Kevin Phillips: Giving Up (on Kerry)

The New York Post /Page Six ^ | September 8 2004 | Richard Johnson

[plushaye]

THERE'S no love lost between Kevin Phillips, author of "American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush," and the administration of George W. Bush. But the former White House staffer and economist was overheard at Litchfield's West Street Grill saying with a sense of resignation about John Kerry's chances of beating the president, "It's a lost cause. It's all over."

[plushaye]

A cheery piece of gossip.

[ScottFromSpokane]

Yeah, but has Phillips been right about anything in the last 20 years?

[plushaye]

Maybe he's right about something for the first time in his life.

[eno_]

Kevin Phillips needs to come out of the log cabin, so to speak.

[Maceman]

Maybe he can be useful in demoralizing the other side and depressing their turnout.

[comebacknewt]

He is due.

[Paleo Conservative]

How long is the MSM going to call Phillips a "Republican?" He hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate in at least 20 years.

[Keltik]

Anybody else remember when Phillips, John McCain and Ted Turner were considered to be conservatives?

(And no, I am NOT joking about Ted Turner)

I remember 10-15 years ago the liberal press considered McCain one of the most "reactionary" Senators -- what happened?

[NutmegDevil]

NPR uses Kevin Phillips's appearance there as proof of their objectivity - Phillips is the token Republican (though I haven't heard them say that for a few years).

[Paleo Conservative]

I remember 10-15 years ago the liberal press considered McCain one of the most "reactionary" Senators -- what happened?

Consider that McCain is the successor to Senator Goldwater. Also, the 1994 election brought in lots of much more conservative Republicans to both the House and Senate, and McCain moved left.

[crazyhorse691]

Ted Turner married Hanoi Jane and he changed stripes. With the others I am not knowledgeable on any one instant. Perhaps it is Alzheimer's..

[PJ-Comix]

Kevin Phillips is also a strange bird in that he is a WASP from the Bronx. Maybe the ONLY WASP from the Bronx.

[billhilly]

" and McCain moved left."

So did a senile Goldwater.

[Zebra]

Kerry is just an awful candidate. He is without ideas, speaks primarily to the flimsiest part of the Democratic base, and is positively uninspiring to that segment of the party (and not just the Reagan Democrats) that he will need in November. He is almost instantly unlikeable, comes off as self-absorbed, simply cannot find the "common man touch" at even the most carefully staged photo opportunities, and has handled the Swift Boat attacks like a third rate hack (which almost certainly means that there is substance to the charges). I simply cannot shake the feeling that the only way he can slow the slide to the bottom is to stay out of sight and let more attractive faces of the party carry the flag (the same is true for his nut wife).

I find it hard to believe that the Democratic Party could only come up with this guy. He is without a doubt the worst candidate I have seen in my adult life (Gore was a close second, followed by Mondale). The anybody-but-Bush thing won't do. There is NO chance of him winning.

P.S. Hold the "don't get overconfident" stuff, please. The Bush base will get out in numbers, joined by a lot of crossovers and independents. A large part of the traditionally Democratic base--especially blacks, who have failed to connect with this guy in any meaningful way--will sit this one out.

[Jim_Curtis]

This guy is the psychopath that was advancing the theory that Bush had airport security look the other way when the hijackers boarded the plane. Saw it on PBS's Bill Moyers NOW.

[Little Bill]

Kevin was a bright young man in the Nixon administration. A Volpe Conservative, he went south when Reagan was elected.

I have never been able figure him out, Andy Card is an opportunist, His Brother in Law was swifties campaign manager, Rino, but at least he is loyal and self serving, sorry Lou, a perfect lap dog.

He went on the National Scene in the Carter Administration and did a Buchanan.

[puroresu]

Phillips was a conservative in his younger days. He became a conservative star when he wrote a book in the late 60's called "The Emerging Republican Majority". The book's thesis was that conservative Southern Democrats and pro-military blue collar Northern Democrats were abandoning the 'Rat party due to its increasing leftism. The book proved to be correct, although it should be noted that just about any pundit with half a brain could see that a shift to the GOP was occurring among southerners and working class northerners. However, Phillips was the first to put it in book form, so he got some deserved credit.

He remained a popular conservative pundit throughout the 70's, but by the 80's he was being surpassed by younger conservative pundits, many of whom were better writers.

So what did Phillips do to revive his career? He moved leftward, knowing that that would be a surefire way to gain fawning media attention. He did it on an issue dear to the media's heart: abortion. Around 1990, Phillips rose to prominence again after a decade of obscurity by predicting that a pro-abortion tide was sweeping America, and that the GOP would be wiped out unless they abandoned their pro-life stance and threw the religious right out of the party. The media loved it, and soon Phillips was all over TV, billed as an "enlightened" Republican who had "grown" out of his former "reactionary" views.

He's been capitalizing off his staged renegade Republican image ever since.

[MNnice]

You nailed it.

[Actually_in_Tokyo]

This kind of post is what is great about FR.

(Yours is a fun screen name.)