I know it's a big roll of the dice for me to take on the head honcho of this site in my first week of diary writing, but I have to get this off my chest. I have never been so steamed by a post on a blogsite as I was when I saw Kos run up the white flag in TN and toss Ford under the bus...and then put up a post pumping up CT-Sen 30 minutes later.
Let's take a look at the polls, shall we?
- The RCP poll average has Lamont down 11 points and Ford down just 6.5.
- There have been 8 polls showing Ford within 5 points or even ahead of Corker in just the past two weeks - including three in the past week. Lamont hasn't been within 8 points in any poll released since late September, besides two Zogby Interactive polls (and we know how accurate those are).
- There hasn't been a poll showing Lamont tied or ahead of Lieberman since before the primary.
Granted, none of that actually means that Lamont will lose. But why is it that Kos is so willing to throw Ford under the bus based on three polls but isn't willing to toss Lamont under based on dozens? The answer is that Kos's real reason has nothing to do with polls.
The real reason is that Kos doesn't like Ford's politics or public statements. He's relatively moderate, and probably the most moderate member of the Congressional Black Caucus (along with Sanford Bishop). Ford doesn't toe a progressive line, and occassionally breaks ranks to hit other Democrats. But he's the most progressive member of the TN delegation, and his voting record is what you'd expect from a black Democrat hoping to run for Senate in a red Southern state.
Lamont, on the other hand, is a solid progressive by any standard. You won't hear me argue that Ford would be a better Senator for us than Lamont, and Kos is right to recognize that. I think Ford's worst sin in the eyes of Kos was endorsing Lieberman, which was a slap in the face of the candidate Kos has worked hardest to promote this year. A mistake to be sure, and one that Kos was rightfully angry about. But isn't it ironic that Kos is now slapping the face of a candidate that many other Democrats have been working hard for this year? How would he feel if a major lefty blog publicly threw Lamont under the bus?
Ford is far from perfect, I know. But none of his shortcomings or statements are good reasons to give up on this race. Anyone who thinks that Ford would not be the kind of Democratic Senator that we could be proud of needs to take a look at his record, or at least read his issue positions. He might break ranks every once in awhile to burnish his moderate image, but he is still as progressive a Democrat as there is in TN (as Corker frequently points out).
Also, no one (even Kos) can question that he is far, far better than Bob "911" Corker.
I am a moderate-to-progressive Democrat residing in Philadelphia. I feel no particular sense of personal loyalty to either Lamont or Ford (and none towards Lieberman or Corker). I initially was wary of Lamont's challenge to Lieberman, but quickly changed my mind once I realized that we had a real chance to get a better Democrat in CT.
In the interest of disclosure, I have been saying for a few weeks that I think Lamont blew his chance to win this race. I have even said so in several comments. But I am not Kos. No one reports or blogs on the comments of one random blogger from Philly. I am not that important. And even if I did have the power to post on the DailyKos front page, I would NEVER have let on my belief that Lamont was going to lose.
Kos is that important. For good or ill, people listen to him, and the MSM cites him if they ever need to pull a quote from the progressive blogosphere. And when he basically signals his intent to give up on a race that millions of Democrats believe in, it sends a terrible message.
I'm not asking us to stick our heads up our collective asses. On the contrary, we should be very sure that we focus our time and resources in the places where it can do the most good. But it still can do us good in CT.
As I blogged yesterday, turnout is HUGE in this TN-Sen race, and there are several non-statistical factors that will work very much in Ford's favor - Bredesen's certain landslide, a close election in Memphis, and conservative unease about Corker. The short-term intangibles in TN all break our way.
We can't give up on this race. If there is ANY chance of Lieberman breaking ranks and joining the GOP after this election, we need a 1 or 2 seat cushion to ensure that it won't benefit him or hurt us if he does. I think we have a good shot in AZ, but Pederson is facing odds not much better than Ford's.
I said it once, and I'll say it again - let's fight this one to the finish. Let's not surrender any Senate seat where there's a chance of electing a Democrat to it.