Daschle: Conservative Pundits Not Serving The Public

By Brandon Kosters - Talk Radio News Service

Former Democratic Senator Tom Daschle (S.D) hit back at Republican criticism over the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) today, which according to Daschle has large support from U.S. military.

Daschle called on the Senate to quickly ratify the treaty, and added that will improve the nation’s level of national security by allowing the U.S. to continue monitoring weapon development in Russia.

He blasted conservative political commentators who are opposed to the treaty, such as Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Rush Limbaugh. Daschle said that if they are motivated by “a concerted to effort to cause the President of the United States to fail…[then] they are not public servants.”

Thursday Sports Roundup

The self-described, "Doctor of Democracy" will not be putting his stamp on the NFL anytime soon. A group bidding to buy the NFL's St. Louis Rams has decided to drop conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh from its list of partners. The group, led by St. Louis Blues (NHL) Chairman Dave Checketts, determined that Limbaugh's participation had complicated its bid. On Wednesday, Checketts said that the group's bid will move forward despite the absence of Limbaugh...

Los Angeles Dodgers Manager Joe Torre has decided to start left-hander Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Kershaw was 0-2 against Philadelphia in the regular season. Tonight's first pitch is scheduled for 8:07 pm ET...

The Washington Capitals have recalled center Keith Aucoin from its minor league affiliate Hershey Bears. Aucoin will presumably fill the roster spot of defenseman John Erskine, who has been placed on the IR with an injured hand. The Capitals host the San Jose Sharks tonight. The puck drops at 7:00 pm ET...

Amid daily speculation regarding the job security of Head Coach Jim Zorn, two Washington Redskins players said Wednesday that they'd like the team's management to put out a statement officially endorsing him. The players, who both spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the lack of a vote of confidence will create division and uneasiness within the team...

Limbaugh Has "Zero" Chance Of Owning NFL Team, Says Media Matters Official

By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service

Senior Fellow for Media Matters Eric Boehlert said that Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk show radio host, has virtually no chance of the National Football League accepting his bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams, citing the league’s efforts to avoid controversy and Limbaugh’s “incredibly long track record” of “hateful, inflammatory rhetoric about African-Americans.”

“The comments this week from the commissioner, some of the owners, the players, the union reps... make it pretty clear that Limbaugh’s chances are basically zero at this point,” Boehlert said.

In 2003, Limbaugh tendered his resignation from ESPN’S Sunday NFL Countdown pregame show for saying NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb was not as the good as the media made him seem. “The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well,” he said in the pre-game show.

“Every couple of years [Limbaugh] sort of ventures out of his protective right-wing radio bubble into the mainstream culture, and the reaction is immediate and unambiguous,” Boehlert said. “Mainstream pop culture, in this case sports, does not want anything to do with Rush Limbaugh.”

Boehlert added that he was unsure if politics and sports can co-exist.

“Having an owner who spends his day talking about the president as a communist or a racist or hates white people ... doesn’t go over well in a professional sports community,” he said. “Larger sports culture ... has no patience whatsoever with mixing politics and sports. Sports fans don’t want anything to do with politics, they want to leave that stuff outside.”

Dog the blue dog

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Grassroots advocacy groups are launching an offensive against conservative Democrats in Congress who are opposing President Obama’s legislation. Campaign for America’s Future has launched a program called “Dog the Blue Dogs”, which is aimed at persuading members of the Blue Dog Coalition into voting for President Obama’s legislation. The Blue Dog Coalition is a group of moderate and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives.

Bob Borosage, President of Campaign for America’s Future, said that several Blue Dog Democrats are conspiring with the Republicans to be obstructionists of the president’s agenda, and are partnering with the likes of talk show host Rush Limbaugh to try to make Obama fail all together. The response from Borosage and groups like USAction is going to be a ground offensive against these Democratic members of Congress. The plan is to run ads in each member’s home district, informing the constituents of how their congressional representatives voted against the President. Borosage said that the campaign is about educating the public, not partisanship.

Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) has been painted with a target for his position on the president’s budget. William McNary, President of USAction and part of Unity 09, said that his organization was going to be mobilizing grassroots efforts in Bayh’s home state of Indiana during the upcoming congressional recess, but could not elaborate on what specific strategies would be used. McNary said that if Senator Bayh wants some specific changes made to the Obama budget, he should express that in a clear and articulate manner, instead of simply voting against the bill.

McNary said that the public should not let members of Congress get “cold feet” about change. Borosage believes this reluctance by some members is because of the power of entrenched interests, rather than individual political stances. He continued that these legislators must “be heard by their constituents, not just their contributors”.

Borosage denied planning this with any of the Congressional Leadership, and said that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel was also not involved.