Site Mantainence

I will be getting the site up to date with current content. We will add fund-raising tools for all of our progressive candidates. Just bear with me as I transition the web-site from its previous state. I have an intense day job so this will have to be a night owl passion of mine. No rest for me.

I look forward to talking some Mississippi politics with y'all.

Cotton Mouth is back!!

After a 15 month hiatus Cotton Mouth is about to be back online. The founder of the blog John Leek will not be able to contribute but on a once in a blue moon status. It is my opinion that Cotton Mouth is forever in debt to John Leek. It was his passion and incredible vision, especially for a 20 year old, that made this blog what it is. I will have to say I was intimidated by his enthusiasm and professionalism for someone 15 years my junior. He would chide me when I would let me emotions get the best of me, and point me in the right direction. It was folks like John Leek that made the 2008 election cycle what it was. He is in seminary to be a Methodist minister, very fitting for someone named John Wesley Leek. He will make one hell of a minister.

It has been hard for me not to be able to write. But like the rest of you I have a demanding job I have to attend to. I made a career move in December 2008 and have just now caught up to life. I am in IT and I had to learn UNIX for those of you who are dorks too. After ten years of Microsoft administration I am now a super goober with no graphical interface. I have now, after 15 months, reached a point of proficiency where I feel like writing again. I am dying to get back in the fight.

For now it will be just me. I am trying to get Jake back but we will see. I am going to post 4 or 5 articles a week. I look forward to getting it on with you right wing fanboys who regularly peruse the site.

Look for first post tomorrow or the next day.

The passing of HCR has us Dems ready to whip an elephant's ass. See you soon.

Update

Sorry guys I will be back to posting real soon. I am in the middle of a job change and have a lot more on my plate than I can handle. I have a demanding job and do this at night for the love of politics and writing. I just want to say that this is just a temporary interruption. I will try and get some good stuff up later tonight or tomorrow. Lord knows I have a ton of thoughts brewing in my head that need to get some air time

Cotton Mouth at the DNC

I am leaving bright and early for Denver. While there I will try my best to soak it all in, and report daily on the comings and goings of the Democratic National Convention. I have already RSVP'd for several events including guests like Howard Dean.

Jeff will check in with you live from Denver tomorrow evening.

Cotton Mouth Offer

Starting today, anyone who contributes $25 or more to Ronnie Musgrove or Travis Childers will receive an Obama spirit pack courtesy of Cotton Mouth. The Obama spirit pack will contain 2 blue Obama '08 buttons and 2 blue Obama '08 bumper stickers. By donating I will have access to your address, so no need to post your details. By donating you will be helping Ronnie and Travis join Barack Obama in bringing change to Mississippi.

Currently we are at $2000 and $400 in our fundraising campaigns. Anything donated past that will be counted, until I run out. I have 40 buttons and 40 bumper stickers.

We are quickly approaching the July 31 reporting deadline. As of June Roger Wicker is up nearly 3-1 in fundraising over Musgrove. Travis Childers has less cash on hand than Greg Davis. Do not sit on your hands and wait on good things to happen. Make it happen.

Cotton Mouth invited to the Big Tent

Thanks to Markos of Daily Kos and other premier bloggers we have a very cool blogger setup outside the convention in Denver. Cotton Mouth received an invitation to join the excitement of the Big Tent.

From the Big Tent Webpage:

The Big Tent will be the place to be for new media journalists, bloggers, reporters, and non-profit leaders covering the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer.

We're creating a 9,000 square foot, two-story structure that will house the work space for journalists, bloggers and new media, a Digg Stage with prominent national leaders, as well as a Google Retreat with a YouTube kiosk where you can make your own YouTube videos. The Big Tent will be open throughout the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 25- 28.

In the New Media Lounge, your pass will be a ticket to to enjoy all the benefits of the blogger / new media lounge, including free WiFi, work space, television-coverage, as well as free food and drinks. And you get to hang out with some of the top bloggers, new media journalists, and non-profit leaders in the country.

Happy Independence Day

We want wish all of our readers a safe and happy Independence Day from all of us at Cotton Mouth.

Hopefully you will read this on the 5th, because you were away from your computer, celebrating the 4th.

Obama donation link

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/pf?outreach_page_id=40231

No different than in the Ronnie Musgrove race, Barack Obama is staring down a fundraising deadline. The last month reported was the worst month for the good guys yet. If you get the urge to empty your bank account for Barack, do it here. Follow the link above to the donation page for our new Cotton Mouth for Obama setup.

Thanks to Y'all; Cotton Mouth Is Going To Netroots Nation

Last month I asked for y'all's help to get to progressive blogging's top conference.

Yesterday they announced the results as was reported by Jake and I was one of the folks selected for a scholarship thanks to my profile and your robust help.

When I sent out my request for help and votes I said this: "It would cover most of my expenses and ensure a Mississippi progressive voice at the conference.

Last year (with help from donors including some of y'all) I was able to go and was the ONLY Mississippi blogger there."

There's one more thing you can do for me if you're willing to help.

I'm going on a weeklong tour of graduate schools the week before Netroots Nation and that will start at Emory in Atlanta and end at Southern Methodist University in Dallas the day before the convention.

You can donate to help pay for my gas to get there at Cotton Mouth by clicking the "Make a Donation" link in the right column or by donating HERE.  Both are completely secure because it's handled through PayPal.

A donation of as little as $20 could help me go without putting a significant dent in my bank account so if you are able please consider donating.

Thank you all for your continued support and readership. I wouldn't be where I am today without the help of so many others and Cotton Mouth would be nothing without readers so thank you again.

- John Wesley Leek

Netroots Nation or Bust!

Thanks to all our friends and supporters, Cottonmouth founder John Leek has been selected as one of 30 Democracy for America scholarship recipients to attend the Netroots Nation Convention in Austin this summer.

To see the full list of winners, click here.

Congratulations to John and all the winners!


Update (John Leek): Thanks y'all! I could not have gotten this without the help of readers of Cotton Mouth, family and committed Mississippi Democratic activists. With this Cotton Mouth will have a representative at the two biggest progressive events of the summer with I at Netroots Nation and Jeff at the Democratic National Convention. We're moving on up!

Daily Kos says John Leek Rocks

Our man John Leek, the founding father of Cotton Mouth, received some big-time attention on Daily Kos today. In a diary on the prestigious recommended list about the applicants for the Netroots Nation scholarships, Daily Kos member "Land of Enchantment" had this to say about Mr. Leek,

Another applicant is John Leek of Cottonmouth blog, out of Mississippi. This is one of the "crashing the gates" blogs passed over by the DNC for floor credential in Denver, despite being clearly better qualified than the blog which got approved.

John Leek deserves to go to Netroots Nation if anyone does. While he may not admit it, it has to feel good to see your work recognized by your peers. Way to go John!

We're Going to Denver

Cottonmouth got word last night that we have been credentialed for the 2008 DNC Convention in Denver.

A very special thank you goes out to all our readers and supporters. We are very excited and incredibly grateful for the opportunity to meet bloggers from across the country who are doing what we're trying to do, and to provide our folks back home with continuous coverage of the event from Mississippi's perspective. Though we won't be sitting with the Mississippi delegation, we look forward to working with them off the convention floor.

Denver here we come!!!

Welcome Back!

On behalf of Cottonmouth blog, I'd like to officially welcome back John Leek. The founder and publisher of Cottonmouth, John has been focusing on his studies at USM over the past few months.

We all know he didn't go far, but but look out for more posts, including several series, from him.

As always, we appreciate the support from our readers, and writers, and we look forward to more political coverage as the 2008 races continue.

Daily Kos' comments on Blogging Credentials

As we've mentioned, Cottonmouth did not receive blogging credentials for the DNC Convention in August. We're still following up on several comments and e-mails, and we really do appreciate the support from our friends out there who believe we should have received the credentials, including those at Daily Kos.

This piece also includes information on the different types of blogging credentials.

There is still a chance we'll be given a general pass.

The DNC's blog credentialing f'up

So how did the DNC choose to recognize the growth of local blogs "in line with Governor Dean's 50-state strategy"? Mostly, they got it right. At least in 45 states. But they blew it big time in five others, dissing some of the best state bloggers in the country.

In New York, the excellent Albany Project was passed over for a site focused on NY City corruption founded by the Politico's Ben Smith. Go to that site, and it's nothing but press releases. [Update: That press release page is a lower-level page, which I
got when I clicked on the "blog" link in their navigation. They have real writers on their home page.]

In New Jersey, the inimitable Blue Jersey got passed over for PolitickerNJ -- a non-partisan, corporate owned site run by the guys who own the New York Observer. Somehow, I doubt that's inline with the spirit of Dean's 50-state strategy, online organizing, or being agents of change.

In Alabama, Left in Alabama was passed over, as was Cotton Mouth in Mississippi, passed over in favor of a site, Natchez Blog, devoted to Natchez MS, population 18,000 -- a site, by the way, that didn't have a single post or action alert on the MS-01 special election we won last week. Cotton Mouth was one of the best resources on that race (and the Senate race as well).

Finally, Michigan Liberal was given the big diss as well.

The DNC's online guy at the convention, Aaron Myers (email: myersA@demconvention.com) claims that it's a big ado about nothing, that the snubbed blogs will be getting regular blog credentials when those are announced sometime this week.

But that's not the point.

The state blogger corps were a special program and a particularly coveted one since it allows those bloggers to sit with their delegations on the convention floor. Regular bloggers can't do that. They may "have access" to the state delegations, but they won't be sitting with them.

The solution was easy -- take the five blogs that were given their unwarranted access, and give them regular blog credentials just like most everyone else. Those are the same credentials sites like Daily Kos will have, so there's nothing shameful about
them.

Then they could give those five state blogger corps passes in MI, AL, MS, NY, and NJ to the blogs in those states that have are TRUE reflections of Dean's 50-state strategy, those blogs that are organizing and building for a Democratic majority at the local level with little recognition virtually and no money. Those are the bloggers who are in the trenches helping make victories like MS-01 possible.

This fix could've been done quietly and without any public commotion, but Aaron Myers and whoever ultimately makes those decisions have decided to be obtuse about it. They're pretend that there's no difference between the regular credentials and the state blogger ones, a farcical position.

If there was no difference between the two classes of credentials, then there wouldn't be two classes of credentials.

We're not the only ones

Several other states with reputable blogs were shafted by the DNC committee credentialing bloggers. As we've mentioned, as they mention, it's obvious that this was a political move by someone and not based on our application.

As we've said before, we've been in contact with people who have told us that we were considered for the credential, but were vetoed by someone in Mississippi's Democratic Party. We are attempting to find out who that person is and why they felt we should not represent Mississippi. Any assistance in the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Open Left:

It's a bit disturbing to hear what's going on, then, with a few of the credentials. Pam's House Blend has a discussion going on about which blogs were credentialled at the Democratic National Convention. Mostly the choices were good, but four states in particular raise questions: Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Michigan.

Similarly, Bluejersey was nixed in favor of PoliticsNJ, a neutral media site owned by the New York Observer. The Albany Project, which cohosted a fundraiser for a special election candidate who is helping to flip the New York state Senate, was nixed in favor of Room Eight, a nonpartisan media site focusing on corruption. And MichiganLiberal was nixed for Blogging for Michigan, a much newer and less trafficked blog.

Why does this matter? Well, aside from the basic lack of fairness in excluding genuine change agents in favor of media sites or newer sites, as blogs become more closely wedded to the Democratic Party establishment, the pressure to NOT speak out about problems increases. Credentials for the DNCC are not only a 'goodie', but they are a clear competitive advantage for any state-based blog. If state parties are able to nix progressive state blogs from something so significant to their business models as the Democratic National Convention, it's just going to incentivize the creation of an 'official' blogosphere, one that is sycophantic and less progressive, and an 'activist' blogosphere which bitterly stares at a party it does not trust. Regardless, we're looking at a party structure that is more corrupt, less accountable, and less progressive.

Howard Dean should not let this happen. The DNCC needs to take another look at the blog credentially process for New Jersey, Mississippi, New York, and Michigan. Regardless of whether this was a simple mistake or retaliation from a state party, the credentials of the other blogs should be revoked and regranted them to the more deserving progressive blogs. And this should happen soon.

Pam's House Blend:

In any case, her last point raises an issue that I haven't seen much buzz on yet -- whether there were political factors that went into the decision of state blogs (outside of race). For instance, if you check out the list (see below), BlueJersey, with its ward-winning contributors, wasn't selected to represent the Garden State (Politickernj was). That seems odd to me, given its high profile and progressive politics. Another blog making noise about politics being involved in the selection for Mississippi's blog rep is Cotton Mouth.

Addendum

John pretty much summed up my thoughts, but I would like to add one point. We had over 10,000 hits to the Cotton Mouth website on Tuesday, just slipping past our previous high. Thank you to all who visit Cotton Mouth regularly, we appreciate it.

Cotton Mouth Is Not Going To The Democratic Convention (And Why)

This year the Democratic National Convention has granted bloggers full access. In doing so they allotted one credential per state for a blogger. Mississippi's credential was granted Wednesday to The Natchez Blog

We at Cotton Mouth must disagree with the selection of The Natchez Blog to represent Mississippi's blogging community in Denver. We like and respect Casey Ann who in addition to writing there has posted on Cotton Mouth, but her blog should not have been selected over Cotton Mouth.

Cotton Mouth completed all required web forms and asked questions (which were answered) to make sure we did everything right.

Cotton Mouth has been the only progressive political blog covering Mississippi's politics at the federal, state and local levels since it started May of 2007.  It had more posts than any other progressive Mississippi political blog and had far more original content than any other Mississippi political blog.  That content included original reporting on events, analysis, aggregation, original video, exclusive candidate authored posts and a solid and consistent defense of the Democratic Party of Mississippi.

Here's an original post by new Representative Travis Childers MS-01.

More examples of all can be easily found.

We've had 33 posts so far THIS WEEK.  The Natchez blog has had 24 posts so far THIS YEAR.

We are the only Mississippi blog that is a member of the Liberal Blog Advertising Network and are considered the authority on Mississippi state politics by major blogs like MyDD, OpenLeft, and SwingStateProject.

We've been linked to by multiple newspaper blogs in Mississippi and by blogs around the country for our work.  Several prominent opinion writers have admitted that they check our blog regularly including Sid Salter who's the most syndicated in Mississippi.

Democrats or their staffs who have personally thanked Cotton Mouth in the past include Congressmen Thompson (MS-02) and Childers (MS-01), Attorney General Jim Hood, Ronnie Musgrove and most of the Democratic nominees from 2007 state elections.

As we move forward towards November I believe that it is important for the blog that best assists Travis Childers win re-election to the house and Ronnie Musgrove beat interim Senator Roger Wicker to be given the best platform among Democrats.

We've done extensive work to help both including helping to get their messages out and actively combating attacks on them.  We're the only Mississippi blog that has raised money for them.  We are THE ONLY voice consistently doing so and their success is at least partially reliant on having strong blog support.  The blog chosen for the pool has helped neither.

Here are the requirements as set out by the DNCC:

the applicant’s blog must have been in existence six months prior to requesting credentials and have at least 120 politically related blog posts. Bloggers must submit their daily audience and list their authority based on Technorati stats. Bloggers may also provide examples of posts that make their blog stand out as an effective online organizing tool and/or agent of change.

We believe it is clear that Cotton Mouth is the strongest candidate for the position on these requirements and merits and should have been an easy decision.

Again I would like to point out that we do not hold any ill will toward Casey Ann, but I think she'd agree that Cotton Mouth would be the choice on the merits.

We've been in contact with people who have told us that we were considered for the credential, but were vetoed by someone in Mississippi's Democratic Party. We are attempting to find out who that person is and why they felt we should not represent Mississippi. Any assistance in the matter would be greatly appreciated.

- John Leek

Does Childers have a chance? Why Yes He Does!!

Our friends at Right of Missisippi were poking a little fun at us recently. Here is what they had to say,

Question: Does Travis Childers Have a Chance?

Answer: No

Someone over at DailyKos and our friends at Cottonmouth are really trying to sell a bill of goods that says Travis Childers has a chance in NE MS. They forget one important fact; Haley Barbour is the Governor of Mississippi, he made the Senate appointment and I hardly doubt that our good Governor would stand by and not put the full efforts of the MS GOP towards retaining this seat.

Plus everyone already knows that Travis Childers is a shady fellow, just look at who he hangs out with, using his office to make sweet-heart land deals. This is a very well known fact in Prentiss County.

In a year that might be good for Democrats nationwide, they better look somewhere else than here in Mississippi. We think Greg Davis has a pretty good shot at taking the election on the first ballot April 22nd.

-ROM

ROM, says on their website that they are "96.8% correct on Mississippi Politics so far!!"
We here at Cotton Mouth are curious to what their new percentage is going to be?

Cotton Mouth for Childers: Big Thanks!

We hit our goal last night of $1000 for Childers. I want to personally thank all of you who helped make this a success. Each contribution no matter the size was (and is) important. You guys rock!

It is not too late to give. This race has turned into a street fight and we still have 10 days to go.

If you want to give, the thermometer still works even though the goal has been reached.

More Numbers And Statistics For Political Junkies

Sen. Obama won the night, with 61% of the vote--roughly 253,441 of the total 417,428 votes cast in the Democratic primary were for him.

Only 458,094 votes cast total for the Kerry/Edwards ticket in the general election in 2004. There were almost that many Democratic primary voters Tuesday night.

Let's go back to 2000. Al Gore got 89.62%, with only 79,408 votes of the total 114,979 cast. The 2008 primary turnout is a 263% increase over 2000.

In the 2004 Democratic primary for president, John Kerry won at 78.4%, gaining 59,815 of the 76,298 votes cast. Better candidates, better ideas, and competition in 2008 combined to create a 447% increase in Democratic presidential primary voters over 2004.

The "loser" of last night's contest, Senator Clinton, alone got almost as many votes last night (154,852) then were cast total for Democrats in the 2004 or 2008 primaries combined (155,706). Note the way 2000 and 2004 track each other (2000-79k, 2004-76k). The Democrats have "found" 300,000 new voters in the primary.

Let's look back just one year in statewide politics. In the 2007 general gubernatorial election, Haley Barbour beat John Arthur Eaves, 430,807 to 313,232, with a total vote cast of 744,039. There were almost as many Democratic primary votes cast last night as it took to win the governorship last year.

In the 2000 presidential primary--the last time there was one for Republicans, as Pres. Bush ran uncontested in 2004--the surging popularity of the former Texas governor brought him 101,042 votes, 87.88% of the total 114,979 votes cast.

Contrast that last night with Sen. John McCain, who won 111,953 votes last night, 79% of the 141,814 cast. This is an increase over those folks claiming to be Republican and voting for then-Gov. Bush. This is a 23% increase (with help from a couple of competitive Congressional primaries). Even with these (comparably modest) gains, the Republicans are performing to their historical scale.

Total votes cast last night in both presidential primaries: 559,242
Total votes cast in 2000 in both presidential primaries: 203, 581
A 175% increase.

This people came from somewhere . . . they've never voted before . . . and they voted Democratic.

Thanks to Cotton Mouth research for this analysis.