Advice for a soon-to-graduate PoliSci guy? (updated)

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Wednesday February 20, 2008 · 7:08 PM PST

2008/02/20 · 19:08

I've posted diaries infrequently on this site, and have been something of a wraith in comment threads as well. When something piques my interest, I tend to bring some of that energy to DKos, but I haven't exactly poured heart and soul into this community, and so maybe I shouldn't be asking for anything back. But I'm a college senior, and as my stress level has climbed from nonexistent towards paralyzing over the past weeks, I've been reaching out for career advice from all quarters. What follows is a quick description of my (limited) thinking about the near-future, and any response it elicits from any of you would be greatly appreciated.

2hands0feet

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Friday November 09, 2007 · 7:27 AM PST

2007/11/09 · 07:27

I watched much of the debate on the Mukasey nomination last night on CSPAN, as I imagine many of you did. I probably watched less of it than the junkiest of you (I occasionally find it infuriating to watch senators read at an inexorably slow pace things they've already written and which are all too often non sequitur to what was said immediately prior to their time) but it was fascinating nonetheless. I liked that they stayed late and gave everyone (?) a chance to say their piece before voting, and I liked that it was the closest AG nomination vote in 55 years.
And I grant that the continued failure of the democratic caucus to cohere on major votes is politically problematic and frustrating (although it also suggests that the party is composed of thoughtful, independent-minded folk). But I'm not disappointed by the Mukasey confirmation as many of you may be...

Poll

21 votes Show Results

Are there moral absolutes?

21 votes Vote Now!

Are there moral absolutes?

Yes, and torture is absolutely immoral.

13 votes

Yes, but there is not a moral absolute prohibiting torture.

0 votes

No, but torture is pretty much always wrong.

6 votes

No, and torture is a crucial tactic for interrogators.

2 votes

POLL: Candidate Favorability Ratings: CHRIS DODD

2hands0feet

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Monday July 23, 2007 · 5:35 PM PDT

2007/07/23 · 17:35

I think Dodd should have been a part of the mainpage fav/unfav polling from today, so I did it myself. Since I'm watching the debate, trying to keep up w/ Open Threads, and arguing with my parents about the debate, I'm mentally tapped out and haven't checked for other, similar diaries-- sorry. Vote away!

Poll

192 votes Show Results

Your opinion of Chris Dodd is

192 votes Vote Now!

Your opinion of Chris Dodd is

Favorable

134 votes

Unfavorable

24 votes

Undecided

34 votes

Why does mass media run PRIMARY DEBATES?

2hands0feet

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Monday June 04, 2007 · 5:04 PM PDT

2007/06/04 · 17:04

I'm watching a rerun of Sunday's Dem debate on C-SPAN right now, and the experience is giving me an idea; WHY THE HELL ARE WE LETTING CNN DICTATE THE TERMS OF AN INTERNAL DECISIONMAKING PROCESS? Why not have a group of senior party officials (1) conference internally about questions & format, and then meet with television execs about presentation, and (2) pick their own moderator & drill him to death for two days beforehand in order to ensure that (a) their candidates are each given a fair and adequate forum, and (b) that their constituents can cull useful information from the debates and move forward in the primary process with that info in pocket?

Poll

31 votes Show Results

How frustrated were you with the format of Sunday's debate?

31 votes Vote Now!

How frustrated were you with the format of Sunday's debate?

1-- Satisfied

0 votes

2--

0 votes

3--

3 votes

4--

3 votes

5-- Perturbed, but not surprised

6 votes

6--

4 votes

7--

5 votes

8--

2 votes

9-- Shocked, Appalled

3 votes

10-- Apoplectic, Frothing @ the mouth

5 votes

ACTION: democrats.org webtool for SOTU response

2hands0feet

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Tuesday January 23, 2007 · 1:54 AM PST

2007/01/23 · 01:54

DISCLAIMER: I don´t know if this has already been diaried, and I apologize if I´m accidentally aping someone-- I´m studying abroad in southern Spain, and not able to get my usual fix of DKos without paying assloads for internet cafe time. Also, anyone who is a member of democrats.org already got this email. I´m assuming there are some people who don´t know about this webtool yet, and I think it´s worth investing a few minutes to use it.
This morning I received an e-mail linking to a webtool on the democratic party website that allows people to submit ideas for the party´s official response to King George´s SOTU address. Sen. Jim Webb is giving that response speech, which indicates that it will focus almost entirely on the war. I have no beef with that focus, but I did have something else to get off my chest. Text of my submission is after the jump. If you feel like reading it, cool, but what I´m really hoping that you will use this link & drop Jim Webb (or some poor group of staffers) a note about what´s on your mind. It´d be nice if people who do so leave a n/t comment here. Also if anybody knows how I can watch the SOTU in English tonight, that would be useful information. Thanks.

2hands0feet

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Friday November 17, 2006 · 9:14 AM PST

2006/11/17 · 09:14

This is one of those ideas that I'm sure not just some, but the majority of Dem strategists have already pondered. Judging by the media narrative of the Hoyer-Murtha contest, those people have either discarded the idea or failed to capitalize on it. Several diaries in the past few days have illustrated the silliness that seems to steer MSM coverage of this leadership contest. These note the troublesome narrative, but I'd like to examine the spin we SHOULD HAVE been able to run with immediately, but which we now MUST use as counterspin.
Follow me through the jump, won't you? Read More

Going Forward

2hands0feet

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Thursday November 09, 2006 · 9:41 AM PST

2006/11/09 · 09:41

Dems won. Holy shit. That slimy feeling (the this-will-all-go-wrong, vast-pundit-conspiracy-to-set-me-up-for-disappointment feeling) is washing away under the deluge of good news from the past 48 hours. Its being replaced by a more robust, healthy feeling-- a much, much weightier feeling. This is where it actually gets difficult.
Seriously, we can pat ourselves on the back for beating the GOP if we want, but the simple facts of the landscape handed us a good number of the seats we won. Credit due to Dean&Co for putting players in so many races, allowing us to capitalize on the sentiments of the day. In a lot of cases, we ran some really good people, too, and it's great that they won, but it would be a huge mistake to perceive this as a liberal/progressive wave within the population. So how do we turn it into one? I'll attempt to take this in stages, until the whole longview is strung together.

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Advice for a soon-to-graduate PoliSci guy? (updated)

Mukasey & Moral Absolutes

POLL: Candidate Favorability Ratings: CHRIS DODD

Why does mass media run PRIMARY DEBATES?

ACTION: democrats.org webtool for SOTU response

Ds losing spin war on Maj Leader fight

Going Forward