Deep shade of bland

The Boston Globe ^ | 12/23/2003 | Brian McGrory

[presidio9]

After the first time I met Richard A. Gephardt at a small lunch a few years ago, I called my editor as fast as my flabby fingers could dial the phone.

"Do anything you want to me," I told her. "Cut my pay. Make me open a Worcester bureau. Force me to spend days with Barney Frank. But don't ever ask me to have lunch with him again."

[dirtboy]

Screw all that. The main reason that Gephart won't win is that he can't lie worth a damn, which is a prerequiste for the Dem nominee.

[sauropod]

This "reporter" is shallow.

[ClearCase_guy]

"There is nothing you can tell me about it."
"You don't know how good you are."

Talking down to the people. Good. I'm ignorant, and there is no reason for the candidate to listen to anything I say. Got it.

Did this strategy work for Gore?

[trebb]

("If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy.")

One of my favorite shows...

[kitkat]

***George Bush attacked Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction and then changed the rationale when he couldn't find any. ***

SIGH! I get so sick of these Dem liars.

[sauropod]

Mine too. I only hope that the local PBS station will start showing the newer shows!

[international american]

"Gephardt, the same at the beginning as at the end, competent, knowledgeable, and stable"

Yeah, if you like socialists...and the Boston Globe luvz em:)

[Agnes Heep]

... (he and his wife are named Dick and Jane) ....

Well, for Jane's sake, I sure hope Dick doesn't run.

[Auntie Mame]

This phrase stopped me cold:

... Saturday morning, ... I found myself sitting aside Gephardt in the back seat of an SUV ...

ASIDE? He sat ASIDE Gephardt?

Perhaps he meant "astride?"

[Mr. Jeeves]

Don't get me wrong. It's not that Gephardt was a bad guy. Quite the opposite, actually. He was so straightforwardly earnest, so utterly devoid of even the hint of cynicism, that I felt diminished, if not spiritually worthless, in his presence.

You see, Gephardt is from St. Louis. St. Louis is in Missouri. Missouri is in the heartland. And just like Ted Kennedy might personify the wayward Catholic liberalism indigenous to Massachusetts, Gephardt embodies an American way of life that most of modern America will never actually live.

So, only slimy, urban, Kennedyesque ward heelers can be legitimate Democratic candidates, in the author's opinion?

[presidio9]

Kennedy might personify the wayward Catholic liberalism indigenous to Massachusetts

Sadly, unlike "Heartland Values," wayward Catholic liberalism is not unique to a specific geographic area.

[watchin]

What a goon. He slobbers all over himself worshipping a man he considers bland.

... in the basement of a tiny Portsmouth church, he gave a stump speech ...

Why isn't there any cry about the separation of Church and State when the Dems do this? Let Bush campaign in a church and watch what happens.