Right on!

This article says oud and clear what many progressives are thinking: Obama's campaign is inept, weak, badly thought out, badly run. BH is passive, does not respond adequately to Republican attacks,  in fact does not respond at all--it's like Kerry all over again. The Republican are all over the news, taking up all the space, always several steps ahead; BO lets them frame the debate, they are proactive, and he is barely reactive.

The Reps create events, keep people hanging on the edge of their seats, know how to appeal to their feelings, keep them distracted with fascinating sTories instead of dealing with the issues--Palin was a stroke of genius, in terms of PR of course.

BO is too bland, too abstract, too aloof, too rational, he does not relate emotionnally to voters and does not understand that lots of voters do not cast their vote with their brain but with their guts. It's incredible that, with Bush's dreadful record, he can't manage to get ahead of a boring old fart like McCain. 

My conclusion is that Dems are in love with failure. It would be interesting to find out why.

by francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 370 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 7:26:52 AM
 

MAJOR Freudian slip

On ABC, BO talks about his ''muslim faith''; watch the video

 http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=3qotHTtr30I

No doubt: deep down, this guy wants to lose so, as a true Democrat,  he is sabotaging himself.

by francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 370 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 8:31:49 AM
 

major freudian slip

I see.  When he DOES say anything, it's some jackass remark like that.  Freudian slip indeed.  Why doesn't he just say he's forgotten his name.  GOD, what smily faced bag of gas this guy has turned out to be!  Zero grit, zero patriotism, zero passion.  He's so g.d timid about EVERYTHING.

by W. Christopher Epler (Bill) (251 articles, 53 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 599 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 9:32:38 AM
 

in love with failure

I just don't get it.  It's almost like neither of them (although Obama sets the tone) don't even KNOW they're in an election.  They do nothing, nothing, nothing.  Your comments summed it up beautifully.  "In love with failure". Could be.  I keep waiting for Obama to do ANYTHING, but he just smiles and gives lectures.  We should have had Hillary, and I wasn't a Hillary supporter.  But Obama is like a ghost.  Maybe he's just so far out of his depth that he's hiding from life. What a nothing he's turned out to be, and all Biden does is bash liberals.  What a pair of losers.

by W. Christopher Epler (Bill) (251 articles, 53 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 599 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 9:18:37 AM
 

Bill

I keep racking my brain as to why Dem's have this love story with failure. Here are a few explanations, please feel free to add to the list:

- they keep selecting wimps as candidates--or at least people who are too decent and too well bred to get down and dirty with Repugs. Neither BO nor Kerry were able nor  willing to demean themselves to do dirt digging and mudslinging to defeat the Rovian smear brigade--as BO said many times: ""we are better than that''.  This moral smuggness, or naive idealism, whatever, does not belong in politics, choirboys have no business in presidential elections. Obama's preaching ethics to neocons is pathetically out of touch and makes him look like a fool: what is he doing, trying to appeal to the moral standards of sleazeballs  who make mafia hitmen look principled ? 

- Dems campaign methods ae outdated, they belong to the BTN era (before the neocons); they think voters are interested in issues and  defending their own interests. Well, after 8 years of Republican dumbing down, voters could not care less about issues and their interest. They want juicy narratives, exciting scandals (Bristol's pregnancy), gutwrenching stories (baby with Down), ex beauty queens with no national or international political experience whatsoever. Rational thinking,  a well thought out political program addressing their problems, high IQ, education, preparedness for the job, good judgement etc are valueless these days in the eyes of the voters. American politics have become a reality show. As long as Dems will keep playing by the old rules, respect the voters intelligence and run these very serious, issue oriented campaigns, they will lose. Ignoring the reptilian  side of politics is always risky, but it's the kiss of death in an Orwellian society.

There are other explanations, but I have to cut short. One last thing: did you know that the only Western leader to have a (relatively) young beauty queen in his government is another ''golden years'' leader, Silvio Berlusconi, the one of the outrageously died hair, the Prime minister of Italy and owner and manipulator of the Italian media?

I wonder if McCain talked to him lately?

by francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 370 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 11:13:44 AM
 

Chill out

First of all, Biden was on Meet the Press yesterday, and held his own rather well with Tom Brokaw. Meanwhile, McCain is dodging the press (he has good reasons) and the RNC won't even let Palin talk to anyone without a leash and muzzle. Charles Gibson is supposed to get a crack at her this week, but don't expect much besides oil talk and eskimo pies. And she will likely embarrass herself.

Secondly, it is not always appropriate for candidates like Obama, who is soft-spoken, clear, measured and deliberate anyway, to be standing on the street corner 24/7, yelling into a microphone. That is how you sell snake oil, which is what McCain/Palin are doing.

Thirdly, nothing anyone is gong to say immediately after the RNC Minnesota Liar's Party will matter much in the next few days anyway, because evrything is being slathered in Palin-esque goo. Nobody seems to talk about much of anything else or pay much attention to anything else but the Queen of the Frozen North. Let everyone get that out of their system and then some other voices can be heard.

Democrats are not so out of touch as you may think. It's just that America prefers sensationalism to reality. Face it: Sarah is this week's favorite flavor.

You wanna save the country? Stop being over-anxious and hysterical. The current administration has been doing that with 9/11 reminders for years now, and we should be both weary and wary of that mindset.  

by Ivan Hentschel (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 264 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 12:28:39 PM
 

chill out now means continuing the 2004 dem/pug congress

Soirry, totally not convinced.  I wish anemic stuff would be enough, but  it's spitting in the wind.  We need some passion and patriotism, not all this watery stuff.  Dems have been almost superhumanly passive for so long (e.g., the 2004 "Congress") that I wonder if they know how to stand up and fight about ANYTHING-- because now is the time to be fighting the good fight.  I wonder how much of that passivity has come from thinking it's being "hysterical"?  If this isn't kick ass time for Civilization, our Constitution, and the planet Earth, I sure would like to know what its going to take?

We'll have years and years to "chill out" after the dems snatch failure from the jaws a victory again.  Chilling out  is exactly what we need to STOP doing! We've got  to find some teeth and DEAL WITH THINGS.

by W. Christopher Epler (Bill) (251 articles, 53 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 599 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 1:47:56 PM
 

Chill Out?

Bill

Well, you're right.  I'm so freakin mad right now, I've just had to turn off my TV!  What is the matter with these two guys?!  Why aren't they asking "who is running for President on the Republican Ticket?  McCain or Palin?  Why aren't they demanding that she be interviewed?  Why are they letting the Press suggest, as Brokaw suggested yesterday, that Obama debate Palin?  Because thats what Brokaw was suggesting when he asked Obama if he would "take her on" in a one-one basketball game.   Why are they not saying SOMETHING worth listening to?

This is bad.  Clinton is in Florida trying her best not to say "I told you so".  Bill Clinton is God knows where, saying nothing as far as I know.  Maybe, they can sell this pansy to the "undecideds", I don't know, but apparently, the two guys you progressive folks sold us, the democrats,  couldn't sell water in the desert!  One tack they could take is to remind folks of how well things were going in the 90s.  How the classifieds were full of help-wanted ads.   They could praise the Clinton years.  They could remind folks that Clinton did all that, the expanding economy, the balanced budget and all the rest with the intire Republican party doing there best to impeach him.  They could say that why is McCain letting his vice-presidential candidate over-shadow him.  He's the guy with his name on the top of the ticket!  Just how old and tired is he that he needs a younger person to pump up he tired campaign.  How much do the Republicans like McCain if they would only vote for him because of his ticket partner?  Are we going to be subjected to yet another shadow president? 

I saw both Biden and Obama's speeches yesterday and watched both interviews.  I came away with a sinking feeling in my belly.  While I can understand that an interviewer gets to frame his questions, I can't understand how the hell people smart enough to run for President and Vice-President aren't smart enough to answer in a way that brings the answer back to the message you want to get across.  I'm no word-smith, but I recognize ineptitude when I see it. 

Still, you can hardly blame interviewers for the mild and congenial tone of the two speeches I heard yesterday.  Maybe the fact that they are now behind in the polls will wake them up, but I don't count on it. 

ENOUGHT!  GET THE HELL OUT THERE AND FIGHT!  IF YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION OF THIS CENTURY, GET OUT THERE AND FIGHT! 

by bmobley (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 30 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 4:03:15 PM
 

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It's high time to get ''hysterical''

''You wanna save the country? Stop being over-anxious and hysterical. The current administration has been doing that with 9/11 reminders for years now, and we should be both weary and wary of that mindset. ''

Basically, you are  telling us that the Dems should be staying on the same path that worked so well for them so far? And that McCain's overtaking Obama's by 5 to 6 % in the polls is no cause for concern?

There is a big difference between Dem's supporters' legitimate concern and the mass hysteria stirred by the Bush administration after 9/11: the said mass hysteria was about non existent threats. 

Whereas now, Dems supporters have every reason to be worried; there is a clear and present danger regarding Obama's odds to win the Presidential race: not only the Democratic candidate is getting  behind in all the polls, but voters adore Palin, and significant numbers of swing voters seem to have made up their minds in favor of the Republican ticket after her speech at the RNC.

Should we just chill out when we are clearly headed toward losing the battle, AGAIN?  There were several articles similar to Bill's on progressive sites today. They all pretty much said the same thing: that  Dems are asleep at the wheel, AGAIN, and it's precisely this attitude ''let's do politics as usual, no need to change a thing about a strategy and a team that's losing'' that has to be questioned if we do not want another 8 years of neocon rule. How many more failures will it take for the Dems to understand that defeating  the neocons requires abandoning old political recipes and old mindsets?

I got ''hysterical'' too, as you say rather condescendingly, when I saw Kerry letting the Reps savage his military record without doing an effing thing about it. For a very simple reason: I knew, as a matter of common sense, that somebody who allows his opponents to destroy his reputation, drag him in the mud, slander him and humiliate him publicly without fighting back will be automatically seen as a gutless loser by most people and cannot earn their vote. 
That's pretty much what BO is doing, again, and you are telling us it's no cause for concern?? Hello!!

Voters know a very simple truth: a leader must be strong to protect them against the many threats of a very dangerous world. Intelligence is not enough, experience is not enough, judgement  is not enough; courage and strength of character matter more. A true leader does not to take attacks lying down  and when he has to fight, he gives it all he's got, high blows, low blows, everything.

 Obama has not done that so far; he seems to be always pulling his punches, he looks afraid of really hurting his adversaries; there are plenty of corpses in McCain's closets, he never used any of this easyly available ammo against him. Read Sun Tzu and Clausewitz: a man who neglects to take advantage of his ennemies' weak spots  can't be a winner, neither on a battlefield nor in politics.

Worse than that, BO keeps praising MCCain's courage, patriotism, blahblah, and Biden praises Palin's smarts and political sense. Why are they doing the Republican's work? By celebrating their opponents' qualities, they are literally marking goals against their team. Like someone wrote on  HuffPost, they sound like a Repug ad.

But hey, it's just Dems doing again what they do best: LOSE.

by francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 370 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 4:32:38 PM
 

Ferocious francine -- YOU should be advising this campaign!

God bless you, francine.  Spot on, spot on, spot on. 

OK, now let's get this straight.  Being hysterical means doing something different from the 2004 Congress.  I tell you what.  That loathsome dem/pug congress convinced me for the rest of my life that America has a one party system.  The only 2 party system in America is between the (hysterical) progressives and the elites.  Said differently, this is a Class War to the death (at least the death of anthraxed high profile Democrats, the 9/11 Bush engineered atrocity, and on and on and on).  

Now about the Clintons.  Well, I almost cry when I think how Hillary would be out there going to 4 or 5 cities EVERY BLOODY DAY, being a tigress for America.  But, no, we've got -- hell I don't know WHAT we've got since we never see him or hear him . . .I guess the smile is supposed to be enough.

But you know what.  It's NOT enough. g.d. it!  Don't either of these guys have any teeth?  Don't they have any "privates"?  Look, when you have a business in a highly competetive market, you are going to be  turned into  hamburger if you aren't VERY aggressive, VERY organized, and  VERY "public".  You have to be out there duking it out in the market place EVERY MINUTE! 

As opposed to what?  As opposed to the 2004 "Democratic" congress, as opposed to Mr. Smiles Obama.  I swear, this guy is afraid of his shadow.  Somehow up to now events have kept him afloat, but now he finally is at that moment of truth when events need to be a fuction of his spirit, intelligence, and courage -- not visa versa.  He's so used to being in an inertube, he doesn't know HOW TO ROW. I wonder if he can even spell the word A C T I O N?

Tick, tick, tic, . . .

Here comes November.

ps:  How you noticed how his "advisors" when they are on some kind of talk show are ever so gentle and every so smily and every so "non-existent"? They practically whisper their comments -- after the pug has been talking non stop for about five minutes, they do a little dance and talk for about 15 seconds.  

Aarough!!!  Where did all these alleged adults come from?  We need PASSION and CONFRONTATION and PATRIOTISM -- and we've got nicy nice adult children.  And this doen't have to be a man.  Hillary would known what to do.  Imagine what Hillary would have done to Paliln -- and she would have done it in five minutes.

Well, keeping the faith is all we have left.  Maybe Obama and Biden can at least learn how to bark, if not bite. 

by W. Christopher Epler (Bill) (251 articles, 53 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 599 comments) on Monday, September 8, 2008 at 6:58:51 PM
 

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