking into his campaign and the dynamics of New York state politics.  I thought that the situation was right for a challenge, but that Tasini couldn't do it.  A movement is not about one person, it's about a collective set of values.  Tasini doesn't share those values.  He is certainly antiwar, but it's clear that he's also very much anti-conversation and intolerant of those who disagree with him, which is not progressive.

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