Zell Miller: Memo to Terry McAwful

Opinion Journal ^ | 01/05/04 | Zell Miller

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

These folks are called "Value Voters." They go to church to seek salvation, not argue about bike paths.

That statement shows Zell not only is writing about ideology but that he is following the day to day stories involving these candidates. I'd bet not many outside of this board and a the listeners of Medved's radio show know the bike path story.

[FRgal4u]

Breaux will be a formidable Veep choice...much better than the Florida Graham bet...

Miller probably will be out of consideration..

I heard someone throw out Sam Nunn or John Lewis from Georgia as a potential play...

My bet is still a Dean-Clark or Dean-Gephardt or Clark-Gephardt kind of ticket...

[Zack Attack]

or some of the ones with Guliani, or Nader, or Donald Sutherland for that matter

Or even Teve Torbes? :-)

[Nateman]

But Rev. Sharpton could do well because he's even more appealing than Rev. Jackson.

There is one problem with this line of reasoning: Carol Mostly Fraud. She's so unfit for office she's bound to split AL's vote.

[PhiKapMom]

I love Sen Zell Miller who has nailed them but good. I have wondered about Rev Al in the South for sometime if blacks decided to come out and vote for him. Wouldn't that be something -- Rev Al a legitimate broker at the RAT convention with a block of votes.

Surprised that the Senate RATs under Hillary Clinton still allow Zell in their Caucus!

[paul51]

What's next? John Kerry wearing a baseball cap sideways?

That's classic. There has to be a FReeper that can create a picture like that.

[Chunga]

Zell has already stated that he's voting for Bush for President in '04.

[Southack]

Graham and Hollings are both "out" as viable VP candidates because neither of them are capable of even winning re-election to the Senate at this point in their respective state's point in history. Times have changed. People have changed. Some have risen, while others have fallen. Graham and Hollings have fallen.

Nunn, if healthy, might still be a formidable force in Georgia, but not nearly what Miller commands. Miller would actually have a shot at winning that state against Bush in 2004, even with Miller at the bottom of the Pres/VP ticket.

Frightening thought, really...that Democrats would pick someone nationally with whom they strongly disagree with ideologically in order to be competitive in only one or two additional states.

The Dems would also be able to make quite a pitch that they are "centrists" if they add a Breaux or a Miller to their Pres/VP ticket.

What you've got to remember is that 2004 has a minimum barrier. If the Dems can't show that they can take away in 2004 some of the states that Bush won in 2000, then the Dems have utterly no chance.

So if some smart Dem actually manages to hypnotize McAuliffe, Carville, and the Clintons, then the Dems will select for their VP candidate someone who stands the potential to flip 18 or more electoral votes in 2004 from Bush's year 2000 states.

Basically, that barrier means that the whole 2004 race is initially only about the states that Bush won in 2000. If the Dems can't get past that barrier, then the '04 race is O V E R.

And they probably won't be able to sway their power-structure to select someone like Breaux or Miller (or Nunn if he is healthy and still living) in 2004 to be their VP, so it's not like we have much to worry about.

Still, it's best that we be cautious about their collective level of intellect until after they have sealed their fate with some wild-eyed leftist VP candidate at their Boston Convention this year. One never knows; they might get their lucky brainflash at just the wrong time for us...

[Southack]

"Zell has already stated that he's voting for Bush for President in '04."

Zell's a great all-around guy (for a Democrat), but he *earned* his nickname of "Zig Zag Zell" by saying one thing and doing quite the other.

But heck, what do I know. I haven't seen him face to face since Coverdale's funeral in Atlanta some years back. Perhaps he's changed in his old age.

[perfect stranger]

Forbes was funny. I'd like to see a few of A. Whitney Brown's pieces again. How about when Edwin Newman was around?

FTR I was watching Comedy Central's Roast of Chevy Chase and Al Franken was one of the roasters. And he chose to talk about Chevy's addiction to "back pills", he mentions these "back pills" and "addiction" few times during his speech, and if I remember correctly the roast was taped a few months before Rush admitted his problem.

[Chunga]

He appears to have changed considerably. He states that he's changed his position on abortion to pro-life in his most recent book.

[Chunga]

And, I forgot to add, the chances of a declared pro-life Democrat appearing on the Democratic ticket in November are beyond remote.

[nopardons]

BTT

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[Prodigal Son]

You know, politics would be sane if all dems were like Zell.

[goldstategop]

Terry McAwful and the Democrats are hoping more anger will do for them what they couldn't do in 2002 and 2003: rack up more victories for their party.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>Can anyone enlighten me re: Harkin's potty mouth? I don't remember that one.

Has something to to with bovine scat...back when ol' Tom was running for Prez, he used what was then called the "barnyard epithet" - I don't remember the exact details of why he used it - but I do remember the press went ape over it.

[MegaSilver]

This just keeps getting better and better.

[Susannah]

Mr. Miller, a Democratic senator from Georgia, is the author of "A National Party No More," just published by Smyth & Helwys.

Zell's book is already in the top 10 nonfiction of the NY Times bestsellers list.

[GrandMoM]

BUMP