Replies

Wed column ping

Liz Warren, Democrats missed opportunity
By Howie Carr | Wednesday, June 6, 2012 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Columnists

The Democrats made a mistake getting rid of Marisa DeFranco at the convention last weekend. Granny Warren could have used three or four unwatched mid-summer TV debates for practice, because she’s not ready for prime time.

I mean, when you come unarmed to a battle of wits with Sharman Sacchetti, you’ve got a problem. When you have to appeal first to Andy Hiller and then Deval Patrick to rescue you from the same questions you’ve been asked continuously for five weeks, you could use a lot more training on the light punching bag.

Which is why DeFranco had to go, I guess. She would have just made Granny look even worse, and DeFranco had started taking her case to the pro-Brown media. Still, wasn’t it odd that Deval could bring the delegates to their feet saying of Obama, “I will not let him be bullied out of office.”

And then they bullied DeFranco out of the race.

I predict a maximum of four debates — TV debates. Radio debates don’t count.

If the first TV debate is boring, the other ones won’t matter as much, because a lot of the audience won’t be back. Both candidates have more money than God, and when you can control your message with paid media, you aren’t as hot to trot to go on live TV. Too risky.

If I were advising Granny, I’d tell her, be even duller than usual in that first debate. If this weren’t a presidential year, this fight would already be over. Your only shot is riding Obama’s coattails, tattered as they are. A straight ticket is your only ticket. Just ask Suzanne Bump, if you even know who she is.

Say something nice about Mumbles, too.

He laps that flattery stuff up with a spoon, and he’s the one who pushed Bump past Mary Z. Connaughton in 2010 when the Republican carried the rest of the state.

Here’s the tough part for Granny. She can’t tell any more whoppers. She’s an academic, which means no one ever questions her in the classroom. So she’s developed this bad habit of making it up as she goes along. Ever hear of fact-checkers, Granny? Not all of them are going to be Globe reporters just waiting to slobber all over you again.

As for Scott Brown, he just can’t come off as a wiseguy.

That won’t be a problem. He’s been around long enough not to take the bait.

Scott’s biggest goal is to get a moderator who’s not in the satchel.

David Gergen, this means you. It worked out pretty well for Brown in 2010, when he hit the “Ted Kennedy seat” question out of the ballpark, but overall RINO Gergen’s questions were outrageously one-sided. They were so bad Brown catalogued them in his memoir.

One last thing: Some expert said yesterday that Granny “doesn’t want to look like an elitist.”

Too late!
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1061136938