Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Friday, August 14, 2009

Sestak and Specter 1st thoughts

By Dave Anderson:


These are some initial thoughts on the Sestak and Specter Senate primary race after a very involved morning covering each candidate's pitch to the Netroots Nation crowd, talking to campaign staffers for both candidates, speaking with other activitsts and bloggers, and speaking off the record with numerous  political operatives who will be mobilizing for the May 2010 primary.  These are not fully formed thoughts yet but initial reactions.



  1. There is a good chance that this race will create a fairly serious divide in the reasonably well functioning netroots-labor alliance that worked well in the Lamont and Edwards primary campaign.  If Specter votes labor's way on a few large issues in the next three months, Labor's institutional support will go his way.  Labor has indicated that they are willing to take 80% wins and back Specter on those.  At the same time, the netroots side of the equation are heavily leaning Sestak on generic and genetic make-up.  The non-labor netroots side of the coalition don't have quite as much expertise as say ISW or SEIU in running a ground campaign, but we definately have that capacity. 

  2. Specter is in serious trouble.  Both Research 2K and Rasmussen have Specter in a far weaker position than Joe Lieberman was at an identical point in the 2006 cycle.   


  3. Joe Sestak really needs a good media/presentation coach.  He is good to very good in one on few and small group interactions as he has passion, intelligence and a nice ability to stay on message with a bit of gentility.  However once he is speaking to more than ~10 people, he gets both long-winded and gives off vibes of being a little out of place.  He has the cash on hand to spend a couple of thousand bucks on this and would get good value



  4. Sestak's primary argument will be that people can both trust his word and trust his principals.  He'll contrast himself with "Say Anything Arlen" (my words, not his).  Sestak will also argue that the American governing institutions have been failing to uphold the social and political contract and that repetition of the same old same old won't be effective.  Specter's basic argument is that he can bring home the bacon as well as he has been a secret liberal for most of his life (that is slightly unfair, but not by much)



  5. Sestak I think has a better travelling campaign group.  Specter's people are mostly new, comparatively inexperienced and don't know him well (to be expected as his old campaign crew was composed of Republicans).  



  6. I'm leaning towards voting for Sestak, but I still need to make up my mind on the activism end.   




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1 comment:

  1. JoanneAugust 15, 2009 at 3:04 PM

    Well said, Dave. I concur with your assessment, having observed their respective interviews.
    Sestak has potential to be impressive; Specter may ultimately appear winsome, but wiser persons may be on to his narcissistic, tiresome and inauthentic ways.
    Am listening this evening to Ron Reagan-- who is still down at Netroots. I, for one, am comfortably numb at home.
    Rather awesome blog work, by the way--and very nice to meet you.

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