Falling for the Spin

"Yes, he deserves criticism for poor judgment, for trying to use his position to get out of a sticky situation, for opposing gay equality and dignity, while being gay himself. But this was a victimless incident, in which no one tried to harm anyone else; and he also needs support and help and compassion. The glee at his exposure came from both sides. It was ugly wherever it came from.

"The incident should also tell the GOP something they still don't want to face, but need to urgently. It is that gayness is as deep a part of someone's psychic core as can be found. It is not a sin; it's an identity. The attempt to stigmatize, deny, suppress or criminalize this identity simply cannot work in the long run."

The Massachusetts Democratic Party has set up an anti-Romney Web site, complete with video. Is this the future, where all oppo goes online?

The Boston Globe quotes online analyst Lee Rainie: "For many campaign cycles, oppo research was treated as a covert black art, practiced by people in the shadows and disseminated by whispers from people who started their conversations by saying, 'This is on deep background.' This effort is different because it taps into the new realities of politics in the Internet age."

Fred Thompson's campaign kickoff plan doesn't win rave reviews from the New Republic's Michelle Cottle:

"Fred, Fred, Fred. If you and your team want to quash the widespread grumbling about your being a spoiled, lazy candidate basing a White House run on little more than your Hollywood celebrity, why do you keep behaving like one?

"After months of good ol' Fred's jerking voters around with his Hillybilly Hamlet act (should I? could I? dare I not?), now comes word that he has finally finished testing the waters and will take the plunge this week. But instead of making up for lost time by heading to New Hampshire to mix things up with fellow Republicans in Wednesday's debate, what is Fred doing? He's delaying entering the race until 12:01 a.m. Thursday morning and instead spending his Wednesday in Burbank, taping a sit-down with Jay Leno.

"Defending her man's choice on 'Meet the Press' Sunday, Thompson adviser Mary Matalin pointed to Leno's large viewership and insisted that the show was, in fact, ideally suited to Fred's 'message-driven campaign.'

"Sure, if Fred's message is that he's too good to be bothered with actually running for president.

"Far be it from me to champion the sound-bite freakshows that currently pass for presidential debates. But if there is one venue even less conducive to a serious discussion of ideas, it's late night TV."

And in the huh? category, David Brody unearths this from the Des Moines Register:

"God's will is for Iowa to have the first-in-the-nation caucus, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson told a crowd here today . . .

"Several people in the crowd snickered after Richardson made the comment."

And how exactly does the governor of New Mexico know this?

Daily Kos is a media operation, not a fundraising vehicle, the FEC says.

Finally, for everyone who's ever gotten ticked at a smug, condescending journalist, comes this report in London's Daily Mail:

"If he didn't believe in karma before, Piers Morgan must surely do now.

"The ex-newspaper editor, now a columnist for the Mail on Sunday's Live magazine, took great delight in making fun of President Bush for falling off a Segway -- the two-wheeled, motorised, gyroscopically balanced scooter that, its makers promise, will never fall over.

"His paper, the Daily Mirror, ran the headline in 2003: 'You'd have to be an idiot to fall off, wouldn't you Mr President.' It added: 'If anyone can make a pig's ear of riding a sophisticated, self-balancing machine like this, Dubya can.' So, it seems, can Mr Morgan.

"He broke three ribs after falling off the Segway at 12 mph in California."

And there's video.