Posted by
Katie Favazza on Monday, October 30, 2006 9:13:25 PM
Mary Katharine is getting lots of attention from the mainstream media. She appeared
on CNN this weekend and will be on Larry King Live any minute now.
Stay tuned...
To start things out, Larry King interviewed the mother and girlfriend of a firefighter who died in California's massive wildfire, now believed to be the result of arson. I am so glad Larry King (LK from here on out) gave the matter attention, but that was definitely the most awkward interview of my life. My roommate and I think he was trying a little too hard to sound like Dr. Phil. Why on earth is it LK's place to tell a mother and girlfriend that they should "go on?" Very uncomfortable for everyone.
Update: Where is MKH? We have James Carville (JC), Laura Ingraham (LI), and David Gergen (DG) on board for now. Gergen points out that it's interesting to note that George Bush appears in more Democratic ads than Republican ads. Carville says this is all about Iraq. Ingraham says that the Democrats who look like they might succeed are fairly moderate, maybe even conservative, so Reagan might even be smiling down on us. A CNN poll says that Iraq is the #1 issue for the upcoming midterm elections.
Update: DG says that stem cell research is going to be a "wedge issue" for the Democrats. He says it has a 56% support in Missouri right now. LI points out that Michael J. Fox admitted that he did not read the amendment. What's missing is the debate on the facts, she says. JC says there is no debate in the medical field. (He's wrong, by the way. I'll add that link in a minute.
Update:
Here ya go.) LI interrupts and brings us back to the issue of cloning. DG says there is new research that doesn't involve killing the embryos, but as LI points out--that's not what Amendment 2 is about. ("Laura, let me finish. This is my show." Good one, Larry.) JC brings up my best friend--Danforth--and says that "running against" stem cell research is a poor choice for the Republicans (and he really means Talent). DC says the Stem Cell Initiative is going to "win" (I like how he phrases that) and says that McCaskill's campaign is definitely going to be helped by the attention that the stem cell issue has gotten.
Update: JC says the "nastiness" of the campaigns doesn't seem to be working. Very good point - for once. He says it is not effective in light of the failures in and involving Iraq. DG says that many of the negative campaign ads backfire on some candidates. It has struck him that ALL the ads right now are negative. LI calls it a "restless populous." LI points out that we've seen vicious campaigns in this nation since 1796, and claims that not much has changed. The difference is that now we have a media to amplify it. She says Democrats better win big if they want to make a difference. All three of them seem to be avoiding specific predictions. DG says the election is going to be more exciting than the World Series. Very offensive, Mr. Gergen. I'm not ok with that. LI says there will be a big GOP turnout and JC says it will be average. DG says Berns might still take the Montana race and that Corker might do better than the polls suggest.
Update: I think MKH will be up any minute now. LK says he is going to hear from radio and Internet about next week... And we're back. Stephanie Miller (SM) is on. Lars Larson (LL) is on, too. John Aravosis (JA) from AmericaBlog.com. SM says Democrats have the momentum and it's at a point where...she's concerned about the electronic voting systems. Lars says the American public cares about being safe...and not having Nancy Pelosi run the country. John says America wants 2 parties back in DC. MKH says that Steele's momentum is great and it is really telling that we even have a shot in New Jersey and Maryland. MKH say there is certainly blame to go around and Democrats won't take any responsibility on the issue of national security, even going so far as t o isolate those Democrats with some war-credibility. MKH is confident about the Senate, but not so much about the House. SM bites back at MKH and says she is not far left. JA says MKH might have been right 12 years ago... ouch.
Update: DG is mildly concerned about the electronic voting machines. (I think this is the Democrats way of stalling the issue. Not a good move for them.) LL wants purple fingers back. JA is concerned about the people whose names are being cut off the machine. It's crazy. SM says the biggest concern is that our vote is privatized. WHAT?! She just semi-accused all the voting machine companies of rigging the elections!!! MKH is "partial to paper" (very cute) and points out that she thinks voter IDs are good. There are other problems involved here. She agrees with me - the Democrats haven't done themselves any favors by going on the attack about the electronic system. JA is outraged by the fact that a country as advanced as ours still can't get this right.
Update: SM is going to party like it's 1999 if the Democrats win both houses. (Yikes!) LL says Republicans need to clean up and point out that Dems winning is a "prescription for disaster." It won't be the same ol' thing if Republicans win. JA thinks that we will "finally see how governments are supposed to work" if Dems win both houses. (I find that very unlikely.) He also claims to have no idea if we are winning or losing in Iraq and notes that he would like to know what is really going on. (I know a few milbloggers and their friends who would love to tell him about it. Maybe I'll shoot him an email...) MKH says she might need to party like it's 1999 with SM if the Dems take both houses--because she'll need a drink. (Can I come, too?) She also thinks that Republicans will shape up their act a bit because they "will have gotten a bit of a spanking from their base." They will improve on the financial issue--and we will stay in Iraq and get the job done.