I've never played golf, but when my brother tries to explain what's so good about it, he always comes back to the feeling he gets when he hits the ball well, and "it's just right".
I got that feeling today when I looked at this graphic attached to this NY Times oped.
I took some serious grief when I did my first Examiner piece when I said
But to be honest, even if the public doesn't fall in behind the leadership, and the party loses every election, there will be great consulting gigs and staff jobs. And there's a part of me that believes that's the real issue.
But let's go to the Times...here's a tabular reproduction of the key information...
| Blogger | Blog | Candidates | Pay |
| Jerome Armstrong | MyDD, Kos | Sherod Brown, Mark Warner | $180,000 |
| Scott Shields | MyDD, Kos, Blue Jersey | Robert Menendez | $2,562/mo to $2,905/mo |
| Tim Tagaris | Grow Ohio, Kos, MyDD | Sherrod Brown, Ned Lamont | $38,000 |
| Abraham Chernilla | Raising Kaine | James Webb | $7,700 |
| Peter Daou | Daou Report, HuffPo | Hillary Clinton | $5,000/month |
| Aldon Hynes | Orient Lodge | Ned Lamont | $4,100/mo |
| Jesse Taylor | Pandagon | Ted Strickland | $2,050/mo |
| Julie Fanselow | Red State Rebels, Kos | Larry Grant, James Brady | $1,300/mo from Grant + unknown from Brady |
| Aaron Silverstein | Heading Left | Bill Winter | $850/mo |
| David Sirota | SirotaBlog, HuffPo | Ned Lamont | unknown |
| Patrick Hynes | Ankle Biting Pundit | John McCain | $31,500 |
| Jon Henke | QandO | George Allen | $2,300 |
The MyDD folks did well for themselves, didn't they?
And yes, I do have that "it's just right" feeling.
For further reading on this, take a look at an old post of mine about astroturfing.
And for the record, before ad income, hosting and support for Winds costs us about $180/month. We make about $80/month on ads (pathetic, yes, but I haven't had time to do better), so I'm currently shelling out about $100/month to keep this place going. I make $150/each for the Examiner pieces, so writing for the Examiner has been paying to keep this place open.
Just for the record.
Lamont sure got his money's worth eh? ROFL.
I believe Armstrong quit MyDD and was working full time for the Warner campaign, didn't he? I'm not sure I see the point here.
Apropos of Robin's remark, isn't it odd that the Republicans' only success of this election cycle (an unprecedented across-the-board defeat) calls himself a Democrat?
Wait, I thought Joe Katzman was financing Winds?
Anyway, I'm sure you have seen the various blog valuators. Winds is worth about $626,000.
http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/
Of course, people aren't offering what these calculators indicate, but keep at it. In a few years, there may be ways to monetize this.
Andrew, onme of the things I am most critical of - because I've seen it in action, first-hand - is the cozy network of elected officials, staff, lobbyists, journalists, and think-tank pundits who all manage to change chairs every two years while making sure that each of their backs are scratched and that the cusions are comfy for the next person in.
One of my hopes for blogging has been - and still is - that we can break their iron ricebowl by forcing some accountability and transparency, and by getting some citizens into the dialog.
The left netroots has been making the claim that they - and only they - are holding out the flag of 'people power' against the right-wing noise machine and folks like Glenn Reynolds.
But they're lying. Back in my first post, they all worked for George Soros, and now they're jockeying for fat campaign contracts.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Thank you, no.
A.L.
A.L.
Thanks for the full disclosure. It means a lot to the readers. I don't care if you guys are making money, I'd just I feel I deserve to know where you are coming from when I read your articles. If somebody is making $40K+ per year just from one candidate, then that needs to be considered with their material.
Daniel
It is silly to call Lieberman's election as an Independant a "Republican" success. However, if it were ascribed to Republicans, it would be because they joined other people on the basis of principle.
That's something to be proud of.
"The MyDD folks did well for themselves, didn't they?"
Heh. As AJL remarks, Armstrong LEFT MyDD, when he went to work for Warner.
Where is what is being made by Matt Stoller, or Chris Bowers?
Again - if you are going to pour your heart and soul into something - better than something also make some money, right?
I just don't get this - is it jealousy?
And it is a VERY bad conflation - "Andrew, onme of the things I am most critical of - because I've seen it in action, first-hand - is the cozy network of elected officials, staff, lobbyists, journalists, and think-tank pundits who all manage to change chairs every two years while making sure that each of their backs are scratched and that the cusions are comfy for the next person in.
One of my hopes for blogging has been - and still is - that we can break their iron ricebowl by forcing some accountability and transparency, and by getting some citizens into the dialog"
To say that someone like Bowers, or Daou, or Tim Tagaris - to say these guys are equivalent to someone like Carville - that's a stupid argument.
We all have to eat, right? What, Katzman didn't get his Defense Daily gig, because of his editorship at Winds of Change?
Really?
Sorry, hypocracy, you're being obtuse.
When a reporter who covers politics leaves his job to become a staffer of the politicians he covers, and then leaves that job to become a lobbyist - we're talking conflicts of interest galore.
The fact that our political class pretty much works that way is one of the reasons it's so badly broken.
Now the netfolks come along (superset of the netroots) and most of us are saying the old system is broken, let's fix it.
But some folks are saying - let's fix it by giving me a seat at the table.
Now they are passionate about their beliefs. But the gun lobbyists are passionate about firearm,s rights, and the labor lobbyists are passionate about improving the lot of the working woman - as long as it involves cushy jobs and skyboxes for all.
And I'll flatly call bullshit.
Joe got a journalism job from the blog (and I get to write columns for chump change); all well and good. When he gets a job in the Pentagon, let's talk.
A.L.