A story from yesterday which has been bugging me:How many democrats is “some?”
A common concern: that the stadium appearance plays against Obama’s convention goal of lowering his star wattage and connecting with average Americans and that it gives Republicans a chance to drive home their message that the Democratic nominee is a narcissistic celebrity candidate.
“We already know he is a rock star, we already know he can bring 85,000 people together in a stadium. He has done it multiple times. He needs to talk to people who haven’t made up their minds yet,” said Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen.
“It’s likely that the campaign would do it differently if it had to do it again because the decision was made before the European trip,” said a senior Democratic elected officeholder who has worked closely with the Obama campaign. The GOP narrative of Obama as celebrity took root during that trip, where the Illinois senator played to large crowds of adoring Europeans.
One dude. And the McCain campaign. That’s who thoughtPlanet Awesome was a bad idea.
Now, that one dude needed to shut the everloving fuck UP, but seriously, one is “some democrats?” Maybe three … no, three would be “several” Democrats. Say five? Five named sources ranked higher than “photocopy git in Bob Casey’s office” and then you can say “some” Democrats. Can we get a number and/or level in the party at least from now on, please? What does “senior” really mean?
This is the problem with anonymous sources. I have very little doubt that some pussies in our party did in fact think that inviting 70,000 people to a party in your own honor was excessive. I’m having a hard time seeing it that way, but I can see where people not used to kicking ass for real would be freaked. Still, anytime you pull out the “some” you risk having paranoid hippies like me, having watched Politico roll over for every bit of spin McCain’s put out there, say to herself, “I wonder if this means they found two homeless dudes and one of their racquetball buddies and that’s who ‘some’ Democrats are.”
A.
So…let me get this right – our candidate is NOT supposed to be popular? Particularly w/the Democrats, let alone crossover to welcome other party’s voters to our candidate’s election bid? So, because Obama is a “celebrity” (wasn’t there a pres that was a Hollywood actor…hmmm???), because the seams were bursting and the Fire Marshal almost wet himself due to the THRONGING HORDES at Invesco – that’s an automatic “FAIL”?!?!?!?!?
So, I guess that means to these mental miscreants that since McBush can’t ferry in enough cadavers to fill a college gym, he’s a “WIN”?!??!?!
No, that prattle doesn’t play in Peoria or anywhere else besides the lonely little microns of brain matter these idjits sort of have to rub together.
I am thinking they are grabbing at straws and we just need to keep hammering home the strengths and positivity of this Obama/Biden pairing. Not get cocky, not take anything for granted, but to quote Hakeem Olajuwon (former Houston Rocket): “Stay humble, stay hungry” while the Rockets were fighting for the first National Championship they won!
I was in Ikea today and some blowhard closet-case (the clothes gave him away) was banging on over his Bluetooth to apparently his father about how Palin and McCain are unstoppable and told his dad “Your Muslim ISN’T gonna be the President! I will bet you a hundred dollars old man! You can’t afford to take that bet!” And he was SOOO loud and obnox…that alone made me want to buy a table, go out and assemble it and come back in and bust his head w/it. And his cocksure attitude was so outre – it about pushed me to the aisle where the tables were… That is, until I remembered something from my younger days. Once in the grocery store when I was about 11, my bro was about 3, the power went out. We were in the dark produce section and my Mom started heading for the shards of light back towards the entrance. My brother started saying “I’m not afraid, no I’m not… Mommy, I am not scared of the dark..” and so on, getting progressively louder. And I realized he WAS scared and he was doing his utmost to convince himself! He admitted to being scared later!
I realized that Mr. Bluetooth was doing the same thing, but about his, erm…”candidate”. Only he was doing it throughout most of the Drapery section, through to Organization then on to Lighting and smack into Rugs!!! And his disregard for decibels was really pissing off the other shoppers regardless of affiliation. I just smiled at his “Freudian Slip” showing so wretchedly and moved on.
Okay folks you know the drill – “Speak softly and carry a valid voter’s registration card!!!!” We NEED our country back. “No Country for Old Men” – INDEED!!!
Peace, Elspeth
I’m not sure it was a good idea to get 38 million viewers for a televised speech either. That can’t be good!
Where can I get my “I Hate The Press” button? We just sat through The Lehrer News Hour and if I had a gun my tv would be toast.
There apparently is no television news I can watch any longer. Every last bit of it sucks, big time.
I should be looking for a job but I’m going down to the local Democratic Party office on Tuesday to see what I can do to get Obama elected. I have no health insurance so I hope my body can withstand it since I campaigned for Kerry in 2004 and suffered a detached retina the weekend after the election. I swore it was because my blood pressure went through the roof and I blew a gasket.
I can’t afford that this time around.
Don’t forget the CrackVanigans! 🙂
Elspeth
At least it will be amusing to some degree to watch the talking heads on the MSM explain how being the mayor of a town of 7000 people fully qualifies you to make the decision about whether or not to declare war on Russia. So far none seem able to pull that off, but I doubt it will take longer than a week for them to get the message down pat.
yes. we are supposed to run variations of dukakis/mondale/kerry.
Now wait one minute here, Captain Kangaroo taught me that three is a “few”. I will have no one arbitrarily manipulate the truth when it comes to the Captain, who, I believe, was never a POW.
Can we say old media vs. the …um, now?
I knew you could
You can’t get 90K people to turn up the old fashioned way. All along Obama has used new media to get crowd turnout. He also acheived primary turnout, and not just the youth vote but record turnout among women and “people of faith.” One assumes (we’ll see) that Act 3. is getting VOTER turnout.
“some democrats” is just like KLo talking about the folks in the stadium not being “real Americans” WTF part of Bar-ney! Bar-ney! Bar-ney! is she not getting?
This is about the future vs. the past. The future always wins.
Virgotex – right on!!!
The Future vs. the Futile!
I prefer my moose playing in sprinklers, not decorating the egomaniac’s sofa.
Elspeth
Anonymous sources in a conventional news story is the press’ way of tell the rubes to go “Cheney themselves.” Its reflective of the low regard they hold their readership/viewership – also know as their customers. I’m so sick of anon sourcing that as soon as I see it deployed, I stop reading the story. If someone’s viewpoint was so tightly held, or so credible, than the source would not take a cowardly off-the-record stance and the journalist would not use this device to boost a dubious POV.
There are limited uses of anon sourcing – like exposure of criminal wrongdoing (think Priest and ghost prisons or Risen and wiretapping). But once the story gets going, there is no beeter service journalists can do than get officials and experts ON THE RECORD. To do less perpetuates public ignorance and cynicism.
SP
i demand NAMES.
I am so truly tired of this shit that’s being made up by morons who cannot create a better story. Hell, I’d give them some respect for a truly good whopper that makes it into a second news cycle before it gets eviscerated by reality. That’s politricks; this is just really bad theater.
I don’t much care what an anonymous source says about a campaign. It’s all just Ratfucking at that point.
When a political attack is made by a named insider from an administration however, (like, say, Scott McClellan) then it is very interesting.
OK, first of all, the worst possible way to deal with a dumb story is to grouse about it as “old media vs. new media.” Shitty stories will be shitty stories if they’re written in cuneiform and handed out on adobe tablets. They will be equally shitty if they’re posted on “Rocket6969’s” “I’m majorly awesome.com blog.” I read a story yesterday in which someone misplaced a modifier in a lead of a story. Thus the author claimed a criminal had stolen women’s underwear and sent notes to the said underwear threatening said panties and bras. It was equally bad in the print, broadcast and online versions. Come up with a better argument.
Second, an interesting view is the McChesney et al video “Out Foxed” that unveils a pretty common and bad reporting technique on which Fox has cornered the market. When it comes to a topic you want to make a point on, you whip out the straw man argument against your point and beat the shit out of it by playing the “some people say” approach. “Some people say McCain doesn’t have the star power of Obama, but several experts we’ve got in our studio note this isn’t true.” Or, you go the other way by using it to introduce a topic you want to bitch about with the vague accusation of “some people say.” “Some people say Obama’s been into some shady dealings…” Of course, we have no idea what they are or who’s saying it, but it gets people thinking about it. It’s like a drive by shooting. You never know what’s happening.
Decent journalism (and even our legal system) dictates that people have the right to see who is saying what about whom. If you won’t attach your name to it, journalists shouldn’t write it (barring rare and specific instances). We need more people who will abide by that standard, regardless of their platform.
Eighty five thousand sure seems to me to speak for itself though, no matter what “some” anonypuss insinuates. When’s the last time McInane drew a crowd half that size.