Posted on 10/01/2002 4:30:04 PM PDT by Liz
Couldn't have said it better myself. So schadenfreud-ish in that Torricelli's forced exit from the race b/c he is an ethical nightmare for Dems tuns into a Dem nightmare to replace him.
I noticed back in April or so they, meaning the talking head top DC democrats + Gore were trying to make "Bush" the issue. McAufliffe basically said it outright. It failed to get traction then, and just sounded silly.
I thought the strategy came from the limitations of their experiences as talking-heads on a 24 hour news cycle. Also there was a meanness to it. Maybe the "science" behind the attacks was the theory that midterm elections go against the party in the executive seat, so attack the executive.
Then, over the summer, there was not much DC-centered politicking.
A few months ago they started making noise about consulting congress about Iraq, using, for one, the ridiculous "unilateralism" rhetoric of the Eurocentric elites. So Bush did this dog and pony show with Blair, getting Italy, etc., on board, leaked stuff about WMD, even nukes, and even agreeing to get the UN somehow involved.
Then, over the past few weeks, fear must have re-arose in them. And the Bush-centered attack plan came out again. Da$chle made his economy speech on the floor of the Senate with charts, etc. And he seemed perturbed that it didn't make more than one night's news. Very egocentric and self-important man.
Next, they scaremonger about the Iraq bill - using the old rhetoric about "allies" and the UN. They appeared to have not done anything but look in the mirror for the past months since Bush was putting together for public show the "allies" and such. (I believe Russia and France extracted extra concessions seeing this domestic disarray)
For support, they bring out Byrd and Kennedy, who just embarrassed themselves. Any person who quickly reads USA Today is more informed about Iraq than them spouting off "unilateralism". My bet, som West-Wing type hack with no foreign policy experience clipped pet phrases from various lefty news stories and put them together as a "policy." Or Rob Reiner and folk are reading the UK Guardian on the web - which they poorly imitate, BTW.
Anyway, Daschle gets upset about the "War Talk" he himself fomented. He combines that with a huffy temper tantrum on the Senate floor about insults by Bush and Cheney that didn't exist or are of the variety politician say about their foes everyday. He adds that Bush is contriving to take the public's mind off the economy by the Iraq stuff, as if Daschle couldn't make the economy the "issue" himself. He wants the issue to be Bush.
The temper tantrum and speech were contrived, as shown by Gore's calculated resurrection where he said much the same the next day. But Gore also sounded ignorant, and petty. Defaming the US efforts in Afstan as easy, then taunting Bush's father, it was like a 10 year-old boy.
Then more Daschle about the economy - not what he would do about it, but that Bush is stopping discussion about it.
That's how I recollect the Beltway "debate". Blowback might be a good term to describe the Demo dilemma. Maybe they feared a war before election day. Maybe some Saudi money (they want the status quo in Iraq) fueled some of the opinion makers in the Demo party establishment. (Bonior will probably get some arab-related consulting job on the backside after his term ends this year)
But I see a lot of egos who think the election should be about themselves, and are disconnected from the people and the issues. I don't know anyone whose voting for the congressman about Iraq. They want to hear other things. What's coming out of DC is a circus.
The Dems seem to be whipping up their base, but they are losing credibility with their middle by the day.
Clinton was very good at positioning himself to keep the loyalty of his followers.
Bush seems to be very good at inducing the left to self-destruct. The contempt and poisonous attitude toward Bush are palpable not only among public figures, but also among otherwise rational acquaintances of my own. The illogic spawned by their hatred is not serving them well
Could we have 60 Senate seats by 2006? 2004?
Right! Democrats are brothers. They fight with each other, but they draw together when the Republicans are at the gate. The first thing they have to do is cover stuff up. Do you think with the torch down 20 points they would substitute his brother? Of course they have to play up the bad blood. We are not runnig another torch.. no no no. We are running a man that can't stand that lying torch.... blah blah blah......
And if you believe that I have a wonderfull buy on a big bridge in New York you might want to purchase from me.
Didn't Clinton blow up during the Grand Jury testimoney an didn't he say he never had sex? And wasn't Lieberman the conscience of the senate who would vote against a philandering president?
Wasn't it Hillary who said she was no Tammy Wynette. Hillary would not stand by her man if he cheated like Tammy's guy did on her. No siree Hillary would not put up with a cheating Bill. No way he could ever get away with stepping out on her. Wasn't that her lie in 1992?
How many times do Democrats have to lie to us before we stop believing the lies. I know the answer is greater than 10,000. but is it over a million? YOu tell me.
my guess is that you're right--the Dems thought that they could put the Republicans in a weak spot by claiming that the people of New Jersey should have a right to vote for a Democrat--only problem is--it's post 9/11--been there--done that--the people of New Jersey who want a Democrat despite corruption charges can still vote for Toricelli but no judge who doesn't want to be apinted as a corrupt politician will rule for a name change on the ballot--the jig is up in NJ--
Daschle and those other goons in the Democratic party have underestimated and misread the American people again--we want decent people representing us--Clinton and his compadres misjudged the situation IMHO.
Doesn't federal law require that military ballots be mailed at least 35 days before the election?
I have a theory which some of your observations support. Races are mostly decided by the middle. And in good times the middle wants no change. They talk about the 1920s when Calvin Cooledge was president and times were good. They said the public did not want anything done. It might screw up the economy. They said Cooledge was so popular becuase he did nothin better than anyone had ever done nothing.
Yet in less than 10 years the public was behind a make great changes president. Time were bad in the 30's and the public wanted the times fixed and FDR was poposing fixes. Lots and lots of fixes.
Republicans constantly trashed FDR but he won even though the economy was no better. He was trying to fix things and the Republicans were trying to stop him. They hated FDR. They saw FDR as a traiter to Teddy Roosevelt and his Republican roots. They let their hatred control their reactions to FDR.
I see a lot of that today. Democrats actually reverse long held positions if Bush adopts them too. They hate bush and it shows. I think in bad times the public wants things fixed. And they wil go with the party and the men trying to fix things. They may not support those that stand in the way of fixing things.
This thing in New Jersey and the races elsewhere are not looking as good as the Democrats thought they would.
This election will tell us a lot about the long term prospects of both parties. I would remind the Democrats that the Republicans thought that FDR was meat on the table in 1936. The economy, after 4 years of FDR, was not better at all. They re-elected FDR and gave him bigger majorities. In retrospect I think that was becuase FDR was proposing fixes and the Repubicans were proposing opposition to those fixes.
The Democrats can't expect to win on I hate bush. They have to have a plan to fix the economy and natioal security. They have no plan. And Bush has 63 percent approval rating. That means he has all the right and allmost all the center. That as they say in poker is a whip hand. We shall see in a few weeks if that be true.
"I believe the final straw was the confirmation late last week of a convenience store security tape with Torricelli and the union boss intimidating Chang.
Thuggery on grainy black and white video is not the stuff political comebacks are made of."
When speaking of this, Rush actually used the term "mob connection".
Tony Soprano. Bada-Bing!
Of which I agree BTW.
Cheers,
knews hound
No, they don't. Dems are a disparate group of single issue voters who have nothing in common. The Feminists only care about abortion rights. The Catholics ignore that so they can have their social programs. The Blacks like the affirmative action (quota) talk. The Labor Unions ignore that because they are promised that the Black quotas will not harm them. And for some reason that I have yet to fathom, the Jews are solidly behind a party that supports the Palestinians with their vow to kill all of the Jews.
No, Dems are not brothers. They're people who are looking for a free hand-out, and hope that their hand-out has precedence.
The GOP has a problem because they can't figure out how to expose this scam.
Seems to me, the ultimate reason he dropped out was 'cuz he was gonna lose. That ain't much of an excuse for Breakin' the Law, is it?!
FReegards...MUD
Yep...I'm increasingly convinced that this is a smokescreen, wherein the RATS make the news by disingenuously proposing an indefensible argument that their Base is too STOOOOPID to understand is inarguably unsupportable in Law, and thereby divertin' attention from other political vulnerabilities.
So, what else are the RATS hidin' that they don't want discovered before 11/5/02?!
FReegards...MUD
An arrogant self-serving individual like Tori would not have resigned the race unless the screws were being put to him by the Dem powers that be.
Outrageously, the Dems keep asserting they're replacing Tori for the people's benefit. I'm suggesting that we need to let the voters know how the Dems operate....sub rosa, clandestinely, underhandedly and self-servingly.
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