Bloggers Could Be Dead Link for Hillary

[illinoisprogressive]

this article on Politico talks about Hillary's problems with the netroots.
From the article:

"As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) campaigns for the Democratic presidential nomination, her biggest opposition may not come from primary rivals or Republican challengers, but rather from the leftist blog community that often views her as a political punching bag.

Instead of being embraced by liberal blogs as the first serious woman presidential contender, Clinton has been labeled an “opportunist,” the candidate more interested in getting elected than in standing on principle. “Her model of doing politics is based on pandering to individual groups,” said MyDD’s Matt Stoller. He cited Clinton’s stance on Iran – “she’s giving cover to Bush’s strategy” – and her fundraiser with News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch as evidence that she’d rather triangulate than play the role of progressive.

Much of the bloggers’ ire is directed at Clinton’s nuanced Iraq policy – from her initial support for the war to her hesitancy in moving away from that position. Even her condemnation of President Bush’s surge proposal, and her calls for troop redeployment, have been derided as “late to the party.”

But such criticism is actually a window into an even broader critique of New York’s junior senator. Many in the blog community view Clinton as overly strategic, and even insincere, in her political maneuvering.
“To most bloggers, authenticity is an important criterion. There is an allergic reaction to hypercautious politicians,” The Huffington Post’s Arianna Huffington wrote in an e-mail. “Hillary Clinton’s problem with the blogosphere is that she has been so calculating that you can smell it. Every thought has been processed through multiple channels in her and her consultants’ brains. It’s so fabricated.”

Exacerbating this criticism is Clinton’s standing as an inside-the-Beltway politician. Her employment of high-profile consultants such as pollster Mark Penn has drawn the condemnation of the blog community that sees this as the root cause of her cautious politicking. Most bloggers shun the label “anti-establishment.” But many blame the D.C.-insider, consultant-based method of campaigning that Clinton is utilizing for the Democrats’ (recently ended) political dry spell."

for the rest of the article:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/3933.html

[KingofNewOrleans]

1. Politico is a rightwing website

and deserves the same respect that Drudge does. You should break yourself of the politico habit ASAP.

[Old and In the Way]

2. I like to think of it as FreeRepublic with an updated interface.

They are obviously slicker with their anti-Democratic bias, but their commentors are no different than the idjots that frequent FR.

[Forkboy]

3. lol...Too bad they aren't as close to the truth as you are here.

I could never troll FR.Right after I joined DU I had to find out what all the hubbub was about them,so I went and checked it out.It really didn't matter what they were saying because the layout made my eyes bleed before I could read anything.

I depend on the brave souls here to go there and then transcribe it into English for the rest of us. :)

[karynnj]

6. I'm not sure they are right wing, but John Harris is despicable

I read the first chapter of his book (written with Mark Halperin.) It says a lot when he praises Matt Drudge as our "Edward R Murrow". He then in great lavish detail tells of a drudge smear on Senator Kerry during the 2004 primaries.

Drudge wrote an article filled with fabricated quotes of Kerry paying $1000 for a hair styling with highlighting etc. Harris and Halperin praised this masterstroke. Kerry's office immediately put out a statement that he simply paid $75 for a haircut.

What I took away from the story was that the problem was that the media - which Harris and Halperin were part of - failed to call Drudge and the RW on lies. His take, at least from this except, is that doing this was good politics.

[Alamom]

4. Citing Arianna Huffington is a dead give-away on any article...

To put it mildly, Senator Clinton is NOT her favorite person.

[karynnj]

7. I have always been skeptical of Huffington

She was a RW ideologue when she was RW. Noe she is a "purer" LW person than any long term Democrat. Is there anyone she always likes?

[wyldwolf]

5. Stoller is mad that she is "pandering to individual groups??"

Who does he back? Edwards? Obama? Kucinich? Panderers one and all. Maybe Stoller is upset she isn't kissing HIS ass?

[NoPasaran]

8. I confess. I'm a blogger and a Dean alumnus so I guess I'm part of the "netwroots"

But I think that the Netroots represent more bark than we do bite.