Will Zell Backfire on the GOP

CNN ^

[MaineRepublic]

From "Wolf Blitzer Reports" staff CNN Thursday, September 2, 2004 Posted: 5:26 PM EDT (2126 GMT) NEW YORK (CNN) -- Talking about his own party Thursday night, Democrat Zell Miller said, "Our nation is being torn apart and made weaker because of the Democrats' manic obsession to bring down our commander in chief." Talking about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, Miller said, "This is the man who wants to be the commander in chief of our U.S. Armed Forces? U.S. Forces armed with what? Spit balls?" Miller's keynote address to the Republican National Convention was a passionate and pointed attack. "Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator. And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators," Miller said. His remarks came in sharp contrast to earlier convention speeches from moderate Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rudy Giuliani.

[stands2reason]

If McCain did at the DNC what Zell did here, the MSM would be peeing their pants with glee. The word "backfire" wouldn't be mentioned at all.

[tndarlin]

No! I was so happy to hear him speak. All this spinning shows their desperation. My husband who voted for Gore last election was cheering the entire speech. He knows what it is like to have the democrat party leave you behind.

[Dog Gone]

Whenever they talk about backfiring, YOU KNOW it's doing DAMAGE!

Precisely. Swiftboat ads and Zell Miller.

[uncbob]

This Wolf thing is an attempt to smear Miller in the hopes that a negative opinion can be formed about the Miller speech for those who never heard it.

same thing they did to Buchanan's speech in 92

People who heard thought it was great but those that din't were brainwashed by the lib media

[True Grit]

Zell said things that have needed saying for a long time. Except for the liberal shrills in the media, most people were glad to hear them

[Merry]

What planet are these democratic MSM persons on? The only reason they think it will backfire is because they only talk to each other and reinforce what they as a group are thinking.

[puroresu]

EXACTLY!!! Buchanan's speech received a huge positive response from most of those who heard it live. But after several days of media spin denouncing the speech as hateful, insensitive, divisive, etc., so-called public opinion turned against the speech. This was largely due to people who didn't even hear the speech simply accepting the media spin about how horrifying the speech was.

I also remember that during the Clarence Thomas hearings, people who actually watched the hearings overwhelmingly believed Thomas. But people who didn't watch, and only got their info from the media, believed Anita Hill. The coverage was that biased.

But that doesn't work anymore. With Fox News, talk radio, and the blogosphere, media spin doesn't have the impact it once did.

[byteback]

I can always tell when the Republicans do something right from the reaction of the media. The media is stunned and the DNC hasn't sent them the new talking points yet.

[Graybeard58]

All I have heard from the libs and the lib media about the speech is how angry and mean Zell Miller was. Not one word on the substance of what he said. They don't even try to defend Kerry's senate record because it is indefensible.

[Victoria Delsoul]

LOL, that's right.

[Husker8877]

"...Crissy Matthews is only tough when his opponents are small Asian women. He can beat up every 5'2, 98lb woman on the block.

I'd bet on Michelle myself!

[stands2reason]

Dems can be saved. Only 8 short years ago I voted for Clinton. I'm hoping the media bias this season has been so blatant it may wake up more than a few people.

[chemicalman]

Been hearing too much from the Libs saying that things backfire. I think they been eating too many Boston Baked Beans.

[freedumb2003]

[Guillermo]

Yeah now that I think about it, me too.

[Phantom Lord]

Unlike 1992, today the internet is widely used and readily available to a large number of American adults. Today I can send a link to Zell's speech to uncountable people so they can see it with their own eyes.

No longer are people held to the alphabets having to replay something for them to see it. And no longer do people have to go with what they read in the paper. Today people can see what they are interested in over and over and over in their office, in their living room, in their bedroom, or anywhere else they have internet access.

The New Media is quickly killing the mainstream media.

[Jorge]

Zell's speech IS the "backfire" on Dems.

[HawaiianGecko]

the same thinking as two weeks ago when the same pinhead ask..."Will the whole Swift Boat thing backfire on Bush?"

Wolfe should remember that asking the same question over and over again expecting different results is the textbook definition of "crazy".

[backtothestreets]

This is in discussion among Republicans too. Some commentators have even suggested it was a hate filled speech. That's not what I heard.

There was anger, but no hate. Zell Miller has reason to be angry. It's an anger driven by deep disappointment. His party has chosen to remain separate on defense issues, from the Republicans, during wartime.

We need to pull together in such times, not divide among ourselves.

[woodyinscc]

It will get so bad that Ct will not only be in play but will be a dead heat

I'm even thinking President Bush has a chance in California. I know I am being optomistic, but I really believe it.