MAJOR DEMOCRATIC DAMAGE (Why the "Memorial Service" will cost Mondale the election)

RealClearPolitics.com ^ | October 30, 2002 | John McIntyre

[Timesink]

Wednesday October 30 2002
MAJOR DEMOCRATIC DAMAGE: "TV networks and radio stations have been bombarded with angry calls. The Democrats greatly overplayed their hand and violated the tradition of "Minnesota nice." The only two Democrats who seemed to instinctively realize how overboard they had gone were Gore and Daschle. It is also being talked about around the water coolers at businesses and schools, and people across the ideological spectrum did not like it. In all, it gives Norm Coleman a fresh start.

State GOP chair reported late last night that Coleman brought in over $150,000 last night alone from angry moderates and conservatives across the country. I was also informed that the phones continue to "ring off the hook" at Coleman headquarters" This from a reader of ours in Minnesota and we have gotten many more emails exactly like this one. With only five full days between now and the election Mondale may not be able to recover from this fiasco. The sympathy vote for Wellstone may have been completely incinerated in 3 1/2 hours last night. JM 5:14 pm

MORE MINNESOTA: "I feel used. I feel violated and duped over the fact that that turned into nothing more than a political rally. Like in the case of Senator Lott flying all the way up here and being booed when he is supposed to be going to a memorial service. I think the Democrats should hang their head in shame." Independent Governor Jesse Ventura

"What a complete, total, absolute sham. The DFL clearly intends to exploit Wellstone's memory totally, completely and shamelessly for political gain. To them, Wellstone's death, apparently, was just another campaign event." Fmr. Rep. Vin Weber (R)

Last night has turned into a disaster for the Democrats. Powerline has delved deeper into the Star Tribune's poll showing Mondale up 8 and has found out that the poll sampled 51% DFL/Democratic supporters and only 36% Republican or GOP leaning supporters, a total of 11% more Democrats than their previous Wellstone/Coleman poll.   JM 4:49 pm

MINNESOTA: My initial feeling that Coleman was going to be swamped by the sympathy vote for Wellstone is beginning to fade, and quickly. While it hasn't gotten huge play in the national media, the "memorial service" for the late Senator Wellstone and the other victims was so over the top, and distasteful, it has the real potential to backlash hard on the Democrats. Our friends at Powerline have been all over this story and they report that the "rally" is getting a lot of coverage in Minnesota.

"There is a lot of buzz this morning about the fact that television cameras showed Jesse Ventura and his wife, Terry, getting up and walking out on the Democrats' pep-fest at Williams Arena last night. I heard Ventura being interviewed on the radio this morning. He said that he found the Democrats' misuse for partisan ends not only of Wellstone's death, but of the families of the other victims of the crash, to be deeply offensive. He said that his wife was so shocked and offended by the Democrats' conduct that she was brought to tears, prompting their walkout."

When NPR and William Saletan at Slate also characterize the event as more a political pep rally rather than a memorial service it is clear it isn't just Republicans who think the Democrats went too far. Not to mention I don't take the recent poll from the Star Tribune showing Mondale up 8 as terrible news for Coleman. That poll of 47%-39% may very well be the high water mark for Mondale from here on out. It's reasonable to assume that the sympathy factor is going to be at its peak immediately following the tragedy. Furthermore a poll done by the NRSC, the same time as the Star's poll, had Mondale up only two points, with the Star Tribune's polls long time poll bias for Dems that puts Mondale up 5 points averaging the two polls. The clear politicization of Wellstone's death by the Democrats last night is not going to play well among the average Minnesotan and it will definitely serve to energize Coleman's base. Expect that five point gap to close.

The bottom line is I am close to doing a complete 180 on this race. I think the offensive nature of the "memorial service" last night has put this seat right back into play. And the trump card in Coleman's hand are all those absentee ballots that can not legally be counted for Mondale. This can very easily be a potential 2%-5% boost for Coleman and if he can get this race close in the polls, which I suspect now he will, that absentee difference will be enough to give him the win. The Dems lawsuit to get those Wellstone votes counted for Mondale shows just how seriously the Democrats think those absentee ballots might be.

If Coleman can run a positive, mistake-free, proactive campaign these next few days (and there's no reason to think he can't) these polls will close and this will be a nail-biter. With the absentee ballot edge I think Coleman now will win. But, hey, this is a very fluid situation and Coleman's got to close the poll numbers. I have to give credit to Hugh Hewitt and Ramesh Ponnuru who dismissed the conventional wisdom, including my own, that Coleman couldn't win. JM 1:02 pm       Comments

[Dan Day]

Precisely. I was listening to sound bytes and it was indistinguishable in tone and attitude from a NSDAP rally in Munich in 1933.

The meeting was to be opened at 7:30. At 7:15 I entered the Festsaal of the Hofbrauhaus on the Platzl in Munich, and my heart nearly burst for joy. The gigantic hall-for at that time it still seemed to me gigantic-was overcrowded with people, shoulder to shoulder, a mass numbering almost two thousand people. And above all-those people to whom we wanted to appeal had come. [...]

After the first speaker had finished, I took the floor. A few minutes later there was a hail of shouts, there were violent dashes in the hall, a handful of the most faithful war comrades and other supporters battled with the disturbers, and only little by little were able to restore order.

I was able to go on speaking. After half an hour the applause slowly began to drown out the screaming and shouting.

I now took up the program and began to explain it for the first time. From minute to minute the interruptions were increasingly drowned out by shouts of applause. And when I finally submitted the twenty-five theses, point for point, to the masses and asked them personally to pronounce judgment on them, one after another was accepted with steadily mounting joy, unanimously and again unanimously, and when the last thesis had found its way to the heart of the masses, there stood before me a hall full of people united by a new conviction, a new faith, a new will.

When after nearly four hours the hall began to empty and the crowd, shoulder to shoulder, began to move, shove, press toward the exit like a slow stream, I knew that now the principles of a movement which could no longer be forgotten were moving out among the German people. A fire was kindled from whose flame one day the sword must come which would regain freedom for the Germanic Siegfried and life for the German nation.

-- Adolf Hitler, "Mein Kampf", Vol 1., Chapter 12

[GOPJ]

bump

[SerpentDove]

I will repeat till I jolly well get tired of it:

DEMOCRATS SPIT ON
BOY SCOUTS.

What do Clinton and Mondale have in common? Eleanor.

Good day.

[JulieRNR21]

I hope people also remember the look of utter elation on the faces of Bill and Hillary.

FoxNews (gotta love it) shows that shot of the Clintons & Mondale laughing joyously every time they report anything about the memorial/RALLY or its aftermath!

[demkicker]

Hats of to Registered for this one:

[demkicker]

Hats off to phasma proeliator:

[GOPJ]

Loved the picture. You've earned your name.

[GOPJ]

Loved the picture. You've earned your name.

[Paul Atreides]

Bubba looked as if Mondull had just told him a dirty joke.

[JulieRNR21]

Bubba looked as if Mondull had just told him a dirty joke.

More likely Bubba told Mondull one....and then Hillary explained it to the 'old cogger'.......LOL

[DCPatriot]

Your tirade calling the Democrats Nazis, is akin to Godwin's Law, IMO.

And, while I agree with you regarding their capacity to imitate Brown Shirts from the display they showed Trent Lott at the "Memorial Service", you're completey full of crap about Elian Gonzalez. Get over it.

[Tall_Texan]

You don't think busting into a private residence on American soil like stormtroopers, kidnapping a child while pointing a rifle in his face and sending him back to his communist masters, who happened to be using Clinton lawyers to do their bidding and PR, is wrong for a country that supposedly loves freedom, justice and the rule of law?

I guarantee you Ronald Reagan would never abuse a child that way. Neither would George H.W. Bush. Neither would George W. Bush. But Bill Clinton would and *did*.

All these folks demanding that we now do "what Paul would have wanted" because he died pursuing an election, would they have demanded what Elian's mother would have wanted because she died pursuing freedom from communist tyranny? Why should anyone from that party suggest we do the one when they refused to suggest that we do the other?

You need to find a new screen name. You're no patriot.

[for-q-clinton]

but I couldn't help but notice how awfully uncomfortable algore looked every time the camera picked him up. At least he has some shred of decency.

That is algore yucking it up. He's a tree remember, they don't show much emotion.