Yes, that is an actual CNN headline.
I have to say, I really wanted it to be over last night. Not that Hillary Clinton has any obligation to give up, but because people are so emotionally wound up in the My Candidate Is Awesome/Your Candidate Sucks mode that John McCain is getting a free pass. People are so busy hurling pies at each other, being obdurate and intolerant and irrational that it makes McCain looks statesmanlike and above it all in comparison.
And that is a big problem. Devilstower has a fine post on Kos about how much the media are looking forward to the return of John McCain:
The press is only human. When you stick them on a bus for weeks (or a bathroom for five hours) they’re bound to develop attachments and dislikes. They create story lines for the candidates; form their own little narratives full of good guys and bad guys. Once they’ve decided which candidate is their champion, it’s hard to get them to change.
So good luck getting them to seriously go after John McCain.
BarbinMD has already covered McCain’s shindig for his press buddies, but a quick survey of how the event was treated is enlightening. First up, here’s Jeff Mason at Rueters.
the Arizona senator took some time off from the campaign trail over the weekend to relax at his "cabin" in the northern part of the state, and he invited the traveling press corps over for a couple hours to evaluate his cooking skills. …
So how did they taste?
Objectivity prohibits a good reporter from passing judgement, but let’s put it this way: everyone wants to come back.
That’s actually kind of… precious. He’s got objectivity in how much he loves John McCain’s cooking. The same kind of objectivity that a politician who vacations with lobbyists displays when their pet issue comes up for a vote.
One of the most frightening things to me during this campaign is how effortlessly the liberal blogs have picked up the meta narratives of the mainstream media and unconsciously adopted them. Repackaged slightly for progressive consumption, but rather slavishly assumed nonetheless. Digby wrote about this much better than me, but the indifference that people show to McCain stands in sharp contrast to the hatred they feel for the Democratic candidate that ISN’T theirs. And I cannot rationally understand that.
The guy gave the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval to torture. He wants war for a hundred years. He’ll put endless Alitos on the Supreme Court. But you know, folks would like to have a beer with him, and he’s better than [FILL IN THE BLANK].
The protraction of the race means McCain gets a bit of a free ride for as long as it goes on. Because the media like him (Chris Matthews just told us he’s got the best chance to win in November) and because the people who are going to furiously pound out comments filled with vitriol for the Democratic candidate they don’t think is Teh Awesome soak that up and consequently seem incapable of working up the same level of indignation toward McCain.
If we don’t care, who will?
Related posts:
- CIA Torture Briefings: McCain Owes Pelosi an Apology
- McCain Rediscovers His Passion for Screwing Us with Bad Telecom Policy
- Frank Rich: McCain Was Wrong On Everything. CNN Treats Him As Sage
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes David Swanson, Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union
- McCain is a Clunker, Can I Trade Him in?
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
It will be fun watching all the news media become irrelevant as they lavish praise on the guy that gets 30% of the vote. He is going to make Barry Goldwater’s landslide look good.
When we finally get down to our final candidate the long knives will quietly be cleaned of the blood and gore and resharpened, ready for the next Dem miscue.
Huh?
Cindy McCain was addicted to painkillers for years and she keeps a “grudge list”. Yet the headline is still about her “being perfect”?
It’s going to be a long year.
She may be pretty, but man is she creepy or what?
Pretty creepy
Pills and soap
Hi Jane,
Well, as I see it, it’s not the same people giving McCain a free pass as the people really hating the other camp’s dem candidate. The people giving McCain a free pass are those media people you’re writing about and all the garden variety wingnuts we incessantly hear from. Those of us in progressive blogoshphere already know that McCain is far beyond the pale. I personally cannot even see pictures of him without psychic pain. And listening to him, like Bush, is just not possible.
And…McCain has been the given nominee of the Republicans for some time now, while the issue of who we think will best serve the progressive sphere is a very close call at this point and many of us have strong feelings about who will be better. Personally, neither of them looks very good to me, but being a progressive, these are the only choices I have at the moment.
Fast forward to the primaries being over, then I expect progressives will put on their party faces and work and vote for whomever our nominee is.
Today, now that I’ve done as much as I could yesterday working at the Texas primaries and caucuses, I’m more concerned about FISA than I am about what any of these candidates is or isn’t.
My two cents.
Jane, I think you’ve stated my biggest fear/frustration about last night. I know that democracy is not pretty–lots of hardfought, nasty battles. And I completely agree that no one is obligated to drop out.
But this election is too important to enter the general election in a weakened state. In the upcoming weeks of campaign hell, we’ll just be giving the Rethugs more ammo and contributing to this weakened state.
(I hope this is a poo-free comment!)
Hi (((Jane)))
Thanks for all your hard work & excellent use of considerable smarts, young lady.
I felt thoroughly spoiled last night. I couldn’t stand to turn on the telly – too stupifyingly infuriating.
So, what else? FDL early, then when I woke up in the middle of the night. 2 quick trips to the Lake & I was caught up better than the teevee reportagers ever dreamed of, even if wolfie did start “calling it” with 2% precincts “in” or whatever.
Gotta LOVE this place. Please pat the doggies for us.
It’s all about the press now. Every pixel that the Democrats spend tearing down Clinton or Obama is going to be elevated by the press into their favorite narrative, “The Divided Democrats.” Meanwhile, here’s war hero John McCain and all the Republicans singing his praises. Gee, which one looks strong and ready to lead the country?
I am continually amazed at the Democrats’ ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Let’s hope everybody comes to their senses and realizes who the real enemies are.
Even Hillary likes McCain more then Obama.
It’s selling out at it finest.
She looks like she was stolen from Madame Tussauds. sort of waxy looking.
But if she is perfect and he is perfect… well thats just perfect
Irony…some days, it just leaps right out at you, doesn’t it?
One quick dalliance, and then I promise no more, but I just can’t help myself.
Cindy’s so… well…
It’s as if she rations her frosty smiles as carefully as Elaine on “Seinfeld” did sponges, and with about as much grace.
ewwwwww many recriminations here honest
I’m behind that pair 600%. at the very least.
*smacks self in face. yep. awake, sigh*
GO BLUE!
Two different issues here.
Underestimating McCain as a candidate, and the media’s love affair with him, is a real danger. But I don’t see the connection between that, and the separate issue of whether one candidate (i.e. Hillary) should drop out and leave the field open for the other (Barack).
Used to be that presidential election campaigns traditionally kicked off on Labor Day — with two months of concentrated campaigning between then and Election Day. Now we have this insane marathon lasting years. And as in a marathon, there’s a real danger of using up energy early, and running out of gas before the finish line. I actually think it’s to our advantage to not have a coronated candidate at this point. The American attention span is so short — and getting shorter — that even the old two-month campaign is an awfully long time. We have plenty of time before the convention for this thing to sort itself out. We’ll come out of it with a strong candidate, no doubt about that — this intramural squabbling isn’t going to damage the winner, and might make him/her more fully vetted, and sharper, for the general campaign. In which we should be able to win big — big enough to overcome the bullshit and corruption that’s bound to cut into our vote totals.
This is really going out on a limb — but in all the time between now and November, maybe the McCain fluff squad will get bored with portraying their friends John and Cindy as perfect. And maybe reality will start to replace fantasy. Now, that’s going WAY out on that limb.
This example makes my point perfectly. Weaken us, strengthen them.
Ugh.
That first link is a must read, pups.
Thank you for all your hard work, Jane.
Jane,
experienced your point not 10 minutes ago over at Digby’s place – her perfect column about McCain Manlove and there in the comments, yeppers – ____ sucks !, well, ____ really sucks ! oy
and dear gaia, how about the C & L story today of McBush greasin’ the skids and playing fast and loose with defense contracts ? that came from the head of the Kansas Democratic party, Kansas for gods sakes have their heads screwed on straight, or how about the group in ‘red state’ Ohio having a half a million to spread the McSame love ?!?!? . . .surely the DFH’s can do the same
btw, my fave response so far – perfect what ?
Why is it that Mrs. McCain reminds me of Laura Bush? The answer will arrive soon. Lahoma is on her way home. And I shall ask her. It’s tit for tat here. Always. My lady asked me this morning how she should handle our new superintendent (at our high school), (I know him more than she) on a meeting at which she will propose a new formula for dealing with not so quick children. I told her to deal with this man the same way she deals with me. Make him feel he is omnipotent, and super smart. She called me earlier and said my suggestion seemed to have worked. He told everyone that Lahoma’s ideas were a breath of fresh air. Sometime I surprise myself.
Yes, she comes very brittle and bitter.
I sense she’s had just about enough of Macky-poo to last her for a lifetime.
McVain looked utterly exhausted by yestidie, and his only competition was Huck. Imagine what … if he’d had even 1/2 the schedule pace of either of the Democratic Party candidates.
If he’s bumbling and sighing & muttering that much at this point, he’d probably do better if he DID still have opposition, if only to keep him and his fans awake.
“Those of us in progressive blogoshphere already know that McCain is far beyond the pale. I personally cannot even see pictures of him without psychic pain. And listening to him, like Bush, is just not possible.“
I agree totally.
I’ve got plenty of vitriol for McCain saved up and ready to go. He certainly gets no free pass from me.
But one of the things I enjoy here is the ability to discuss each of our candidates. Sure it gets a little heated sometimes, but I’m sure Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Hancock & the gang stirred it up a little as well back in the day.
Any criticism I ever offer of Sen. Clinton has to do with her positions on issues; not her hair style, marriage to Bill, or choices of clothing to wear, etc.
That comes with the territory when running for office.
just popped over to watch hillary re obama and experience. back when she started going negative, i went from undecided to obama and am now actively working for him. watching and reading those statements about her and mccain having a lifetime of experience and obama having a speech, fill me with dismay and disgust for what she’s doing for the democratic cause overall. is she out of her f*cking mind promoting mccain over obama?
The second point is not whether one of the candidates should drop out, but whether either can win without alienating 30-50% of teh awsome turnout the Dems have been showing.
It is a poor assumption that the Republican primary turnout is a predictor of the general election. Give ‘em some red meat – immigration, terra, unborn rights, gay marriage, and they will show up, pulling the R presidential lever as an afterthought if nothing more
especially if their convinced the Dem is a muslim or lesbian
Could it be that we have a new Nancy Reagan in the making with Cindy McCain. Recall perhaps, Mrs. Reagan’s nauseating habit of always looking up to Ronnie during their photo ops?
Totally OT
British just raised their minimum wage to $11.34 an hour.
I often wonder if Cindy McCain realizes she’s even at a rally. She seems out of it most days.
Jane,
a quick one for you and then off to work
the 17 year old found me at 1:40 am, inputing poll numbers in to a graph/trending widget, gave me a reproving look and said “I blame that Hamsher woman.”
If Cindy McCain become the power behind the throne, I may have to leave the country.
Off topic…
Did anyone see this?
http://rohrabacher.house.gov/N…..ntID=84540
One of my readers posted it on my blog earlier today and I thought I’d share.
That’s the crap I’m talking about.
She’s got to take some heat for this! It should be unacceptable to any progressive/ liberal/ Democrat regardless of who you support.
Just because of unfair treatment in the press she’s got no right hold McCain in a better light than Sen. Obama.
None.
Yeah… A drawn out primary would be fine if she wasn’t stumping for McCain.
Tell anyone and everyone you know in Pennsylvania to register or change party affiliation by March 24th so we can end this and focus on John W McSame.
Oh… I forgot to add, that Lahoma is the power behind this throne. But she’s smart. She’s confident. And she’s cool. And most importantly, she’s mine.
Was that a tape measure Cindy had in her hand? Was she measuring the curtains?
If there were any real Party Elders – they would stage an intervention.
The problem is that the most significant Elder is slightly biased towards his wife.
Can you imagine those two in the White House? McCain would be pulling around a teleprompter with him like it’s a dialysis machine, and Cindy, when asked a question from the press, would take 4 minutes to put out one sentence.
LOL. We’re in the same boat I’m afraid. Except I don’t have a 17 year old.
McCauliff:….in the middle of the night missles comin’ to America…Hillary….Rezko…NAFTA.
I really don’t like this stuff….
That is really funny.
Funny, I just don’t see the quitter in you.
Besides, Lahoma wouldn’t allow it. ;->
*ducks*
The pix at the top is chilling.
cbl2 – if you are still around
http://xkcd.com/386/
I, too, have to agree with greenwarrior@6. I don’t think that you’re ever going to be able to keep the lid on this type of discussion. People are here because they’re fed up with the state of the country and they care deeply about the proper direction in which it needs to go. It’s the messy nature of democracy and it’s been that way since Athenian times.
I believe the vast majority of us will still care enough after primaries to pull together for the war on McCain. His deluded vision for the country is repugnant to us all. Remember, the Republicans don’t need us to come up with devious and disgusting ideas.
We do, however, need to be able to call out Dem candidates when they cross the line.
Just a couple more cents.
Jane, you shouldn’t worry. Really. We reeely, reeely hate McCain for sucking up to Shrub, talking out of both sides of his mouth on torture then voting AGAINST bills to ban waterboarding and/or hold the intelligence agencies to the same no-torture rules as the Army, being a totally-phony propagandist for “the surge” and “look how safe Baghdad is!” He’s deeply ass-holic and we have plenty of time to smoke him out.
And, remember, over six million folks voted in the TX and OH primaries, but yer not seeing six million poo-flingers on the blogs. Democrats out in analog world don’t hate each other’s candidates as much as it might appear from virtual world. We are gonna’ crush McCain, flufftacular man-crush in the MSM or no flufftacular man-crush.
“British just raised their minimum wage to $11.34 an hour.”
And that’s in a real currency, too!
No question, Cindy is on powerful meds. Time for Release of Medical Records on both of them.
Anyone know of a reliable delegate count? I got an e-mail from Obama that said Clinton netted 4 delegates last night, but Terry McCauliffe on hardball just said she netted 8 delegates.
According to Dennis Miller Rush Limbaugh told the repugs who can cross over in the primaries (I believe in both Ohio and Texas)to vote in the Dem primary for Hillary, the idea being to keep the Dems at each other’s throats. I have no idea why cross overs are permitted, but it seems Hillary didn’t win those states, the Repubs gave them to her much like the Repubs gave Connecticut Lieberman. It is hard to understand why the Dems keep playing the Repug game any more than one can understand why, under the circumstances, Hillary keeps going.
i bit. HAH HAH HAH. funny.
Unless it is “Are you really proud of your country?”
She gets real chatty then.
Hilarious!
Blog commenters love to talk about the very latest news. There’s very little going on in McCainville at the moment, so it’s not surprising we focus on Obama v. Clinton, which is perhaps one of the most interesting stories of our time.
I’m puzzled by the puzzlement about this.
Oooooo, that would be interesting to look at. I wonder how long her medication list is? Wow!
yeah but???
Sindee rarely looks at hizzoner. Usually “focussed” at that mythical middle distance to the farthest camera or somethin.
Oncet every so often she’ll look at him, and then the expression says, ‘I can’t beeLEEEVE I’m doing this. I could be doing ANYTHING else. Instead, oh #@*&. Calgone. Take me awaaayyyyy!’
Lahoma always has said, ‘I like to see you in a fight, kiddo, just make sure you win’. So far I don’t think I have let her down. She used to watch me in fisticuffs in high school. God that was so long ago.
Oh yes, those with fake patriotism in their hearts usually do have a lot to say to convince others they are when asked.
Yes… I have noticed that.
Don’t miss the mouse over comment
He just needs to be referred to as the 100 year old McBush. More of the same. What a pathetic old man he is.
John McCain must be stopped. Perhaps Cindy McCain is in nedd of hospitalization. I don’t know.
You do know, don’t you, that you will go down in history as one of the great love matches of all time?!
Congrats to you both! You raise ALL our spirits. ;->
Somebody’s gonna jump your shit for that comment. Hillary won Texas fair and square. /s
“According to Dennis MIller Rush Limbaugh told the repugs who can cross over in the primaries (I believe in both Ohio and Texas)to vote in the Dem primary for Hillary, the idea being to keep the Dems at each other’s throats.”
There’s no question a lot of this went on in Ohio.
Local wingnut radio was saying the same thing, and when I went to vote, the person next to me changed their status from “R” to “D”. Obviously, I didn’t know his motives, but that’s the first time I’ve ever overheard that in 30 years of voting.
Is there a non-biased, or liberally leaning national news organization? Does everything need millions of dollars and a republican to own it?
i had missed it. thanks for showing me the fully monty.
I’m still not convinced of the conventional wisdom that McCain benefits from being able to go on the attack while the Dems are still duking it out. Yes, he’s going to get a pass on everything awful from the press, but it appears to me that the rumble on the Dem side is getting all the attention (good and bad) and nominee McCain is just… boring.
If he’s going to “define” the Dem candidate, he’s going to need attention, and I’m not sure he’s going to get it. While the media love to hang out with him, they don’t necessarily have a lot of interest in what he says, and it may well be that by the time he really needs to get his attacks out they’ll be old news to his buddies in the media, without having been conveyed much to the rest of us.
OT, but did you hear Bushie today…
“I’ll be at Crawford with my feet up”
After fucking up America for 8 years and taking our troops
to harm’s way… this guy will be relaxing…
He is a disgusting human being!
There’s some evidence though.
I’m not so sure about the “human” part.
He will not have to campaign as much as the dems, which is good for an old fart like him, he will also have a lot of time to raise a lot on money and not have to spend it. He will still get lots of “media” attention because it is in their interest to have either he or clinton2 in there as prez….. to keep the gooper WH doncha know.
The thing is folks are mad that we don’t have a nominee yet. It was clear that Both Obama and Hillary were the two most divisive candidates to get picked. If you were asked in ‘05 the two people that would give the republicans the best shot to beat in ‘08 out of candidates who were recognizable Hillary and Obama would have tied for the top picks.
Edwards lost; too bad; He bowed out. No it’s Hillary’s turn. McCain is not getting a pass by Democrats (sure by the media), but the democrats are not using the MSM’s hate-bites to say their candidate is better. They want this to end and the original biases pre-judgments and arguments against the two candidates running in the first place, (b/c we were forced to swallow them as the only real choices by the MSM) are re-surfacing, and being overheard by the neighbors, when it should be keep in the bedroom and private.
Hillary step down already.
Don’t know ’bout the rest of you but any comment prefixed
“According to Dennis Miller Rush Limbaugh…” gets so wadded up in drug-addled disfunction the rest of it has to be suspect at best.
Brilliant. Yes, I believe we (liberals and conservatives alike) have been trained as consumers of the right-wing propaganda machine.
We need a lot more deliberate critical thinking. We need to stop and say “Waitaminute, what AM I thinking? And who stuck that meme in my head? And what do they get from it?”
A very important post by Jane, I wish everyone would read it and take it to heart.
And to all those people who say “I just can’t vote for Hilary”, I say to you “Then don’t vote for Hilary – vote AGAINST McCain.”
And I’m an Obama supporter. But I’ll vote for Hilary if she pulls out the nomination.
Yesterday when I was explaining the caucus process to folks waiting in line in Austin, TX, one Republican cross-over was questioning me very closely about how it worked. He wanted to vote for one candidate in the primary and THEN crossover for the caucus. I told him he couldn’t do that. He could be registered as a Republican and vote Democratic in the primary, but then he’d have to caucus Democrat. Or vice versa. He said, well since it’s a secret ballot, “How will they know?” I told him when they were going to give him his ballot, they were going to ask him if he wanted a Democratic or Republican ballot and then stamp his voter registration card Democratic or Republican for the caucus. He was quite dismayed hearing that info. I assured him they wouldn’t let him into a Democratic primary with Republican stamped on his
foreheadvoter card.
“Once every so often she’ll look at him, and then the expression says, ‘I can’t beeLEEEVE I’m doing this. I could be doing ANYTHING else. Instead, oh #@*&. Calgone. Take me awaaayyyyy!’”
Respectfully disagree. I’ll even bet she’s the engine behind most of his political ambition. There’s no place else she’d rather be.
I’ll bet she went to the White House today tape measure in hand.
When you have the money she has, power is all that’s left to acquire.
Why can’t we call McCain’s bus the bullshit express?
And let’s just call the pool reporters on the bus “lap dogs”.
Truth in messaging!
Bob in HI
it just gets curiouser and curiouser.
should we warn the pugs to be careful what they wish for?
have they thot this’n thru & throooo?
do they think?
Try sneakin’ up behind one and whispering “8 more years a’ Clintons!”
Then, when ‘e turns around, u be turned around looking over yer shoulder too, looking real scared. Mebbe say somethin’ like, “OMG You hear anythin just now?!??”
Stop whining.
i didn’t know he was into yoga.
We must defeat Mr. McCain. This is the objective. I demand my political party understand this.
So what is really being asked is that the resolution of the nomination should not await a concerted attack on McCain. WE NEED TO MULTITASK. Underlying this assignment is an assumption that the particular Democratic candidate we nominate is secondary to beating McCain. But it seems for sure that the Clintons are a high risk and probable losers to the Repubs and certainly I, for one, could not stomach another eight years of the Clintons if I have a choice. And I do. Obama. So the sole priority now is to get him nominated and to keep the Clintons off the ticket. Which was made more problematic today when Senator Clinton sought to write an insurance policy for herself be suggesting she should be on the national ticket with Obama, top or bottom, it does not matter to her but she would prefer to be on top. The Democrats must keep the Clintons off the national ticket.
McCain is a secondary issue at this point.
barf.
here it is:
(bold mine)
he’s not “done yet”– be afraid, be very afraid.
the ‘(laughter)’ is also puke worthy.
Clinton and Obama are jewels compared to McCain.
Limbaugh couldn’t motivate people to vote against McCain; I don’t believe he can motivate significant numbers of people to vote for Hillary. I’m willing to believe that Republicans crossed over, just like in a bunch of other states, but I’m not willing to believe that they followed Limbaugh’s instructions without any evidence. Giving credence to it just sustains his illusion of influence and plays into his game of undermining legitimacy of the Democratic candidates.
The fact is, Republicans who crossed over probably voted for a mix of reasons — trying to vote for the weaker Dem so that McCain can win, trying to vote for the stronger Dem because they hate McCain, trying to vote for the Dem they like better because they think the GOP is going to lose either way and they actually care about their life and the country, or voting for the Dems because they also hate Bush, and McCain has declared he’s going to continue everything Bushian.
Need a lot of ads like this about McSame Mcain:
http://tpmelectioncentral.talk…..irdpar.php
And we need to think up nice chants to go with it, like:
Got no shame?
Got no game?
Really lame?
Then vote McSame!
You’ll be to blame.
If McCain were somehow to be elected we are perhaps looking at 16 years of Republican rule. And I do mean ‘rule’.
Try Slate’s Counter.
It’s over; someone tell Hillary.
Sharp disagreement here.
Assign Senator Clinton all the responsibility you wish for the fuckery of the last 16 years, but she doesn’t hold a candle to McStain.
you’re right of course…
… and security and lots of walls between you and the people who do it all for you.
hypnotizing, really, to imagine all that.
mebbe it’s not meds.
*SNAP!*
Ohio has an “open” primary. When you go to your polling place, you sign your name and the pollworker asks which ballot you want: Dem/Issues, Repub/Issues, or just Issues for the independants.
So you get crossovers…
It’s time that Howard Dean, Hillary Clinton and Obama had a serious talk. A very serious talk.
Sprint to the finish? Isn’t that what Gonzo said?
Doesn’t Bush need to attend a meeting in Brattleboro VT?
Keep your eyes on the prize, guys and gals. The White House.
About what? Edwards losing or Hillary pulling a Huckabee?
Forgot about that STTP, that’s another area that requires substantial due diligence. Where’s her money from, how wealthy is she, who was she married to before McCain, who is her father, how much land does she own, how much water does she take for her land, how much federal subsidies does she suck up for her water and land? Like shooting fish in a barrel…..
And all those bucks pay for a LOT of good anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds. Believe me. She is stoned out of her gourd half of the time. Power-hungry, efficiently evil, possibly a political genius, but stoned half the time ….
Bottom line at this point is still… delegates accrued.
Shrub has always laughed at inappropriate moments — frequently after mentioning death or threats to the country. Ick.
I know what the Republicans are up to. Problem is, I don’t know what my party is up to. Is it time to unite yet?
Jane,
As I posted over at Digby’s
Yep. The Warcrimes Extraordinaire is going to kick back and enjoy the rest of his life. I bet he’s hoping either MCCain or Hillary will get in to seal his records from public viewing too. Bastard!
The Clintons are not an option.
Perhaps the Republicans can just sit back and watch us lose. I think it’s happened before.
I don’t think there is a reliable delegate count yet. The results from the Texas caucuses are not going to be final for a while. But I think it’s pretty well established that the maximum change in the delegate counts from yesterday’s contests will be a gain of about ten for Clinton, and probably less.
And some Republicans voted for Obama. It’s a wash. She won that one fair and square (as things go).
One other benefit of the continuing campaign: both candidates have been forced to shift leftward to appeal to the Democratic base (that’s us, peeps!).
Lahoma just breezed through on her way upstairs to change clothes. As she passed by me I said this Democratic thing is getting messy. And I asked her what we should do? Lahoma said, ”end it”. And off she went.
This is the only one I don’t completely agree with. I agree that it will be good practice in dealing with attacks, but there are plenty of areas of attack where Democrats won’t go, because they have to have some concern about pissing off their Democratic supporters, and the Republicans don’t. It’s good practice and good preparation, but it’s still just a warm-up for the ugliness we’re going to see out of McCain and company.
try door #3
Be real careful Kiddo. Is that new stove operational yet?
My feeling is I don’t want to assume the Democrats will beat McCain. There’s work to be done.
Yep. I specifically didn’t mention candidates in those reasons, because there’s the additional confounding factor that each voter makes their own judgment about which Dem candidate is stronger/weaker and better/worse.
What’s far more interesting to me than Cindy McCain’s perfection (or lack thereof) is how Hillary’s negative campaigning doesn’t seem to play at all with Jane or Christy. Here’s this supposed topflight candidate who needed to go negative to cement victories (in states where she was leading). She needed to go negative, and now the shit will fly (Quick, Obamaniacs and Hillbots introduce yourselves to Christy’s poo-flinging thread immediately!). To your point Jane, Hillary initiated the attack mode that only amped the problem you’re so concerned with, and here we are the day after, and Hillary’s all smiles as she sets aside her intellect and passion now that she’s found her third (and maybe most potent) voice in this campaign – sarcasm and fear mongering.
Meanwhile, McCain gets to sit back and enjoy Hillary’s kudos at the expense of the possible Dem. nominee.
We who have shown passion for our choices did not create this atmosphere, and we who protest against comments like “John McCain has a lifetime of experience.” or “While your children were sleeping…”are actually speaking to your point.
The free pass for McCain you protest is emanating from the top of Hillary’s campaign.
agreed!
Both candidates can discuss how they differ with McCain and Barack has been doing this regularly. Unfortunately, when you have one candidate giving her opponent talking points; it hurts the democratic party.
Absolutely. And even if you’re an optimist and think it’s nearly inevitable that we’ll beat him (like me on a good day), it’s still worth putting in a lot of work to assure that we beat him as badly as possible, because that would be even better.
The new stove is working great. I’m doing chicken and dumplings. Seriously. And Lahoma is operational too.
You’re right and it’s time to ask Hillary whether or not she supports the democratic party.
You want to critique something based on facts and particulars, crit away. You want to just fling poo…we’ve had enough of the bullshit. And having just spent all of last week smacking back at Nedra Pickler for flinging GOP poo at Obama, you can take your accusation of bias and find another place to peddle it.
Jeebus, people, how hard is it to stick to facts and not idiotic personal poo flinging?
Hmmm. I guess I’m just confused. I’ve been following politics since I was a kid and actively voting and campaigning since ‘70.
So many years and presidential elections like ‘68, ‘72 and ‘76, the race continued for the nomination well into the June/July times.
Then there were a few years where things began to get front loaded and the nominee was picked early, leading to folks in a lot of states complaining about not getting a choice.
This year, there was both front-loading AND a lot of choices. Even though so folks dropped out, now the later states are once again gettiing to make a choice and be heard.
So what do I hear? “I’ve voted now so Candidate X, whom I don’t support, needs to drop out so we can unify.”
I guess that allowing folks in all states to have a say works only until any one individual’s state has voted, at which point it becomes moot.
Or am I missing something here?
OPEC is going to give Bush $4.00 a gallon gas their parting kiss.
Old John McCain had better rethink the joint pressers with President Look At Me.
McCain looked subservient, awkward and embarrassed.
More of this.
-G
He still had Sack of Shithead Brian Williams and Tweety Matthews cooing and talking him up as Teddy Roosevelt though. Someone tell Jim Vandehei that the media is in the tank for McWarmonger.
Both Barack and Hillary need to be going after McCain. They can still continue to point out differences between each other without giving McCain talking points.
The candidate that effectively knocks McSame off his pedestal, wins.
Our high voter turnout is driven by people in states who previously never had a chance to have their vote count in a Presidential Primary. They want to debate for their candidate.
By the way, don’t forget to remind your conservative friends that Free Astaire Bush has topped Jimmy Carter’s old record of most expensive barrel of oil.
Feel free to rub in, mock and ridicule.
-G
Obama looked great last week going after Bush and McCain on their disasterous war in Iraq. Sadly, Hillary hasn’t gone there at all. Yet she wants us to put her up against McCain.
Let’s hear a little of what you’ll say to the straight talker, Hillary!
Fred, not Free.
-G
Life is good. We live in the country. We can walk to work. We are Democrats. We have two good candidates (Obama and Hillary). We’ve got supper in the crock pot. And my lady is getting the horses ready for a ride to the river. And in this land of plenty that is Oklahoma, most importantly, I have Lahoma. But I am not able to rid myself of the visions of hungry, neglected and abused kids here, and abroad. The ultimate mission is to stop that. As far as we are concerned.
I completely agree. In response to several who have suggested that two Dems attacking McSame are better than one, show me anything Hillary has said or done to attack McSame. Anything.
Maybe..except for the part about screwing a guy’s wife who raised his kids and was disabled by an auto accident.
Christy, I couldn’t see any poo being flung by jogger @ 111 except possibly the phrase above? Is it now forbidden to accuse Hillary of using fear-mongering, on pain of being labeled a poo-flinger?
I see a consensus that people want Hillary to join Obama in attacking McSame. I am asking for any evidence that Hillary has attacked McSame. Then, if we find some of that, I would like us to compare her rate of attacking McSame to her rate of attacking Obama.
Hey funny you should bring up FISA…. I just received several e-mail on just that subject today. The one that pleases me most is from my congress critter Anna Eshoo:
that is a Very pleasing letter.
Fractal — I wasn’t referring to that particular comment. I’ve spent months on end wading through comment after comment of poo flinging, personal insult and drivel. I get e-mails on a daily basis doing the same — including oppo research from supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama regarding the other candidate and things we should write about that are vile — and when we don’t, we get accused of being a paid shill for the other side.
Enough poo flinging. Facts are good, poo flinging not so much. I don’t know how to be clearer than that, other than to say that sometimes I feel as though we are stuck in the middle of a slap fight between a couple of 8-year-olds yelling “nuh uh” “uh huh” “no, you are” “no, you are” “no, your candidate sucks” “Nuh uh, yours does”. And I’m royally tired of it.
I can’t believe no one posted this link! It’s the absolutely devastating final word on Cindy McCain.
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com…..-the-mrs/1
just an absolutely fascinating and damning article.
good work by the reporter and Phoenix New Times…
enjoy!
okay, relieved to hear that.
You should know, we have all been spreading your gospel of no poo-flinging to other blogs (e.g., me over at TPM Election Central, others elsewhere). I think we can keep it together and drag this thing across the finish line, whenever that may be.
There’s bound to be some additional material on her use of prescription medications that is newer than fourteen years ago. That Phoenix story was from 1994, so we got to work up a new angle.
Now you tell me — I already started a petition to Free Astaire.
Hey, thanks for digging that up! I was looking for some definitive reportage on that story.
Cheers from Phoenix…
Facts:
This site both ignored and belittled John Edwards when he was in the race (”angry is sooo 2004″; Huckabee’s better at the “populist” theme; Edwards needs to hire a media consultant). Only when he bowed out did FDL — in the fine tradition of the rest of the MSM — hail him as a “true Democrat.”
This site published a sloppy, irresponsible, and unresearched hit piece on Obama’s supposed Rezko connection.
This site has been SILENT on matters like Bill Clinton’s race baiting in South Carolina; the Clinton campaign’s attempt to suppress voter turnout for Obama in Nevada through the Teacher’s Union lawsuit; Hillary Clinton’s support for Joe Lieberman’s keeping his committee chairmanships; and Clinton’s more recent tactics like the 3 a.m. scaremongering ad, throwing Obama under the McCain “experience” bus, encouraging Russert’s Farrakhan baiting, and feigning uncertainty about Obama’s religious affilliation.
“Poo”: the labeling of ALL criticism of Hillary Clinton, regardless of source or substance, as “misogyny.”
Oh, and one more fact…..it’s only since HIllary’s candidacy was effectively written off that FDL has gone to “work” for Obama.
Don’t really know how to respond to that Christy. I thought this was a place of debate, a place to question and learn through responses. Had a feeling you might not be pleased by criticism, but man didn’t see that vitriol coming. Hillary has gone negative – that’s a fact. Jane’s worried about infighting. Negative attacking breeds negative attacking equals infighting is my point. So why is it that you fly off the handle when asked to comment on these attacks in light of Jane’s concern? Why am I an 8 year old for asking, but o.k. i’m 8, but I would still like to hear your views.
I can see where you’re tired of this since you are reading day in and day out, and for that I’m sincerely sorry to burden you with trying to understand your position.
And, frankly, I was up really late last night and woke up to a whole slew of those sorts of whinging e-mails today…and I’m just worn out by the whole finger-pointing crapfest. So in my tired state, I’m probably a bit more crabby than usual about it.
Normally, I just try to ignore it until it gets flame-warry, ya know? (Which is altogether too frequent for my preference…but there you are.)
Oh, excuse me? Jane did several articles on Bill Clinton’s mouthy issues — I remember reading them. We also did many great articles on John Edwards — I know, because I wrote several myself. And we’ve done supportive articles on Obama.
Don’t selectively nitpick about bullshit if you aren’t prepared to read EVERYTHING on the site instead of just the things with which you disagree.
Jeebus, did I say you were an 8 year old? I was talking in general terms about the crap I have had to wade through. Just go through the poo thread from yesterday to see what it is.
Everyone, and I mean everyone, is hypersensitive and exhausted and taking it out on everyone else. See the above comment from juste at 138 for what I’m talking about 00 it was perfectly timed.
Yep, Jane and I just sit around here all day long and try and find ways to smack all the Dems around that everyone else likes while we scheme and plot to hold up the Democrat you hate (fill in blanks as to which ones those are, because I can guarantee you we’ve been accused of it at one time or another).
If this is what trying to organize people to work toward a greater good is like, no wonder the only people who want to do it are the greedy bastards who want to get into the business solely to milk the system. Honestly…I have well and truly had it.
yeah, you wrote the one where he was a great Democrat after he dropped out. I don’t recall any more — nor the others you mention. Perhaps you could provide some links?
And as for supporting Obama — see above. Nobody would ever accuse of FDL of keeping its cart hitched to a losing horse.
Oh, and juste — you can start with this particularly poignant series that I did on Bringing Poverty to the Table all the way back in 2006…when writing about Edwards was quirky and quixotic. And work your way forward on the blog from there.
You want more articles? Because I can keep linking them for the next hour if you like — one by one.
I think there should be a quiz, after you provide all the posts you did.
Good evening everyone. I see we’re all in a good mood. Anyone have any good news?
Here’s part II of Bringing Poverty to the Table — again, talking about Edwards and poverty.
And here’s one that is a more recent one about Edwards and James Lowe. There were a series of these on this issue, but you get the point, I think with this particular post.
We need to shower the airwaves with this nugget of TRUTH:
JOHN McCAIN IS A MAN WHO DOESN’T STICK UP FOR HIS OWN FAMILY!!
Back in 2000, when he ran against The Chimp in the South Carolina GOP Primary, McCain was successfully smeared
by KARL ROVE—-Phone calls, emails and the like, saturated the state with rumors of Cindy McCain’s being mentally ill, and also of a black “love child” fathered by McCain out-of-wedlock.
The rumors were fabricated ofcourse, BUT THEY WORKED!
McCain lost that primary, and Dubya went on to win the nomination after capturing “the momentum” in Carolina.
to the attack on HIS FAMILY was to suck up to Rove/Bu$hCo in every possible way in the years following the 2000 election, making McCain as big
a Bush sycophant as Lieberman.
Even now, he carries the full weight of the Bu$hCo War Policy on his back, like the loyal servant of corruption and Evil he actually is.
THE TRUTH:
JOHN McCAIN CHOSE THE PROMISE OF POWER OVER DEFENDING HIS OWN FAMILY FROM SMEAR ATTACKS AND FALSE SLANDER.
John McCain is a sleazeball, plain & simple.
And if JOHN McCain can’t defend his own family
from political smear-attacks,
HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY BE DEPENDED ON
TO DEFEND AMERICA AGAINST
DANGEROUS ENEMIES LIKE AL QAEDA??!!
zing! a big homework assignment.
But it WAS an exhausting night last night, even if we only stayed up until 1 AM, because we all realized it’s not going to be over for at least another seven weeks, and we need to crank up yet another caravan of buses to PA, and yet another thousand phone calls to PA, no matter who we support we have a LOT more work to do instead of being able to pivot and slam McSame.
So I don’t blame Christy for being cranky.
OTOH, take heart, Howard Dean was on All Things Considered tonight; when asked about the differences between Obama and Clinton, he immediately pivoted and attacked McSame for his lousy ethics and other things. That’s what we ALL wanted to start doing today!
Here’s Jane’s latest push-back about Russert’s unfortunate tendency to smack at black politicians using other black people as bait — relating back to his weird Harry Belafonte question of Obama in the past — about which she also did a post way back in 2006.
Oh, wait, that’s two years ago. Guess we aren’t so Johnny Come Lately on helping out Obama either.
Want me to keep going?
Christy deserves a dinner break.
Missing words from my last post:
“The way he chose to respond… (to the attack on his family…”)
please — because nothing you’ve cited so far responds to my points about THIS campaign season, BEFORE Obama became the frontrunner.
Sure — well, there’s this one from January.
Here’s one from later in February.
Limbaugh has the most popular talk show in the country. I don’t know if you listen to it (I do when I’m in the car when he’s on) and it is very bad, but the callers almost to a man or woman are quite respectful and supportive of him. I don’t see how you can say he has no influence.
According to polls Bush has a 30% approval rating. It seems to be the consensus here that the other 70% are progressives like ourselves and would no more vote for McCain than jump off a bridge. Two people, one from Ohio and one from Texas,said they noticed cross overs. That’s hardly evidence, but there’s no evidence that large numbers of crossovers didn’t happen or that it wasn’t inspired by Limbaugh. The apparent general assumption that we have a lock on the general is perhaps our greatest weakness.
Oh look, here’s yet another one from January.
And another.
And another.
Here’s one from early February.
And here’s one from December.
Shall I keep going? Because, although I’d rather finish cooking dinner for my family, I can…
1,777 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND…
Citizen Hamsher and the Firepup Freedom Fighters:
“…but the indifference that people show to McCain, stands in sharp contrast to the hatred they feel for the Democratic candidate that ISN’T theirs.”
Yes, Sister Jane, you got it right – many Democrats feel that one or the other of the candidates isn’t THEIRS. That is, that one or the other doesn’t represent the interests of a majority of common folks out here. And instead of tisk-tiskin’ and waggin’ yer finger, maybe there would be somethin’ to be learned from explorin’ the reasons that each side feels the way they do. I for one do not believe in “my country right or wrong” nor do I believe in “my party, right or wrong”. I happen to feel that the long term interests of the majority of the people of this country and, indeed the world, would be equally damaged by John McCrazy or one of the two remainin’ Democrats. In fact, I think that a McCain Presidency with Democratic super majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives would be safer in the long haul than havin’ one of the Democrats take those majorities and implement Bush policies while gutting the DNC and the national party organization Dean has built. Imagine, if you will Rahm Emmanuel candidates in all the open seats for Congress or Harold Ford as chair of the DNC!! No Jane, I think that this protracted nomination process may give us a stronger candidate but more importantly, a Democratic coalition of constituencies that share real democratic principals and values.
The hope here is that whichever candidate wins the nomination, he or she will be forced to step toward the Democratic base on the realization that the general election can’t be won without them. I’m afraid that Mrs. Clinton is NOT disposed to do that because she is not in this to win at any cost…she’s in it to win for her corporate bosses and John McCain if necessary.
KEEP THE FAITH AND DON’T BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY!!
Christy, I pray that you and Jane and everyone else can find the strength to put up with the lot of us. IMO you all are saints.
Just in case that wasn’t enough, here’s another one from December smacking Bill Shaheen for his idiotic attack on Obama.
And there are many more…
Christy, take heart, we are in the thick of it. Most everyone here is a Democrat, and will work for the ticket no matter who tops it. That doesn’t mean we wont’ debate, we won’t be passionate, and if debate and passion equals poo-flinging so be it. I think what you may be missing is that there is an inherent emotional quotient to all political conversation and debate. You show emotion, but seems you can’t abide by it in others.
No one here wants to see John McCain as our next president. I wouldn’t want him as my dogcatcher, but for now, within our party, we have a choice, and many of us are divided for the moment – that’s what this process is about. My on-topic point concerning Hillary (and this thread) is that she is amping the negative, and that’s pouring gas on the debate. I don’t believe she takes as good as she gives, but I’m just one person voicing my opinion here.
Many at FDL disagree with me. My entire family and extended family are in love with Hillary. But that doesn’t stop the conversation between us, nor do we need to get upset with one another, we just move on past our politics and get on with it knowing we’re all Dems. (Can’t abide by the a Repub in my life!)
We are not hypersensitive, but please don’t shut us down by calling our points bullshit.
And of course I may be wrong….often am, and that’s why I bothered to make the observation and look forward to a substantive response at some point.
no doubt I’m being “nitpicky,” but only two of those posts are by Ms. Hamsher — and those two were about subjects other than the candidates themselves. Similary, yours about James Lowe — though a fine post — mentioned John Edwards. It was not about him.
There are some fair-minded people who post on this blog — but I think we all know who, um, “wears the pants.”
Don’t let me keep you from dinner, though. If you’d like I’ll return the favor by posting links to the many “misogyny” witch hunt screeds of the last three months, and the dismissals of Edwards as “too angry,” “too 2004″ and lacking in focus group wisdom. There was also that shining moment last fall where Elizabeth Edwards was told to STFU because she didn’t tow the Hamsher party line about the “Betrayus” ad.
I’ve found the front pagers at FDL to be the most neutral of all the blogs I read, and I believe they have set ANOTHER standard of excellence in their coverage. I think it would behoove all to honor and support this standard with respect.
Take a step back, detach from the emotion and just think about where you, I or the country would be without forums like this that teach, motivate and encourage citizen action.
I’m not throwing flames here at all, this is just an observation. If this blog doesn’t give you what you want, find another.
Jeebus, do you not know how to use teh Google:
Here’s an earlier post about James Lowe and John Edwards that I did. You can do your own homework on the rest of them yourself.
I’ve never worn a dress.
Jane and Christy, your efforts and wisdom is to good to waste on idiots like Jogger @111. Anyone that has been here for any time knows that. Don’t even respond to such bullshit, you are much better than that. Some people just say shit cause they think they can knowing someone will believe it. But they really don’t understand that the one’s that believe them are just as stupid as they are. Birds of a feather….etc. Jogger, McCain’s got a little bit of dark residue stuck in the crack of his ass, need a job?
Let’s try to refrain from making it personal, shall we? Poo free zone…
believe me, I don’t look to this blog, or any other, to give me what I “want”.
The only reason I am bothering with this at all is that I think it’s a shame that a blog that has accumulated as much influence as this one, has chosen to exploit it for ego and ambition — when there was an opportunity, now lost, to mobilize the netroots behind a real progressive candidate.
Sadly, it’s not the only one.
I guess it’s hard to figure out a way how to
successfully attack grandpa McCain without coming off as
anti-elderly…
Christy, you are right, please accept my apology, it will not happen again. It’s just that some people….well, I am sorry.
Thank you for this. According to Dana Rohrbacker Oklahoma was in fact an inside job
New! Improved! Pay it forward.
Actually, Cindy, bless-her-heart, was mentally ill in that she was highly addicted to Vicodin and Percaced at the time(excuse spelling)adn writing prescriptions in employees names and using Dr’s name to issue to prescriptions that knew nothing about it. I think this qualifies as ‘mental illness. The fact that Chimpy and company used it is another matter. The fact that McCrazy and Cindy lick his boots when the family was slander is despicable and shows a complete lack of integrity. If I were McNutbag, I would be punching Chimpy is his mouth
I lost all respect for McCain when he refused to defend his family during the 2000 South Carolina primary, when Rove and his henchmen said he had a druggie wife and had fathered a black child out of wedlock. Worse, he started sucking up to the crazies after they totally disrespected his child and his wife.
This is the kind of thing the media sues to call the Democrats wimps. But IOKIYAR.
uses, not sues. Preview is my friend.
We do need to “refresh” Phoenix News Times piece(http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com…..-the-mrs/1). Otherwise it will be spun as “old news” and “attacks on a person suffering from addiction”. What needs to be emphasized is how she forged prescriptions of Doctors that worked for her nonprofit and forged the prescriptions in the names of the nonprofits employees. Correct me if I am wrong but true recovery requires accepting full responsibility of actions while boozing and/or pilling it up. I would think this rule applies to rich daddy’s girls and Senators wives as well, doesn’t it? But not coke-head Prezelnets.
Thank you Jane, for this post…it’s what I have been thinking (and worrying about) and you have said it so well.
First, she is “the other woman.” She had sex with John while he was still married to his first wife, who was still recovering from a horrible car crash that she hid from John while he was in Viet Nam so as not to worry him even more.
READ MORE HERE
Whore-dog McCain married her one month after divorcing the mother of his children. Her criminal drug use came later.
Another trip down the memory hole:
The Arizona Republic, April 29, 1990 — “McCain’s involvement with Keating . . . when reporters called him with questions last year about previously unknown ties to Keating, an investment by wife Cindy McCain in a Keating shopping center and trips to Keating’s Bahamas home, McCain went into a rage.”
Oh, and:
Playboy, July 1999. — “Ms. McCain admitted stealing Percocet and Vicodin from the American Voluntary Medical Team, an organization that aids Third World countries. Percocet and Vicodin are schedule 2 drugs, in the same legal category as opium. Each pill theft carries a penalty of one year in prison and a monetary fine.” However, McCain did not face prosecution. She was allowed to enter a pretrial diversion program and escaped with no blemish to her record. Source: James Bovard, Prison Sentences of the Politically Connected.
PERFECT!
This is primary season. Two Democrats are fighting over who gets the nomination. There will be plenty of time to go after McCain in the fall. He has a big head-start, but so what? Are you kidding me? So many Americans, even in the primaries, didn’t know who they were going to vote for until the week of their primary. (Talk about not paying attention.)
When is the convention? August/early September? That leaves 2 whole months to decide between the GOPer and the Dem. (Although ANY American who doesn’t see the difference between either Dem and McCain has to be too stupid to vote.)
Then again, Hillary Clinton made perfectly clear (at least 3 times today) that McCain was more qualified than Obama. That is the No. 1 reason I couldn’t vote for her. (Along the same lines, her husband said Hillary would have a hard time campaigning against McCain because he was such a good guy.)
The only thing in the whole country with more experience than John McBush is Mount Rushmore. This is one old man and one older mountain.
Is Cindy perfect? Well, it depends on whether you’re concerned about where her money came from…… “……the father of the Senator’s second wife is James W. Hensley. And who was James W. Hensley, you ask.”
http://www.americanmafia.com/F…..s_219.html