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If Douglas E. Schoen and Patrick H. Caddell hadn’t identified themselves as “Democratic pollsters,” I would’ve thought their op-ed — which is about how Obama and the Democrats can avoid a “bloodbath” in November — was a first-rate piece of concern-trolling by someone like Karl Rove or Glenn Reynolds.
Because that’s exactly the way it reads.
To turn a corner, Democrats need to start embracing an agenda that speaks to the broad concerns of the American electorate. It should be somewhat familiar: It is the agenda that is driving the Tea Party movement and one that has the capacity to motivate a broadly based segment of the electorate.
Yeah, Obama should really heed those Teabaggers, that hugely unpopular movement teeming with angry right-wingers who hate socialism but love entitlements, who oppose big government unless it benefits them, who wrongly believe taxes have gone up, think Obama’s not a US citizen, who run bestiality-loving bigots for major offices — and who love George W. Bush and worship at the altar of Sarah Palin.
Yes, by all means — embrace their completely incomprehensible, wingnutty agenda Mr. President. Victory will be yours!
They [Democrats] must adopt an agenda aimed at reducing the debt, with an emphasis on tax cuts, while implementing carefully crafted initiatives to stimulate and encourage job creation. This is the agenda that largely motivated the Clinton administration from 1995 through 2000 and that led to a balanced budget and welfare reform.
Reducing the debt through tax cuts. Fucking genius.
And by the way, that agenda that the Clinton administration pursued from 1995-2000 really did wonders for the Democratic Party, didn’t it? Do these guys remember 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004?
If you wonder why too many Democrats in Washington still completely suck, it’s because there are still guys like these two assclowns running around getting paid to advise them.
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It’s as if they’ve moved past their ever-popular ‘punch-a-hippie’ phase into the ‘punch-a-Democrat’ phase.
“Brilliant” would be the operative word.
Where do these fucking idiots come from, anyway? More importantly, why don’t they go back…and stay there?
The problem with such a monumentally stupid idea is that it’s just the sort of idea that Orahma would embrace.
I’ve thought Cadell was a lunk ever since Hunter Thompson wrote about him. At least he’s consistent.
With friends like these, who needs R oppo researchers?
Indeed…
With friends like Schoen and Caddell, who needs enemas? Better check to see whether these guys are taking money under the table from the Rethuglicans…or above it from Rahm Emanuel.
What Margaret said.
Heehee. They sure help to flush anyone with a D after their name out of office.
I hardly think you can blame the Democrats current problems on the Clinton administration, though I know it’s pretty knee-jerk for some progressives. But I think identifying Caddell as a Democratic strategist at this point is a real stretch. Further, this is precisely what Obama has already begun to do, remember the big thing he wanted out of the stimulus was that 40% be used for tax cuts? I agree with you this advice is crap, but Caddell isn’t really the problems because no one takes him seriously. The problem is the elected Democrats and President Obama who are already on this bandwagon. Obama’s next big initiative seems to be his “entitlement reform” with his fiscal responsibility commission.
Breaking!
Goldman Is Charged With Subprime Fraud
I suspect the commission is a means of avoiding actually doing something about entitlements till after the election.
“Entitlement Reform” ought to be a real winner. Can’t wait.
They come from their own assholes, and should crawl back into same.
It occurs to me that if corporations are people, they should be subject to capital punishment…
Seminal already has a couple of diaries up about this, if you’re interested in reading some reactions.
My thought exactly. Thank you BT.
For some strange reason I can’t seem to take my eyes off of “Waterboard Obama”….
Gee, when Caddell writes or speaks or anything, I feel a ‘malaise’ coming on…
That’s right up there with Schoen’s advice to Dems in 2006: “Shhh, don’t mention the war.”
The t-shirt pretty much destroys the effect for me.
That’s part of the RNC’s new fundraising campaign “Motorboat a Moron”…all proceeds go to paying down Mike Steele’s Company VISA card.
And that would be the same Doug Schoen who told Dems to accommodate George Bush and told Obama to appoint Republicans to his cabinet.
http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2008/11/03/rahmbo-chief-of-staff-you-can-kiss-bipartisanship-goodbye/
I dunno, if it actually worked it would be fun IMO.
Love to hear the asshole admit all the selling out he’s done. Admit the deals with the hospitals and PHARMA over HCR, admit how he’s right now trying to come with something he can call FINREG and still keep his Wall St. pals happy.
But, of course, waterboarding doesn’t work, so I’m left with staring at the shirt….
*sigh*
*g*
Sorry, it was 2008 Schoen was talking about, not 2006:
http://firedoglake.com/2007/09/14/doug-schoens-fool-proof-plan-for-crash-and-burn/
“Rather than harp on withdrawal…”
Sorry, Doug Schoen’s bullshit advice to Democrats is one of my big pet peeves.
If it’s an RNC effort, then shouldn’t it be “Motorboat a Moran”?
The fact the Democrats keep taking it is one of mine.
LOL, touche.
Ha!
Shirt! My Ass!
It’s not the shirt you guys are staring at!
:)
.
Isn’t that the stuff Republics always promise? If there was only a real news media to point out that that’s never worked.
ROFLMFAO, good one.
Schoen’s obviously really concerned about those risking their lives in Bush’s wars.
Well that is actually a worse problem, I admit.
You think you’re excited? Feel these nipples!
I have an academic curiosity about the type of campaign Obama runs in 2011-2012. Think he’s a big enough phony to break out the full hopey-changey greatest hits?
Now THAT’S a great idea.
Cut defense spending by a $Trillion give the planet a rest.
Send them a jury summons.
It’s thanks to corporatist and Bush-embracing “Dem” consultants like Schoen and his partner Mark Penn that my candidate Hillary (who could have been an outstanding prez from day one) managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in 2008 with that mushy and fuddy-duddy Orthogonian campaign they recommended.
As for Caddell, I don’t think he’s advised a major Dem since Jerry Brown in 92, and you’ll recall that year Jerry ran a sort of cranky anti-Dem campaign that was part lefty Nader and part rightie Perot (flat tax). Caddell in the 90s was also one of the most outspoken mouth-breathing Clinton haters this side of Limbaugh and Hitchens. Truly disgusting rumors about Bill he peddled on the radio airwaves, constantly and with gusto — literally shouting at times.
I think that Obama might need an enema. If nothing else, it might blow the shit out of his ears so that he can hear the pearls of wisdom that we have been offering him. Caddell burst on to the scene back in 1976 as Jimmy Carter’s pollster. He helped Jimbo become a one term president. If Obama doesn’t make a hard left turn pretty soon, the same fate awaits him and the Dems. Goldman Sachs was Obama’s largest contributor. As I am writing this, Goldman is down 21.33 per share. I’m sure that the Wall Street biggies got the word in advance about the SEC fraud “allegations” and sold this morning and will buy it back cheap. They know that Goldman has Barry in its’ hip pocket.
Meanwhile, another “Democratic” Strategist is going to start the Lanny Davis for Lieberman Party. Democratic strategists in these cases are on par with phone sanitizers.
Oh yes YES!.. But seeing that they are not living flesh they should be liquidated and the officers of the company should do hard time (not one of those cozy white collar prisons)at a prison for hardened criminals ya know like the terrists live in…maybe they could resurrect the old Naval Prison at Portsmouth NH… Nice old one made of granite and damn fucking cold in the winter… Special place for those who ruin others lives so they can get fatter..pricks there really should be a special Hell on Earth for them!
I think the point about the Clinton admin is a good one. The people he brought in accepted that Washington was basically like Little Rock, in that the conservatives ruled the roost, and took get anything done they had to compromise. The compromises mestastasized to the point where the began to define the Democrats. The two here in question are throw-backs. I can’t imagine that Plouffe or Axelrod is paying any attention to them.
I have no probably actually just putting corporations in “prison” like regular crimes where they would be made to work for the government at about 20 cents an hour.
Amazing! Who the fuck actually hires these clowns? (beside Hilary)
Yep but that epic fail probably won’t stop Orahma from taking their advice. Look for him wearing a Tea Shirt soon….
I would love to see this tax cutting debt reducing brilliant plan. It sounds like underpants gnomes.
I’m long past entertaining the idea that these consultants have the best interests of the Dem party at heart and are merely hopeless morons. No one is THAT stupid. These guys have an agenda all their own.
It isn’t just that it doesn’t work. It is really fucking stupid to think you can reduce your dept by cutting income.
Of course! Nobody can actually be that stupid and still be alive.
I appreciate the clarification.
Their agenda is that they get paid whether the candidate wins or loses.
Doug is a partner with Mark Penn. Penn was selling us the Irak war, with taxpayer funding. Penn is the second most evil Democrat after Rahm. But Penn and Shouen also want another war, for Oil.
THE THREAT CLOSER TO HOME
Hugo Chávez and the War Against America
ya mean it might be whats hidden behind it???
Huh?? Thanks for the post, BT, and enjoying the commentary and all, but my first thought was: well, hasn’t this been Orahma’s strategy all along? Isn’t Rahmbama already doing this NOW? I’m not all that sure how much further rightward the Dems can go at this point.
I shouldn’t even have to say this, but even if BHO suddenly spouts every teabagger line in the book, brings Rush Limbaugh onto his cabinet, and has Jesus Christ as his spiritual advisor, the ‘baggers still wouldn’t be happy, now would they?
What is this? Idiots on steroids day or something??
you would be amazed how little brain power it takes to remember just keeping breath in and breath out while the occasional stop for food.
That’s quite true. Yet when someone makes those promises, they are not challenged at all by the media. Magical thinking is reported the same as actual facts.
I feel nothing but sympathy for genuinely mentally challenged people. I can’t imagine how it must feel to be locked into a world that you have to struggle just to comprehend. I have nothing but CONTEMPT for wantonly stupid people like Schoen, Caddell, Penn, Davis, Carville….. Stupid or agenda driven, they are not our allies and not the allies of the Democrats. It may be that the difference between us and the Democrats is that we see that and they refuse to.
Kind disgusting innit.
Mebbe, though I’d have to carefully review the notes from my late 70s scorecards. Funny thing though, Caddell’s “malaise” speech actually resulted in a fair bump upward in the polls for Jimmy. What happened was a few days after the speech: JC, feeling his oats from some good post-speech vibes and, giving in to a certain cruel streak which mostly only insiders knew about, got it into his head to ask for the resignations of several not-unpopular cabinet members. That unexpected and out-of-nowhere Nixonian power move got negative press, he was portrayed as showing signs of mental instability, and his favorable numbers began diving.
What we really need is “entitlement” reform of the military industrial complex.
Douglas E. Schoen is a Fox “News” contributor who often promotes the “neo-liberal” agenda.
The problem is that we don’t have enough debt. We need to rebuild the infrastructure and create jobs. Then tax receipts will skyrocket and turn the deficit into a surplus, just like in the 1990′s. Obama is really costing us and the Dems big time by pandering to the Rebublicans. But maybe he is not pandering. Gregg and Coburn were two of his closest friends when he was in the Senate.
You have good taste in peeves.
The persistence of these charlatans over decades, RonD reminds us, is one reason some of us feel so tired out by political discussions.
Those aren’t mutually exclusive, so I’m going for ‘both‘.
Ya know, BT, what you should really be exclusively doing is criticizing Rs, and leaving those Ds alone. (Couldn’t help mocking out some occasional visitors.)
I didn’t. My point was, Clintonism wasn’t good for the Democratic Party from ’95-’05 — the results speak for themselves.
Aww, man, those bozos are too lame to breathe.
Funny how Schoen and Caddell see the huge crowds, like the one yesterday of almost a thousand Tea Party protesters, and immediately recommend the Neville Chamberlain approach to politics. We can’t fight that kind of defeatism with anything obvious because they are simply looking for excuses to surrender.
On the other hand Carville appears to have more than a passing affection for those on the other side of the tracks so he may be letting other emotions take control. Sadly it may be true that they are almost typical Democrats, but progressives they surely are not. Assuming that the neo-liberal pod people have succeeded.
Somebody should let these candidates in on the secret that they have an autonomic nervous system to take care of these maintenance issues. That could save PhRMA and the Insurance companies much money. Then the insurance companies needn’t jack up our rates so severely – but they would anyway.
Hey BT
Caddell has been expressing this tone for months. Who’s still paying these guys? (and why)
You’re exactly right. Every time the Ds attempt to emulate the Rs they dismantle their ability to address liberal concerns. They then lose and once they appear to have learned their lesson, get reelected and then hear the siren song once more.
T bags have all the slogans…. all about them…and what they are against, which is everything that dont have a dollar sign and an American Flag wrapped around it.
After all, most t-bags want for nothing. They are rich, the right “kind of people” and come from the best neighborhoods, with the best jobs. So what are they for? Nothing. Who are they against? Democrats and in particular…Obama, since he was elected. That/s right, since the day he took office. And it does not matter what he did, what he does, or what he will ever do. They hate him. They hate, hate, then hate some more…
sorry, forgot. He’s a foxnews contributor
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,590508,00.html
Uh, uh, uh, Moderator’s watching ;).
I wouldn’t put Carville in with that dubious crowd. True, he and Begala are a little soft towards Goopers in some of their media appearances, but overall James has a decent and loyal Dem track record. A pure progressive? Probably not. But his first claim to fame as a consultant was playing a major role in getting liberal’s liberal Harris Wofford elected to the senate from PA in 91. And he not only played the key role in getting the first Dem to the WH in a dozen years, in 92, but he was loyal and fierce in fighting back publicly against the attempted Repub coup in 1998-9.
Every Dem admin in the past 45 yrs has produced one or two (or more) snakes who went on to be disloyal or become outright turncoats, like Caddell, or who otherwise spent years bashing Dems. And also in that period, the liberal Dem left has also gone south in terms of outspokenness, effectiveness and toughness. Perhaps this had something to do with the McGovern debacle in 72, then all those defeats in 80, 84, and 88.
When he fell on that ship (the name of the ship escapes me for the moment) while doing his morning running and had considerable difficulty getting up, an indelible impression of helplessness was created.
My criticism of Carville mainly hinges on his DLC roots and his taste in spouses.
This article started out right…
The real danger is that the Tea Party will remain as the only visible alternative to the status quo rat-fucking we’re getting from President Pinocchio and the Dems. I’ve almost completely given up any hope that a progressive organization will arise and try to mobilize the public unrest along a progressive platform targeted at corporatist abuses by both parties.
Not to mention his frightening encounter with that killer wabbit in the murky swamps of Georgia. Strange but true tale. Sadly, but par for the course for Jimmy and his bad luck, an in-house WH photographer standing on the riverbank happened to capture the attack on film. When a WH aide spoke to a reporter later about the incident, and the reporter laughed it off, the aide made the mistake of producing the photographic proof. Not very smart …
Gotta agree on the spouse. A real head scratcher there.
As for the DLC, it was sorta trendy there for a while during the 80s and 90s. Again, the liberal left had been deteriorating as a political force, with many voted out of office in the bloody 1980 election, and Dems were looking for a way to get back into power. Not my cup of corporatist tea, but there you are.
No, it’s what’s under the t-shirt that destroys the effect.
Yes, spouse can be a good tip-off to character and leanings. E.g. Michelle Obama was a corporate lawyer, which is why I always worried O would turn out to be a corporatist.
Firedogs might be surprised to check out the latest ‘The American Conservative’ (amconmag.com). Before you scream “Patrick Buchanan”, I’ll tell you there are articles by Glenn Greenwald, Tom Engelhardt, and a compilation of authors discussing a disgruntled Left/disgruntled Right coalition. A lot of states rights/constitutionalists are extremely anti-war, and they are as fed up with the establishment GOP as we are with Obama/Rahm. Let’s not dismiss our potential allies! Tea Partiers have legitimate reasons to be angry, even if they may be confused about who’s to blame. And labeling them all as “rascist” is as unfair as labeling all who criticize Israel’s policies as “anti-Semitic”.
O’s Grandmother that helped raise him was a Bank VP in Hawaii.
You had to tell me, didn’t you lol? Completes the picture.
sorry.
But it gets better. Research USAID, who they are, what their mission was 50 years ago (specifically in SE Asia), who their intra-agency partners were.
Then research the O’s maternal line
You beast, now I’ll have to do it. Grrrr!!!
I think you’ll reach a point, that all of a sudden you get this “Oh I Understand”
and those boys in uniform that are questioning a birth certificate, well we had a slogan for guys like that: Ate up by the dumb shit
Let’s see, Caddell and Schoen wrote a similar article predicting bad consequences for Dem’s if they passed HCR as then written. They got laughed at because “once we pass it, people will see what’s in it and love it.”
I guess that never came true, so it seems Caddell and Schoen are at least smarter than Rahm and his buddies. But, that’s not saying much.
Schoen and Caddell predicted a turkey and the Dem’s delivered a turkey. As time goes on, the turkey is beginning to rot and smell.
But, as far as I’m concerned, no Democrat should pay any attention to Schoen and Caddell.
But this is the kind of advice that will really resonate with the Corporate Stoogie one. Great job strategists! Yay!
I looked, and didn’t find anything specific from any credible source. Got something specific? Otherwise, I already know enough I don’t like ;).
Douglas Schoen and Patrick Caddell giving Democrats advice is like Liz Cheney advising Eric Holder on torture—I DON’T THINK SO.
No they wouldn’t because the thing they are really pissed over is the uppity ______ living in the white house.
here’s one
Here’s another
look for the name Judy Porter (notice the connection between the two identities/Agencies
then here and look for the united states agency for international development info along with Geithner connection
Gee, is there any doubt that this piece of dreck would appear in Washington Post?
The only problem more outrageous would be anyone donating to DNC, DCCC or DSCC, such that those entities could pay for this “advice.”
Personally, I wouldn’t give a shit about the “advice;” it’s the “following that advice” that gets me.
How does Obama fall under the spell of such morons?
Maybe I’m suffering from week-end brain burnout. I see some dots, but no connections that mean anything to me. Tell me what you see in all this, please.
LOL, this is great stuff. No wonder Ron Paul is so close to Obama in the polls. Obama is a corporatist Republican posing as a Democrat (like so many other “Dems”), and he’s taking advice from the same “Democratic” pollsters.
The typical DC he said/she said which is all Republican talking points all the time reminds me more and more of the Harlem Globetrotters. No, that’s not a racist remark, it’s just that this whole thing is so staged that only the kidz can believe it.
From Wikipedia:
When can we stop calling them Democrats and start calling them professional frauds?
Air America was owned by our Intelligence Agency
Air America was contracted to carry all cargo and personnel for USAID
USAID is/was an arm of the State Department
There was much ‘fluidity’ between all three entities as theirs was a common goal.
More often than not, in many quarters in SE Asia, USAID personnel were actually fronting for the other agencies.
USAID was the carrot – ‘the good guys’. The other the stick – ‘the bad guys’. But Same boss in that theater.
Did you locate the Geithner connection in the previous generation along with the USAID employer?
OK, i saw thoae dots, and the reference to Tim’s daddy. BUT, I’m trained as a lawyer, and I need more than that to draw any sweeping conclusions. The door is open, but no case is made, at least not one I can articulat or bel;ieve in based on those dots. Sorry.
It’s way different when I have to put together the well-documented events of recent years, then I am comfortable drawing inferences based on behavior and an understanding of who benefits from them. So, I have no trouble believing that there is a present-day machine, conspiracy, common-interest group, whatever you want to call it, that is methodically milking all the juice from this society and its decent people.
Dont hate the messenger bcz you dont like the truth. The advice given by these two journalist is correct. Progressives are going to vote for Obama and the dems anyway so governing like a teabagger makes sense. Who knows you might get a couple of real teabaggers to vote for a democrat or two. One thing we know for certain is, it does not matter how much the progressives are shit on, as long as it is Obama and the democrats doing the shitting the progressives are ok with it.
that’s ok. I worked in those areas so many years ago. And there isn’t any judgments to be made. It is what it is. Ann worked for who she did. That group had certain goals and methods that were meant to combat the spread of communism.
What it can suggest is that an environment, a culture and possibly a set of beliefs that a young man was raised in the vicinity of.
There is a reason that this administration took such a rapid hard turn. A reason that the Chief appears to be comfortable with so many doctrines and cultures that are shocking to many at this time and I believe it’s this previous environment, a contrasting Ideology.
You may be right, I’m not disagreeing, just saying I don’t have enough info to form my own independent opinion that I can have faith in. And those events predate the dawn of any political awareness I had.
This reminds me of learning that Prescott Bush dealt with Hitler in the 1930′s and was represented by two international lawyers named Allan Dulles and John Foster Dulles, who became, respectively, the first head of the CIA and Secretary of State in 1947, and had virtual control over the construction of the post-WWII Middle East. It was illuminating in a way about the mindset of Bush I and II, and suggested a multigenerational dynastic family mindset and purpose, but my opinion of those presidnets would have been exactly the same if I just observed what they themselves did when they had the opportunity to act in the public arena.
Same with Obama-he has earned my loathing on his own. And so has the corporate oligarchy.
Sure appreciate your thoughts on multi-generational dynasties. Seeing those two names again prompted a question I’ve had for years.
Why has nobody pulled the curtain away from Arlen Specter and how does he maintain a paid position from the great Freedom loving state of PA?
(he did the bidding for those two fellows, very astutely during 63 and 64)
Surely you can’t be questioning the “single bullet” theory? Now I know you’re wierd. I’ve got a box of those magic bullets right here in my drawer. Tomorrow I plan to shoot a turkey, a bear, a deer, some quail, and a few paper targets with one of them. ;)
No doubt about it, Confirmed. I’m one of the whack jobs.
Could you provide the name or contact info for your supplier? Most I’ve ever been able to attain is two White Tails with one shot. Sounds like you’ve found some that have eyes and fins. I need some of them
:)
Ask Arlen. He must know. (eye roll)
now why didn’t I think of that
Actually, I got my supply directly from him. He said he found a bunch of ‘em on the grassy knoll lol.