TALKING POINTS MEMO needs info on JK campaigning for 2006

[MBS]

See http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
Josh Marshall says: "TPM Reader MB says John Kerry's doing his bit ...
'I don't like being a homer, but JK has been working his ass off for both Senate and House candidates. You can see the money he's raised and given here (scroll down): http://www.johnkerry.com/ . For example: Patrick Murphy -- $145,000. Darcy Burner -- $25,000. Tammy Duckworth -- $185,000.
Honestly, I can't think of any sitting member of Congress in my lifetime who has done as much for congressional candidates, whether in an off-year election or not. Is it all selfless? No. But he's doing it. And there are a number of other high-profile '08 contenders who are sitting on their hands.'

". . . So by all means, all the candidates let us know what they're doing for the House candidates. Second, we know that the big feet are out campaigning with challengers, out of mix of public spiritedness and an effort to collect chits. (Okay, mainly to collect chits.)
All true. But what are they doing now? Not before today, but in the final three weeks. The picture is very, very different right now than it was as recently as two or three weeks ago.
Let's get all the facts out there. And if you want to discuss this, join us over at TPMCafe.

At TPM Cafe, there seems to be a lot of garbled information and misinformation
http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/17/should_the_2008_ers_lend_a_hand
Go to it, Kerry group! Please help straighten them out!
(sorry to pass the buck here, but I've got to get up early for work tomorrow, so I've got to sign off)

[beachmom]

1. You rock, MBS!!

Here's the exact link to his comment:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010420.php

We need PAC people here, who have links to exactly how much he's given -- isn't it $13 million? That's at the second link MBS provided. This is an A list blog. Damn, this is good.

[beachmom]

2. Oh, I guess Josh wants where they are campaigning

this is not my best suit -- who's up on his schedule?

[ProSense]

3. On the road:

http://www.johnkerry.com/election06/ontheroad

[Mass]

4. This thread is refreshing compared to DU or kos

very few snark at Kerry. People may or may not support him, but at least the tone is generally respectuous.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/17/should_the_2008_ers_lend_a_hand

Josh has updated his frontpage with this:

While this recognizes that Kerry did very well, I am wondering who is this person "from the inside" who tries to relativize Kerry's merits. The comments are not wrong, but I am always wary of anonymous sources.

From someone on the inside ...

Kerry's been great in terms of being a surrogate and making campaign appearances, and it can't be overstated how important that is to getting a candidate traction and legitimacy locally. On money, it's been non-stop raising money for candidates for more than a year, which again is great but it should be noted that most of it came from an email list left over from a presidential campaign, a bit of an unfair advantage in this comparison. You'd have to check how much money he's sitting on himself and how much of that he's given to make a real judgment.

Feingold's done the same email-wise, though he doesn't have the list or the warchest Kerry does, and has helped some key campaigns. Edwards has been a great surrogate in some cases, and has done the email thing - could have done more perhaps, though instead he was working on poverty which is hard to hold against him. I've followed Clark, and he's done the email/ online community fundraising thing, but he's also the perfect surrogate - disliked by few and gravitas on national security.

Clinton is certainly the sore thumb. She does some great stuff for NY candidates, but she certainly could have done more. Now she doesn't have a huge email list, and in moderate or Republican-leaning districts, where most competitive races are, she might not always be the perfect surrogate, but the sheer amount of money she is sitting on and can direct is enormous. She recently shelled out $1 million for the DSCC and I think $250K or so to the DCCC, but out of how much?

Next question, how many safe House incumbents are sitting on money and how much?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010422.php

[karynnj]

5. I like that Josh made that comment - it puts people

who want to be both anonymous and considered insiders on notice that it's tough to be both at the same time.

Reading between the lines - this doesn't sound so much like an isider but a Clark partisan.

The email list comment is unfair. A 2 yr old email list would be mostly useless. This is an asset Kerry carefully tended and used to buils relationships and to foster involvement as well as raise money.

[ProSense]

6. Anonymous!

Right! It's highly unlikely anyone in any official capacity put out a statement making such references to other candidates! The person even has Clinton's numbers wrong.

[karynnj]

7. Even more deadly is the opinion

stated as fact that she is not helpful in Moderate or Republican leaning districts. Implicitly, it dooms her GE campaign.

Clark is "perfect". The Edwards "negative" is of the "works too hard" variety that we all learned to put on self appraisal forms.

[Mass]

8. I only posted the comment because they recognized Kerry's work

which is a lot of progress compared to even a couple weeks ago.

While I agree with your assessment of what the post is, we cannot expect that people are going to stand up and say: "Kerry is the only one", so, everything that does not dismiss Kerry totally at this stage is a big improvement and shows HIS strategy is working.