In one week, George Bush will deliver his State of the Union address. In response, the Democrats have announced that VA Gov. Tim Kaine will deliver the Democratic rebuttal.
Many bloggers and blog readers have complained about the choice of Kaine. You can read some of the responses here, here, here, and here. Personally I would have picked Al Gore. If Democrats are angry that the media essentially buried his most recent speech (aside from reporting that the GOP found it absolutely LOOOONY), then they should have seized the opportunity to give Al a pulpit that the media could not ignore.
But regardless of the merits of the choice, wouldn't it be cool if progressive bloggers chose a spokesperson to deliver a SOTU/Rebuttal? More below.
Aside from possibly Al Gore or Howard Dean, I can't think of any Democratic politician (or former politician) who would actually talk about America in a way that we would truly recognize. A blogger likely would. Even if you didn't agree with some of the solutions he or she proposed, a blogger would at least be describing the America that you know: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
So, here's my list of possible candidates to write and deliver, via podcast, a live SOTU rebuttal next week:
Markos
Pros: Runs most visited progressive blog, military experience, moderate views.
Cons: Less personally visible in the past. Questionable in front of camera.
Atrios
Pros: Runs most visited (still?) solo blog, does not hold back, funny, moderate views.
Cons: Use of an obscure alias may detract from credibility, questionable strength in writing of extended length.
Matthew Yglesias
Pros: Understands policies, funny, good writer.
Cons: May be too young for some to take seriously, too academic, transcript will have typos.
Digby of Hullabaloo
Pros: He "gets it" as well or better than anyone else. Excellent writer.
Cons: Use of an obscure alias may detract from credibility, never spotted in public.
Arianna Huffington
Pros: Writes a for a blog that insiders will actually admit to reading, attractive, honest, tenacious.
Cons: Writes for a blog that insiders will actually admit to reading, foreign accent is "too French", gets airtime anyway.
John Aravosis of AmericaBlog
Pros: Good on camera, stays on talking points, repeats talking points, great mix of advocacy and strategy.
Cons: May use part of speech to display orchids.
Kevin Drum
Pros: Won't create controversy. Transcript will have neat bullet points.
Cons: May use part of speech to display cats. Will yield half of time to Jonah Goldberg to "be fair".
Vote and put any other recommendations in comments.