I want to tell you why I believe that Markos won the debate with Harold Ford Jr. this morning on NBC's Meet The Press
While I appreciate David Gregory and NBC having cast a national spotlight on this much-needed debate between DLC Harold Ford Jr. and Markos this morning, I couldn't help but see that it was a tired corporate media framing of 'the centrist v. the liberals'.
Markos won because he dispelled that belief by deconstructing the corporate media frame in fine populist form.
The humble Markos did a great job of clarifying who Daily Kos is. It's not him alone, but hundreds of thousands of voices, although Mr. Gregory tried driving a point home about Markos being a "liberal partisan."
I was disappointed when Mr. Ford went for the lowest common demoninator and set a frame where Daily Kos bloggers are anti-Jewish. We know that this is not true of us. He should be ashamed of his undercutting of so many Democrats who participate at Daily Kos to make this nation a better place. There was no need to insult all of us in this Fox News manner. Why would he want to give Bill O'Reilly more Democrat-burning fuel? While I realize it was a sign of his realization that he had begun to lose control of the debate, Mr. Ford's major mistake was forgetting that when he attacks in this manner, he is personally insulting and alienating hundreds of thousands of very intelligent and passionate Democratic activists who may have supported his olive branch, had his criticisms sounded sincere.
Markos had him on the run.
Harold Ford kept taunting Markos with the statement "You can't have it both ways," yet I observed Mr. Ford scrambling to take DLC credit for Bill Clinton while denying John Breaux's policy shortcomings like Peter denied Jesus .. and avoiding discussion of disappointing DLC losses for many years after Clinton.
Markos showed Mr. Ford that "You can't have it both ways."
While I credit Mr. Ford for his offer to attend next year's Yearly Kos, it was clear that his pained offer still encompassed his allegiance to a political organization that has lost political face. It was just a bit more stubborn than gracious.
Markos refreshingly helped explain and define the new center of the Democratic party while Mr. Ford sounded like the consultant-punditry-as-usual. Markos remained at ease and never strayed from reason and the truth about who we are.
He helped us this morning, and I want to take this opportunity to tell him and to thank him.
UPDATE:
NBC/Meet The Press TRANSCRIPT LINK will be posted when available.
OPENING COMMENTS (YouTube):
Go To NBC.com/Meet The Press to See Full Video
Video at Crooks and Liars
UPDATE 2:
mollyd comments on Harold Ford Jr. supporters' alternative reality (brace yourselves):
Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas just finished their debate on Meet the Press. Ford's message of centrism and the merging of the factions within the Democratic Party was the winning theme of the debate.
Ford clearly articulated why the DLC's centrism is so important coming into the 2008 elections. He reminded everyone that the DLC is a reform organization and has many accomplishments to boot on the issue. He also reminded everyone that the last Democrat to be elected president was Bill Clinton, a former chairman of the DLC. While in office Clinton, Ford recalled, jobs we recreated, the budget was balanced, crime went down, abortions were reduced, land was set aside for preservation, among other shining accomplishments. He suggested that those are accomplishments that wecan not only be proud of, but also learn from and build upon.
While Ford time and time again urged that the factions in the party come together and find common ground rather than always focus on the differences, Moulitsas on the other hand, out of desperation, resorted to trying to attack Ford and the DLC. He even went as far as to attribute the bridge collapse in Minnesota to former DLC Chairman and U.S. Senator John Breaux, which is quiet [sic] ridiculous. LINK TO FORD REPORT
How about that? You can talk about about this "alternative reality" comment from the Ford Report blog in our ongoing discussion below.