The Daily Babble

Pol Spec

Senator Russ Feingold is proposing that The Big Smirk be censured by the Senate for violating the law with his secret snooping NSA program. The southpaw blogosphere is fully mobilized, everywhere you look, urging readers to contact their Senators. If this catches on and turns into something, it could get Feingold a lot of attention, and we'll see how he stands up to it--a good test for potential presidential nominees. So far he's doing great.

Meanwhile, there's a report on an Al Gore speech in Florida. It sounds as if he's developed a vocabulary for connecting with people on issues and impressions. It's going to be months if not years before we see how 08 prospects shake out, but for right now, I'd say the strongest ticket the Dems could go with would be Gore-Finegold. The blogs are generally backing Feingold for the top spot, with some support for Mark Warner. And of course Hillary is leading everybody in money and clout. But I don't think she's the new Bill Clinton. Oddly enough, it's Al Gore. Gore is the new Clinton in terms of his ability to communicate. I think that will become clearer as time goes on, and we'll see how it all shakes out. Right now, my sense is that Gore-Finegold would beat anyone the Republicans could nominate, especially after what I expect to be a fractious run-up to nomination. Including McCain.

This weekend, an article in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette by Sally Kalson was getting a lot of attention. She reports on a 7 year old Iraqi boy disfigured by the war, brought to Pittsburgh for reconstructive surgery. Seeing this face of war calls into question its legitimacy in a real way, she writes. It's a fine, balanced piece but I'd expect that from Sally. I knew her a bit when I lived in Pittsburgh and wrote some for the Post Gazette. She's been quietly doing a great job of reporting for a long time in Pittsburgh, so I'm happy to see her get this well-deserved attention.