Rod, thanks for listening to Axelrod and posting his talking points. Great observations and comments by you, as always!
Some of these were the same things that Obama said in his presser on Friday.
Re the Boehnor comment (on F&F earlier, Rove said he questioned why they were attacking Boehnor, since most people didn’t have a clue who he is):
Community of Notions: Why Obama is attacking a congressman hardly anyone has heard of.
Wall Street Journal ^ | September 10, 2010 | JAMES TARANTO
Posted on Sunday, September 12, 2010 6:14:33 AM by Inappropriate Laughter
Rule No. 13 in Saul Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals” is “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Community organizer in chief Barack Obama has been trying to do just that. His target is John Boehner.
Who is John Boehner? You probably know the answer if you read this column, but that puts you in a minority.
SNIP
That means at least 55% of the public doesn’t know or care enough about Boehner to have an opinion—and we’d bet that some portion of the 23% answers “unfavorable” by default when asked their view of any politician.
Boehner is an odd choice of target for Obama for other reasons. Unlike the Senate, the House runs almost entirely on majority rule, which means the minority leader is powerless to obstruct legislation. Since much of the legislation Obama has pushed for is wildly unpopular, the claim that Boehner is an obstructionist is, to most voters, an argument for giving him a majority. And the president of the United States is the most powerful man in the world. He only diminishes himself by engaging in personal attacks against any other politician, perhaps excepting a serious challenger in a re-election campaign.
So why is Obama doing it? A clue can be found in Alinsky’s Rule No. 6: “A good tactic is one that your people enjoy. If your people are not having a ball doing it, there is something very wrong with the tactic.”
There’s no question that Obama’s people are having fun:
SNIP
Obama has been losing Middle America, slowly but steadily, almost since the day he took office, in large part because he has taken his cues from a community of notions whose attitude toward Middle America ranges from indulgent condescension to outright hostility.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2587667/posts
THanks much SC! I stopped at 67, gonna go see what I’m so puah has to say.
Democrats are great at reliving history, although they like to say that they are "progressive." They are attempting to reprise their successful attacks on Speaker Gingrich, which started about two minutes after the 1994 elections were over. His photo was on TIME magazine looking like the devil before Christmas that year.
Then in 1996, the Presidential campaign against Dole was OOOOOHHH! scary DoleGingrich as the worst boogey man to ever live in the USA.
The dems believe that they can demonize Boehner in the same way. But it's all in their own minds, not in the reality of American voters' minds.
You are right on. I sure enjoy your posts. Thanks.
The day Obama lost Middle America is the WH press conference when he commented upon the Officer Crowley/Gates incident. It was the moment when the people saw the true polarizing figure of a community organizer.
Thanks SC. Boehnor is being “Alinskied” no question. Let’s hope our side will come to his aide and turn it around.