Oh please...

This bit caught my eye last week, largely because I thought it fell below Atrios usually high standards...

...my take absent any information I'm not aware of is that the DCCC would be making a big mistake not backing Morrison v. DeLay in '06.

I lack perfect information on these things, but my perception is that Morrison would be opposed not because of his lack of skills as a candidate, but because of his lack of deference to the DCCC.

I take it that "I lack perfect information…" means "I heard a rumor and I can't remember where," because while there has been some blogosphere buzz of that sort, I've seen no statement to support it from either Richard Morrison, who took on Bugman in TX-22 last time out, or from the DCCC, which doesn't typically 'back' non-incumbent candidates in primaries.

In fact, Morrison and his potential primary rivals, former Rep. Nick Lampson and Houston City Councilman Gordon Quan, had been meeting and seemed to have reached an amicable accord on the way a primary would be conducted.

Morrison, a favorite at Daily Kos and a Dean Dozen candidate in '04, had been working bloggers hard, and pretty effectively, before his sudden departure from the race yesterday for personal reasons, including family finances, the impending birth of his fifth child and his mother's recent cancer diagnosis. A Congressional campaign is a marathon exercise that pretty much suspends a candidate's personal life. Morrison simply has too much personal life to set aside right now. Still, he leaves many disappointed fans behind online. The disappointment that's bound to be heard in some precincts is understandable.

Kos just has no excuse for this , though…

Richard Morrison, who mounted an able challenge to Tom DeLay when it was a fool's errand, has dropped out of the race. His gracious retreat undoubtedly masked some serious arm-twisting by the DCCC, as former Rep. Nick Lampson had already announced his bid to take down the Bug man.

(my emphasis)

I don't know just what the DCCC's sin was, insufficient deference to his KosShip, I suppose, but for a major organ of the left, if not precisely Democratic, blogosphere to toss that kind of unsupported cheap shot at a Democratic Party institution that will be vital to the '06 campaign for a Democratic majority in Congress is simply irresponsible.

"Undoubtedly"? Well, I have doubts, Markos, because there's a paucity of evidence. In fact, the only evidence that exists is of the DCCC's grace in noting Morrison's withdrawal and Morrison's own insistence that there was no 'serious arm-twisting.'

Folks, the DCCC and their Senate counterparts will be to '06 what the DNC will be to '08. It's hardly the time for prominent voices to undermine their efforts with ugly and unsourced rumors. Kos seems to have made some accommodation with the DSCC, but this isn't his first scuffle with the House shop.

If you don't want to kiss and make up with the DCCC for some reason, Kos, fine, but why can't you take Richard Morrison at his word?