Texas Hold 'Em
Ex-Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D) believes a picture is worth thousands of dollars. Despite a lackluster 4thQ fundraising, he raked in over $80K in 2 weeks after liberal blogs posted a photo of Pres. Bush hugging Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX 28) at the SOTU.
Pre-hug, Rodriguez had support from his former colleagues: 10 members, including Rep. John Murtha, had donated. But the infusion of money from the 'Net invigorated the campaign.
In past Dem primaries, candidates who run afoul of the party's traditional interest groups have suffered (see Martinez v. Solis in '00). Both the AFL-CIO and Change to Win Coalition are working to dethrone Cuellar, who has received little money from labor. Cuellar has the advantage of incumbency and claims his centrist voting record fits a district that voted 53% for Bush. This proxy battle pits the party's liberal, activist wing against the centrist pragmatists. If the left wins this fight, activists will be emboldened in challenging other centrist incumbents -- a worrisome prospect for Dems as they try to win back the House. [JOSH KRAUSHAAR]
Are the Republicans running a decent candidate that could take advantage of a Rodriguez win in the Democratic primary?
So far, I see the Democratic "netroots" taking extraordinary care not to present primary challenges anywhere that could put a Democratic seat in serious jeopardy, with the possible exception of Ned Lamont's challenge to Lieberman in CT.
Are you seeing something different? If so, what and where?
From where I sit, as many have said before me, the difference is no longer "liberal" vs. "moderate," but whether Democrats will be willing to fight for anything that sets them apart from the far-right Republicans who currently dominate the political landscape. Moderate is fine: just stop apologizing for being Democrats, and fight.
Cuellar isn't much of a Democrat, so getting rid of him by replacing hoim with a real Democrat, Ciro Rodriguez, is actually a smart move by a party that wants not only to win, but to people the House with Members that will work together for a party vision. Cuellar won't, so it is SMART SMART SMART to try to remove him in the primary.
I know it is difficult for those of you inside the Beltway to fathom real world events, but let me try anyway.
The netroots is NOT about liberal versus centrist. It is about fighting back versus being spineless wimps. (I say that as a centrist and former GOP operative.)
Something, though, tells me that many Beltway media types already understand this. But to acknowledge it would undermine such a fruitful meme. Not to mention one that does not upset the status quo in DC.
total BS... cuellars no moderate, he's a CfG pawn and voted for bush, he's no centrist, he's an anrch conservative constantly rumored to be switching parties.