State of the Union Strikers

American Prowler ^ | Thursday, January 30, 2003 | By The Prowler

[JohnHuang2]

NANCY'S RUDE RUBES So by final count, 20 Democratic House members staged a planned walkout on the President's State of the Union speech, while two Democratic presidential wannabes sent out critiques of the president's speech well before he'd even finished. Talk about lives of lonely desperation.

Unknowing reporters might imagine Rep. Dick Gephardt and Sen. John Edwards furiously taking notes on PDA's during the SOTUS and e-mailing them off to them from their seats. After all, the comments of both White House aspirants about Bush's speech were available in journalists' e-mail boxes more than ten minutes before the president finished his gripping address.

In fact, the canned comments from Gephardt and Edwards were written and approved even before the two men entered the joint session of Congress. "If you want your man's thoughts to get play after the fact, then you've got to get them into the media's hands in a timely manner," explains a Gephardt staffer. "If we waited until after Bush was done, we'd never get play."

Gephardt and Edwards were naturally supportive of Bush's Iraq policy, but slammed him on domestic issues. Big surprise.

After Bush's speech and the Democratic response, DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe, as well as Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, were inundated with complaints about the party's responder, Washington Gov. Gary Locke. Democratic leaders selected Locke after the party's governors demanded a larger role in the national party's activities in Washington. But acts like Locke's will quickly have them back playing in Peoria.

"He was an embarrassment," said one moderate Democratic House member. "Bush gave a great speech, our response only made his words seem more powerful. Why do we bother?"

The walkout, staged by mostly liberal Democrats, occurred about ten minutes before Bush's speech ended. According to one House leadership source, the walkout was approved beforehand by Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who saw nothing wrong with members of her caucus behaving rudely, and is said by other Democratic staffers to have encouraged her caucus to react visibly to Bush's speech whenever emotions moved them.

"It says more about the respect her caucus has for her that they asked her if they could do it," says a House Democratic leadership staffer. "They'd never have bothered to ask Gephardt."

BURR IN EDWARDS' SADDLE The White House has hit on the candidate in North Carolina it wants to run for the Senate in 2004: Rep. Richard Burr, a conservative elected to the House in 1994 from Winston-Salem. White House consigliere Karl Rove has been touting Burr and working with the state party to tamp down other potential candidates who might be considering a run. A few weeks ago, for example, North Carolina Rep. Robin Hayes had expressed interest in exploring a Senate run, but given the challenges he's expected to face running for re-election to the House in a slightly Democratic-leaning district, it's doubtful he'd be encouraged to run.

Burr on the other hand, may be in the best position to run. Incumbent Sen. John Edwards may choose not to seek re-election if he goes full-bore on the presidential trail, leaving the seat open in a state that went strongly Republican last go-round. Further, Burr's district has a number of high-tech and medical research facilities, a natural fundraising base. To enhance Burr's standing, the White House is looking for him to help walk the point for the administration's health-care reform proposals, including its prescription drug plan and other Medicare reforms. Both are issues Burr has dealt with in the past, and his successes would nicely play off Edwards, who failed in his attempt to get a patients bill of rights passed in the 107th Congress.

[JohnHuang2]

Thursday, January 30, 2003

Quote of the Day by Buckhead

[MadJack]

PJ O'Rourke is definitely right. What we have on Capital Hill is truly a "Parliament of Whores"

[XHogPilot]

Who were the Reps that walked out?

[Mo1]

Who were the Reps that walked out?

I sure would like to know

That is pretty rude

[Terridan]

"The walkout, staged by mostly liberal Democrats, occurred about ten minutes before Bush's speech ended."

And why, praytell, wasn't this televised to the American people??? People have a right to know!!!

(because the dems would have truely burried themselves for a long, long time!)

[Pistolshot]

the walkout was approved beforehand by Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, who saw nothing wrong with members of her caucus behaving rudely

If it was Republicans doing this to a Dumocrap president, it would be Headline News.

[Mo1]

I noticed it mentioned Ms. Nancy Bo-tox gave the a-ok for the walk out

That is so Hillary and so petty

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Funny. I had suggested that republicans walk out on Bubba. But they didn't want to defy tradition. I pointed out that every breath Bubba makes desecrates tradition, but I suspect FBI files had more to do with their politeness than anything else.

[Salamander]

On the day of her emergence from the sulphurous pit as official Queen of the Damned, the local rag proudly proclaimed that Pelosi was a "Maryland Native".

I am so ashamed.

Ignorance *was* bliss.

[Copperhead61]

"Why do we bother?"

I think little by little the RAT rank and file are starting to wise up.

[Howlin]

"If we waited until after Bush was done, we'd never get play."

Wouldn't want that.

I believe Hillary and Nancy are running a war room up there; imagine those two telling the "boys" how to feel and act. *Snort*