I love this idea

Blogtopia (ysctp) is a-buzz with what I think is an inspired idea.

Remember when you first encountered the wonder that is Arlen Specter? For many of us, it was during the Anita Hill hearings, where he first earned his place in the national progressive heart as "some guy who's every bit as dreadful as Orrin Hatch." As I understand it, if you're from Pennsylvania, he's been dreadful for lots longer than that - we just never noticed out here in the wider world.

I mean, try and imagine that. It must be like having Bob Barr/Dornan or Al D'Amato still representing you in Congress.

Ick.

I (falling meekly into line behind Atrios and Jeralyn Merrit and Counterspin) think it would be a terrific idea for Jim Cappozola to run.

Lemme splain why I personally think that this (if Jim doesn't mind the attendant bad stuff that happens to people who run for office against prominent national Republicans these days) is a great idea.

Think about the mechanics of it - Specter, who now has to fight with a desperate President Bush and his mighty national fundraising Maw of Death for desperately scarce re-election funds (and Bush doesn't care if he loses Congress - politically, holding all three branches is a problem for him. He has the two he needs. Congressmen have a nasty habit of remembering what you promised when you campaigned in their district) almost certainly makes Jim his Designated Opponent, because he doesn't take him at all seriously compared to whatever Traditional party hacks are running.

Then we all of a sudden get the papers quoting... Jim.

Picture it. The national press, as ever and more than ever, will be looking for someone to explain why the current situation sucks without acknowledging that one of the reasons it sucks is that they haven't done their damn job for years. Comes across whatever central memewatch ticker they all use: Jim. One of their own. Nationally known Blog ("...increasingly popular international phenomenon on the internet. Recently, liberal anti-war blogs have been making an unusually strong showing in..."). Mildred. The whole package.

And then all of a sudden, there's someone on the news and in the papers actually talking about what's going on, and, you know, it's Jim, and people are hearing it, and we're all happy, and they get to pretend it's new News and elide the whole "where the hell have we been" thing so they're happy too, and Arlen Specter at the very least has to work harder, and probably uses his muscle to take funding away from some less established national Republican, and someone I know is in People, and it's all upside.

I'd volunteer for that.

Hey, Jim, have your campaign manager get in touch.

edit: Hey, he's got the Agonist (who has links to endorsements from Mike Finley, Mad Kane, Testify and a new guy to me named ParadoxIX) Lean Left too.

edit again: Jesse's on the bandwagon.

edit serially: Devra's in.

edit another time: Yeehaw, he's the coveted (and lyrical) Jeanne vote.

edit [clever thing]: the eminent Sideshow agrees.

on freeperage as a corruption of the puritan ethos

I've been wondering (I really do think about this stuff) if the whole freeper "I know I'm right so even if I don't have the facts on my side, I get to use any means necessary because I Know I'm Right" is kind of an if cousins marry offshoot of Justification by Faith?

This, my children, is why we like pluralism a really lot.

Hey, they don't call it "Calvin ball" for nothing.

edit: Long Story has another ramification of this mindset.

edit again: the Preacher has yet another one.

Adam Felber made me howl.

Go.

We love the Meredith family, yes we do.

read this, on tort reform.