New York Daily News
Chill, Hil, no one's declaring war on you here
BY CELESTE KATZ, RICHARD SISK AND HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Sen. Hillary Clinton can sleep easy: the anti-war activists who mobilized to take down Joe Lieberman say they have no plans to come after her next.
"We're not hearing a whole lot from our members in New York about the race," said Eli Pariser, 25, executive director of MoveOn.org.
"Sen. Clinton [D-N.Y.] does appear to be listening to her constituents," Pariser said, mentioning her call last week for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.
Clinton's ill-funded Democratic challenger Jonathan Tasini, who hoped liberal activists emboldened by their Connecticut victory would flock to his cause, said the group should put the matter to a vote.
"I challenge MoveOn to poll their members and ask them whether they should support my campaign," Tasini said.
"The thing I find disturbing is that Eli, who I respect, is buying the phony taking-to-task of Rumsfeld by Hillary Clinton. Donald Rumsfeld is being criticized by Republicans. To criticize him these days is no great shakes," he said.
Clinton spent a full day campaigning in New York City yesterday, suggesting she's leaving nothing to chance after the earthquake in the Nutmeg State.
"I think it's great that people are actively involved in the political process," she said. "I think it is both exciting and important that people from all walks of life participate and speak out and share their opinions."
Novice Connecticut candidate Ned Lamont's victory was hailed as the first electoral coup by the ranks of liberal bloggers who breathed life into the upstart's campaign.
They drummed up crowds to see Lamont, dogged Lieberman on the campaign trail with questions and coordinated the travels of the "Kiss Float," a giant papier-m%E2ché representation of President Bush's infamous kiss for Lieberman that showed up at all of Lieberman's events.
Much ink has been spent analyzing the bloggers' angry screeds, but little attention has been paid to the most remarkable technical innovation of the Lamont race: the introduction of YouTube.com into politics.
The new Web site, which lets anyone upload and broadcast video for free, was a major player in the Lieberman upset.
Lamont backers posted about 500 homemade videos, from snippets of Lieberman being roasted on the "Colbert Report" to compilations of conservatives like Ann Coulter and Pat Robertson gushing praise for him.
Also, Lamont's TV commercial, "Messy Desk," which lampoons negative ads by darkly warning voters that Lamont's desk is a mess and he's rotten at karaoke, was viewed more than 140,000 times on YouTube: a stunning number of people to actively seek out campaign advertising.
Originally published on August 10, 2006
