Matt

You should reach out to Simon Rosenberg and Rob Shapiro at NDN.  NDN's globalization initiative (http://www.ndn.org/advocacy/globalizatio n/) has some good material and Rob's current thoughts on free trade.  They should also be able to give you some color about the Clinton's administration's thinking at that time.

The commentators have some great links here.  I'm looking forward to your research.

Chris and Matt

You guys are doing great work.  Keep it up.

And not talk about you?  Pretty poor narcissism.

Happy birthday from an old DFH.

You're completely wrong that the only thing worse than a war with Iran is a nuclear Iran.  There's no guarantee that an attack on Iran would stop them from ultimately getting a bomb.  You are conflating the Israeli strategic position with the US strategic position.  Your analogy is absurd - Cuba is 90 miles from Miami and several hundred from DC, not several thousand like Iran.  Even if Iran got the bomb, we have much more risk of a rogue nuke from our "allies" like Pakistan or countries like NK than from Iran.  A war with Iran could lead to $200 oil, a complete collaspe of the world economy, and a reason for them to actually engage in terrorism against the US.  Right now the terrorism they sponsor is against Israel, not us.  Don't mix the two up,like Bush does and did.  Democrats can be strong without being batshit insane and counterproductive like the neo-cons.

I just read his speech, and I'm very disappointed in it, as I've been a very big fan of Edwards.  It's pandering of the worst kind.  You can be strong on Iran and the need for it to be responsible to its neighborhood and the world, without using the exact rhetoric that people who really do want a war with Iran use.  This was a setting for Edwards to show real leadership and understanding of the situation in the ME rather than play up to the audience's pre-conceived notions.  The Bush administration has just made matters 10 times worse by not taking Iran up on its offer in 2003 to see where it went.  After starting to lean towards Edwards, I'm definitely back in the market now for another candidate.  Al - where are you?

Unbelieveable and completely disgusting.  Lanny as always spewing the Kewl Kids talking points about how both parties are equally to blame, how we can only solve the problems we face through bi-partisanship, etc., ignoring of course the fact that we are cleaning up the mess the Republicans have made all by themselves. This is pure Liebermanism - unadulterated BS.  The thing that pisses me off about this line is that the Democratic Party after 9/11 really tried to work with these clowns and just got spit upon by them.  Now that they've lost, it would be so unfair of us to hold them to account.  Bah! as  a dirty hippie blogger: Fuck 'em.

But it's aptly named as the pundits blog - taking the worst of the "Republicans disguised as Democrats" pundits and giving them a blog.

I blog, therefore I am.

I agree that wins are only one factor to evaluate a consultant since winning depends on so many other things.  But if we're going to judge what makes a good or bad consultant, we need to develop a list of standards.   We all have an informal idea of what we like or don't like to see in a consultant - we need to formalize these factors and determine ways to measure them.  

Your Huff Post comment suggests we should be looking at an organization that can be funded by progressives, like a think tank.  That might be better than a 527.  What about existing organizations that do political science?

Matt  -  I see you replied to a similar suggestion.  For metrics: Wins are important.  Good ads are another.  Let's discuss what makes a good consultant.  Money is definitely an issue but the net-roots have shown what they can do a shoe-string by working together.

Is there some way to track the consultants each campaign hired and analyze their results?   We could then publish a list of net-roots recommended and not recommended consultants.  Which consultant a candidate hires could then be one factor in evaluating how much support the net-roots provide.

Great analysis, Matt.  I moved last year to Westport , CT, after a long time living in NJ (Hudson and Essex Counties).  Your contrast of the two states' politics is spot on.  I recently wrote a LTE decrying the "bare-knuckled" tactics here in Westport of stealing your opponents lawn signs.  (I've had to replace my precinct's Ned Lamont and Diane Farrell signs multiple times, while the Republican sings (including the Vote JOEs) remain untouched.)  While this type of petty partisan behavior is considered mild in NJ, my local DTC chair told me it's never happened in Westport before.  

I think the voters are sick of this re-run of a contested primary season and confused by the shifting nature of the parties and players.  It's not just the ads - they also hate the multiple robo-calls, saying nasty things about candidates they know personally.  I actually think this will be to the advantage of the campaigns that can have a personal touch with voters at the end (like Ned's).  When people finally step into the voting booth, they will be glad it's all over.  But I also have a lot of faith that they will have thought about what is the right vote for Connecticut and the country.  They want change in a positive direction and they know they won't get that from the current Republican incumbents on the Federal level (again including Joe).  I'm predicting the Democrats will sweep the House here and Ned will win in a close contest.

Thanks, Chris.  Since I found the site in 2003 it's one of my daily stops on the web, multiple times a day.  Chris, Matt, Jerome, Jonathan, and all the rest of you - Congratulations and cheers to more great work!  

He's very knowledgeable (and progressive) about healthcare.  It's an issue his opponent also stakes a claim to, although she delivered the Medicare fiasco.  I think people would like to hear his ideas about how we can better deliver healthcare in the US.

I live in Westport, CT and have been a big supporter of Diane's.  I don't know if this has any bearing as she has been sounding these themes for a while, but I did gave her a copy of Chris's memo last August, encouraged her to use the themes in it, and suggested she check out the MyDD web-site.  So, yes, she really did get the memo.