- I have no idea why Lincoln Chafee is running for president. Neither does he, it would appear. Some of his facial expressions called to mind the old comedian Red "Never Got a Dinner" Buttons, a favorite on the Dean Martin roasts back in the 1970s. At some point, we'll say that Chafee never got a dinner, either.
- Jim Webb is a Jacksonian Democrat. He apparently didn't get the memo that Jacksonians aren't welcome in the party. And since he barely had any camera time, it didn't much matter, anyway.
- I've always thought Martin O'Malley is an empty suit. He was the governor of one of the bluest states in the union, Maryland, and his record was so outstanding that his protege lost to a Republican. Kinda whiny, too. No chance.
- My pet theory -- just about everyone who is actually amenable to Bernie Sanders's pitch has already gone to one of his rallies. He's not going anywhere.
- Hillary Clinton is going to sail to the nomination if this is the only competition she faces. She was protected throughout the half hour I saw and that very gentle treatment may continue for a while, but eventually those mean old Republicans are going to get a shot at her and I'm not sure she'll be able to respond.
- The winner of the debate? Probably Joe Biden.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Sitcom
Most situations comedies are a half hour long. Since I was only able to watch the last half hour of the Democrat's Vegas shindig last evening, I'm sure that I missed something in the parts I didn't see. But from what I did see, I'd say the following:
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7 comments:
This old Republican is perfectly happy with the results of last night. I hope Hillary DOES "sail to the nomination." THEN we can start pointing out her multitudinous and manifest failings. She will have a tough time painting the TRUTH as a "vast right-wing conspiracy" to deny her that to which she believes she is entitled, and that's not going to sell with most folks. Last I heard, every Republican was ahead of Hillary in the general election.
I would have hoped even most Democrats would understand why handling sensitive and confidential information on a private server is a big deal, but apparently I am too optimistic.
You're braver than I for watching even a bit.
What I find fascinating is that with the minor exception of O'Malley, none of the men on stage have any political future to lose by pointing out that the Empress has no clothes. There's no future presidential bid they're risking by attacking her, nor a possible cabinet position they'll be nullified for if they hit her too hard. In short, going on the offensive had all upside and pretty much size downside for them.
And they whiffed. Heck, that's not even accurate. They let the pitch sail by while dropping their bats on the ground and criticizing the pitcher for the gall of throwing it.
To Jerry's point, it's a strategy that won't serve Hillary well down the road. Instead of field testing future talking points with a friendly audience and the practice squad equivalent of debate partners, she was given a pass. This reminds me of 2000 when Bill Bradley didn't want to push Al Gore. We'll likely see a similar result: short of New Hampshire (and maybe Iowa), Hillary will win and maybe even win in landside numbers but be woefully unprepared for November.
I think the "dropping the bats" is more or less a concession that if prominent Democrats start taking Benghazi and the email scandal seriously, the gig is up for most Democrats nationwide, as their delegation in Congress has more or less closed ranks around Hilliary. On the Hilliary side, she's clearly committed felonies, and on the Congressional side, they're aiding and abetting her behavior. For that matter, if Hilliary sinks, then there's an ugly spotlight on Dear Leader, too. They sink or swim together.
Watch for Hell to break loose if a prominent Democrat or two finds his conscience and his testicles and starts rebuking this nonsense.
I was looking at CNN's photos of the Jupiter fly-by and noticed there were a lot of commments. I scrolled down and nearly every comment was a Sanders supporter lambasting CNN for declaring Hillary the winner of the debate even though CNN's own viewer poll had 80% saying Bernie won. They also mentioned multiple times that CNN's parent, Time-Warner has given $500k to Hillary's campaign (which is merely table-stakes for her game). The outburst is surely not spontaneous, but it is interesting that at least one campaign is putting the pressure on.
What I find fascinating is that with the minor exception of O'Malley, none of the men on stage have any political future to lose by pointing out that the Empress has no clothes. There's no future presidential bid they're risking by attacking her, nor a possible cabinet position they'll be nullified for if they hit her too hard. In short, going on the offensive had all upside and pretty much size downside for them.
And they whiffed. Heck, that's not even accurate. They let the pitch sail by while dropping their bats on the ground and criticizing the pitcher for the gall of throwing it.
To Jerry's point, it's a strategy that won't serve Hillary well down the road. Instead of field testing future talking points with a friendly audience and the practice squad equivalent of debate partners, she was given a pass. This reminds me of 2000 when Bill Bradley didn't want to push Al Gore. We'll likely see a similar result: short of New Hampshire (and maybe Iowa), Hillary will win and maybe even win in landside numbers but be woefully unprepared for November.
It doesn't speak well of any of her competitors, but my impression is that they are all terrified of her. I suspect you are correct about the key point, FR — the only politician on that stage who really has ambitions for the top job is O'Malley. Bernie Sanders doesn't want to be president; he just wants to get his agenda on the national stage.
Further to that point, I've always thought the reason Obama was able to beat the future Madame Secretary in 2008 is he wasn't afraid of the Clinton power structure. And why wasn’t he afraid? He had a competing power structure behind him, i.e., the Chicago political machine.
"The Democratic Party", by Mario Puzo, apparently. Who knew that Bernie Sanders owned a racehorse?
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