On the heels of hearing Ed Schultz' interview with Joe Lieberman, I started surfing the net for information and feedback, to see what the non-DK crowd has been saying.
I didn't see much but, but then I came across something a little disturbing: Ned Lamont denying his netroots.
I'm not the biggest fan of Slate. Even before it was bought out by the Washington Post, I was skeptical of their "message." Other than their movie/TV reviews and
Fred Kaplan, I take what they say with a grain of salt. Not to mention their apparent
jealously of kos. Ironically (or maybe this was expected?) the same writer has a
new story meant to tear down the growing sea of change that is the netroots.
Long story=short: blogger uses very questionable image of Lieberman in their posting. Joe denounces it first, leaving the ball in Lamont's court. Lamont's response:
"I don't know anything about the blogs. I'm not responsible for those. I have no comment on them."
Blogger removes image, mea culpas and moves on. Slate writer uses the incident to write a "See? the blogs aren't better than the press when it comes to politics!" story.
Now, I could care less about Mr. Dickerson and his one-sided feud with The Owner of This Site (It's obvious someone has an unhealthy obsession). Or with the blogger-in-question who initiated this incident (they've apologized, so it's now a matter of whether or not you think it's authentic). Or Lieberman, who's most likely happy Lamont is connected to at least one guffaw (although the whole thing really started with an ad he did. Nah, my beef is with Lamont. It's a small beef, but still a beef.
See, the reason I thought people were fed up with Joe is because they thought he's disconnected. For a politician to come out and say they don't pay attention to blogs like they were invented last month is just insulting. You can argue that blogs is one of the best technological advancements from an everyman's POV. Besides, I'm not talking about a blog that gets 100 hits and 20 comments a week.
It would be a really cruel joke on liberal bloggers if Lamont wins the nomination, then the senate seat, only to abandon the faction who helped spread his name across the country. And it will be extremely awkard for the aforementioned bloggers to have to admit that ironically, Lieberman is (for now) quicker to the draw when it comes to online events (not that this means that Joe has seen the light).
I see Lamont's POV: the media is scared of bloggers, and tend to hate politicians who align with them. I also see his spokesperson's POV: it is a distraction. That's why Lamont himself should nip this in the bud.
I'll dip into Dickerson's story once more, only because he made one good point:
If Lamont wants to get to Washington, he's going to need to learn one of the most important senatorial clichés: "I'd like to revise and extend my remarks." He can't run from the bloggers.
No he can't; we're definitely connected. I just hope this was just an incident, and not the first of a pattern.
UPDATE: For the curious, I've added the Lieberman Interview (for podcasting).