Posted on 04/06/2002 10:31:13 AM PST by Pokey78
Maybe it was Paul Begala's opening comments on the first day of CNN's revamped Crossfire that it was time to "kick a little right-wing ass" that angered Republicans. Or when cohost James Carville kept interrupting GOP Chairman Marc Racicot. Whatever, Republican leaders are blackballing the show. "The word is out: Don't go on; you'll get screwed," says a top Senate aide. Adds a House colleague: "It isn't a total boycott, but the show's last on our list to do." That's a blow for CNN, which has struggled to snare GOP guests as it battles with conservative-friendly Fox News. The complaints: Combative liberals Begala and Carville, both Democratic Party operatives, are too good at what they do, and conservative journalists Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson, who might see a nuance now and then, can't keep up. And they hate the live George Washington University audience. "It's like Jerry Springer," gripes a GOP-er. Says CNN's Ali Weisberg: "Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson are tough and smart on the right, and they can certainly hold their own. ... Crossfire always tries to keep its guestsand now its live audiencebalanced."
By hiring the two most hated liberals on the face of the earth?
Combative liberals Begala and Carville, both Democratic Party operatives, are too good at what they do
I'm willing to bet not one GOPer said that; and if they did, they meant they're too good a lying.
LOL, wrong, wrong, wrong.
I thought that was the Clintons.
Holy cow! Are the Pubs just now learning this? It's been going on now for over 30 years. The faces change the stations change but Pub trounching has never stopped. I remember being a little kid and watching the Republicans being treated like dirt on every TV news show they went on. Nothing ever changes. Pubs love to be screwed.
BULLCRAP! The complaint - and the reality - is that Novak and Carlson are general conservatives, wheras Forehead and Serpenthead are there purely to promote a single president, Bill Clinton, and represent the Democratic Party. The show is no longer left vs. right, it's apples vs. oranges. Begala and Carville are not there to be "liberals", they're just there to kiss Clinton's ass, promote themselves, and recycle DNC talking points.
And they're NOT good at what the they do, either. All they can do is yell, issue polemics and change the subject whenever they get cornered. Carville's fun to listen to one-on-one, but in a "debate" format he doesn't debate, he simply bashes. And Begala, well ... he just lies.
And they hate the live George Washington University audience. "It's like Jerry Springer," gripes a GOP-er.
As do the viewers. It's not like Jerry Springer, it's like a Bizzaro World Morton Downey Jr. audience. Entirely one-sided
Says CNN's Ali Weisberg: "Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson are tough and smart on the right, and they can certainly hold their own. ... Crossfire always tries to keep its guestsand now its live audiencebalanced."
Unsurprisingly, she's lying. Novak and Carlson are up to the task - it's Carville and Begala that aren't (and notice she doesn't mention them at all) - but it's IMPOSSIBLE to keep balanced any audience on a college campus. I worked in my college's public affairs department when I was an undergrad, and I used to have to deal with filling auditoriums for guests all the time. The way it ALWAYS works is: You try to give out tickets to as many members of the public as possible. But there are never enough people interested, and in the end you're forced to issue a general on-campus call for warm bodies. This guarantees a wildly left-wing-biased audience of barely legal know-nothings..
You can even see it on Crossfire. They intentionally put all the adults (particularly if they have gray hair, so they REALLY look adult) in one section so that they can put a camera on them every couple of minutes to "prove" the audience is balanced. But then, if you're watching closely, you discover that every other camera angle of the audience shows nothing but a sea of 18-year-olds.
The show is doomed. Anyone know what the ratings have been compared to the old Crossfire?
Geez, Mr. Moderator? What happened to our friend ScreamingMime?
Ahhhhhhhh, could it be that he's a DU'er?
Yup, looks like the Admins smoked him out...
No Current Freeper by that Name
Oh well, and I did so much want to kick some Democrat a$$.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Novak is okay, but he's a beat reporter at heart, not an ideologue. Tucker Carlson, on the other hand, has no excuse. He's supposed to be a conservative ideologue, but in reality, he's one of those conservatives who are somehow ashamed of what they believe in.
Now, you put Anne Coulter (especially Anne Coulter), David Horowitz, or Michael Savage up against the Serpenthead or his butt-boy sidekick, Begala, you'll see some serious dead liberal roadkill.
Count on it.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
I think it's great that GOP guys are boycotting this.
I wish every conservative, GOP or not, would boycott the show.
End of show.
That serpent-head dude is missing some chromosomes.
I would pay to see those two take on the Forehead and the Serpent.
I'm afraid meia's right about Nixon, Jim. Here's a graphic:
(Note that this is an AP graphic from around fall 1998, and thus says nothing about Clinton's approval ratings beyond that point.)
However, you're largely right about Clinton's ratings, Jim. But I'm posting this now because my computer keeps crashing and I just lost the post where I tried to explain it all in one take.
This, of course, in no way elevates Clinton (beating a Dick Nixon in the approval polls isn't exactly an endorsment) and continued attempts to whitewash Clinton and rewrite history are futile. He was what he was and it's on the record. President Bush will be judged by his record, not his current approval numbers. Same for Clinton. Perceptions will fade and change but the record and the consequences of his actions - or inactions - will be plain for all to see. Current political/media spins won't save Clinton.
No, he left with an end-of-term rating exactly the same as Ronald Reagan's, ~68%. And unlike Reagan and Roosevelt, that rating dropped almost immediately once the post-January 20 scandals broke. I'm unaware that his numbers ever recovered.
That linked article also makes clear that Jim's correct about the difference between the public's views on Clinton's job performance (which took place during the 90's economic bubble [which started during Bush 41's term], when we were all still in our mindless post-Cold War, pre-9/11 "things will never be bad again" fog), and their view's on Clinton as a human being (only 34%).
They'd rather have that candy-ass Tucker Carlson, "conservative". What a freaking girly-boy.
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To: Tumbleweed_Connection
One good thing about going after Clinton -- it sure pays well. In addition to Willey, Flowers, Jones, Trixie, Colter, the late Barbara Olson and Linda Tripp also benefitted financially (or surgically) from their opposition to him.
Meanwhile, the dopes who defended him -- like Steele, S. McDougal and Hubbell, were prosecuted, ostracized, jailed and driven into poverty.
The mills of God grind pretty quickly sometimes.
3 posted on 4/5/02 9:44 AM Pacific by Rightuvu
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