RNC chairman: Democrats increasingly 'liberal, elitist, angry'

[Thor_MN]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/12/03/elec04.prez.gillespie/index.html



The Democratic Party's embrace of the "politics of protest and pessimism" is pushing them "further and further outside the political mainstream" and will be soundly rejected by voters next fall, the chairman of the Republican National Committee will say in a speech Wednesday evening.

"As the Democrat Party gets smaller, it becomes increasingly more liberal, elitist and angry, and as it becomes increasingly more liberal, elitist and angry, it gets smaller," Gillespie says in the text. "As its presidential contenders continue to pander to the liberal special interest groups that dominate their party, they're moving further and further outside the political mainstream. ...

By contrast, Gillespie says, President Bush has a "positive agenda" to move the country forward.

"Presidential elections are not only about issues, they're about leadership. President Bush is a strong and principled leader who has returned honor and integrity to the White House."


Someone need to clue Ed in that it's not the Democrats that are moving - The only reason they seem more liberal is that the GOP is racing towards the far right. Problem is, they are so self centered that you can't tell them anything.

[janx]

1. The American people don't like to be treated this way.

Gillespie might call it elitist behavior; we Americans call it democracy.

[jiacinto]

2. Sounds like 2004 will be played with the 1972 playbook

nt

[prolesunited]

38. So you AGREE

with the new GOP talking point? Big surprise. :eyes:

[jiacinto]

No I didn't say that

I said that they would be playing by the 1972 playbook.

You are so predictable. You go on off on whatever I say.

[thebigidea]

44. harsh words indeed coming from the sultan of unpredictability

There's where your pol-sci texts fail you - they will be playing from the 2004 playbook, significantly updated by Monsieur Atwater, Epilogue by Karl Rove, touching introduction by His Royal Majesty George II, etched for the eons in crayon.

This will be a much harder fight than '72, they have oodles more cash, mass media, and the terra card.

Trying to cope with that assault by trying to do everything differently from 1972 will lead to Steamroller City, methinks.

[Just Me]

57. Past Mindset,....

,...always screws things up,...

geez,...I thought this country was built upon innovation,...duh,...we got screwed by experts (who now rule) in political science and history,...go figure,...

[prolesunited]

53. Just add me to your enemies list

I know you're keeping score. :D

[jiacinto]

41. No I didn't say that

I said that they would be playing by the 1972 playbook.

You are so predictable. You go on off on whatever I say.

[grasswire]

3. he ain't seen nothing yet

Gillespie is getting desperate and careless.

[grytpype]

4. Scum.

The lowest form of life is the Republican. They aren't even human.

[Cha]

5. bush has taken our Country backwards with his

Multitudious Lies and if gillespi says different then he's Lyin', too.

http://www.bushlies.com

[janx]

9. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Gillespie looks like a

[Ellen Forradalom]

6. Well, he got two out of three.

Liberal--as opposed to Bush-lite, yes. Angry, you bet. Elitist? Has he been to my house lately? Please.

[Cha]

7. Happy Holidays to you, too!

:toast:

[janx]

10. And it's not only liberals (how define?) who are angry.

The American people, by and large, are not pleased!

[LoZoccolo]

8. Any subject I put here can't hold a candle to the smiley I'm posting.

:nopity:

Well gee Wally, maybe if they didn't give us so much to protest and be pessimistic about we wouldn't be embracing the "politics of protest and pessimism".

If people accept this idea that they're putting forth here, then it wouldn't be such a bad idea for them strategically to do so many bad things for this country, to just get so many of them in in such a short period of time, that it's inevitable that we "dig a hole for ourselves" deeper and deeper by complaining about it.

Wasn't it ten years ago that Newt Gingrich's GOPAC came up with a list of negative words to use when describing opponents' policies? Didn't it include words like "sick" and "twisted" and - this one was so bad they removed it, but it seems to be making a comeback - "traitor"?

And didn't we see the politics of protest when a bunch of congressional staffer-types stormed a courthouse to stop the service of our democracy in 2000? Were they protesting against democracy?

Isn't it an act of protest to set up a recall of the governor of California?

A Republican friend of mine doubted that Bush* lied about the uranium simply because he couldn't have possibly thought that he could get away with it if he indeed was lying. The tactics I sometimes see from the Republicans seem similiar to me. Like they think that the people will think they couldn't possibly be acting hypocritical in hurling these accusations simply because it would take so much moxie to try to get away with being this hypocritical.

These are the strangest times in the USA that I can think of.

[LoZoccolo]

14. Ooops.

I guess it was 1990 that the list of GOPAC words came out.

[Just Me]

61. I DO NOT WANT THIS BLACK HOLE,...

,...no one does,...

[nolabels]

11. Do you see the connection between the words

The spin misters want to make the first word synonymous with the other two. Lumping the words liberal + elitist + angry together and then trying to zip them together as a negative. Those three words are as about related as dog crap, ketchup and Hockey in my book.

They seem to be dealing from a loose deck of word association of nonsense. Knowing that you're the center of the problem usually brings such responses.

[Cha]

12. Yeah! I am so on to them....their

transparency is Frightfull!

[nolabels]

19. Sorry couldn't help myself, been dealing with software instructions

for the last couple days. Sometimes you just have say what seems obvious. Frankly I hope they get to pay their dues this coming election, but I can gird my loins and see what happens with double or nothing.

I know it sounded lame, but the only one that even felt close to home for me is the angry part, and waiting for the get even part always worked for me. The heck with getting over worked on something

[Minstrel Boy]

13. "Republicans increasingly totalitarian, imbecilic, bloodthirsty"

Anybody at the DLC want to issue that press release?

[Cha]

15. The dems are too nice...to be that honest.

How about? ..republilcans are increasingly broadening their scope of Lies...and it's all about the photo op with them.

http://www.bushlies.com

[loudnclear]

48. You forgot, "facist"

and "evil"

[camero]

58. We must use that word

and educate the public as to what it is. Everyone now just thinks Hitler is just somebody you read about in a textbook that killed millions and don't know how he came to be.

I remember some of us dems calling the Gingrich crowd fascists on the radio in 96 and it worked somewhat.

[agingdem]

16. Liberal, elitist and angry!

You're damn right, Gillespie, so what's your point?

[FARAFIELD]

17. hey Elitist

My brother in Law is a Conservative, but called me an elitist because i bought a bike for each kid instead of handing it down. sheesh what the fuck does a guy like SP"ed" gillespie know about being an average person.

[MidwestTransplant]

18. Honor and dignity my ASS

[drfemoe]

20. We are so FAR out of the

mainstream that an incumbant is airing campaign ads a YEAR
before the election.

We are so Pessimistic that when we see bullsh*t,
we figure it's another photo op.

We are so small and insignificant that the RNC captain is
campaigning for an Incumbant *esident a YEAR before the election.

Somehow I feel *needed*.

[otohara]

21. Anger is Good

it's uniting a whole lot of people to rid the White House of the most incompetent fuck-up there ever was.

[salinen]

22. Ed calling me angry

makes me angry.

[Missy Vixen]

23. An open letter to Mr. Gillespie

>"As the Democrat Party gets smaller, it becomes increasingly more liberal, elitist and angry, and as it becomes increasingly more liberal, elitist and angry, it gets smaller," Gillespie says in the text. "As its presidential contenders continue to pander to the liberal special interest groups that dominate their party, they're moving further and further outside the political mainstream. ...<

Dear Mr. Gillespie,

It's unfortunate that you don't seem to comprehend what you read. To quote the deathless words of one William Rivers Pitt, "Reading is fundamental."

For all of your assertions that the Democratic party is getting smaller, I have news for you: It's actually growing. The country has been trending Democratic for many years now, a fact that is not lost on the GOP. If it were not, you would not be issuing daily hyperbole like the quote above.

You and your hatemongers have been exposed, and the GOP is on the ropes. As a poker player would say, you've shown your hand. While you've been tax cutting for the rich and shredding what was left of the safety net that assists the poorest in our society, the middle class has been the actual victim of "class warfare". I know that you believe it's your golfing buddies (such as Rush Limbaugh,) who might actually have to pay taxes on their filthy and ill-gotten lucre. Wrong. It's people like the ones you ignore who do your housecleaning, gardening, teach your children, handle your drycleaning, and sell your wife the family's groceries that are paying for the GOP tax cuts, and don't think that they haven't figured it out.

Al Gore still got 500,000 more votes than your candidate, the largest winning margin in recent presidential election history. Your candidate is amassing the largest warchest in electoral history to run in an unopposed primary. Why is that? Do you believe he can't win without the millions? After all, isn't he supposedly "very popular"? If he's so popular, why bother amassing a warchest at all?

Mr. Gillespie, here's a wakeup call for you and your pals in conservative think tanks. George W. Bush's reelect numbers have been below 50% for over a YEAR. Let me use really, really small words, so you can be sure to understand. Doesn't matter who the opponent is. George will not be reelected. Period. Throw as much mud as you'd like at men like John Kerry, Vietnam war veteran, General Clark, Rhodes Scholar and former head of NATO, and Dr. Howard Dean, a man who, unlike your candidate, knows the meaning of "hard work". You show yourselves to be the true "angry elitists" everytime you smear one or more Democratic candidates.

In the meantime, those your party has been s*tting on for the past four years are tired of it. They're mad as hell, and they are slowly but surely waking up from their slumber.

You've demonized those who would avail themselves of their First Amendment right of peaceable assembly and dissent. You have sneered at the grief and anguish of those whose family members have shed their blood for your leader's insatiable lust for oil. You believe that the average American is too stupid to ask why two of your party's shining lights, William Bennett and Rush Limbaugh, have publicly flamed out in the past year due to their personal demons. It must be nice to have several million dollars to throw away in casinos, let alone anesthetizing oneself with almost half a million dollars' worth of illegally obtained substances. Most of those you mock would be happy to take one day's worth of that cash to pay their mortgage, pay the monthly day care bill, or maybe, just maybe, use the money to pay off the latest uninsured medical bill.

Elitist?

Nope, I'm the proud daughter of blue-collar union member parents.

Liberal?

You bet. We're the people that brought workers a 40-hour week and weekends. We're also the party of financial sanity. One of your own party has accused the GOP of "spending money like drunken sailors". Is this a good thing?

Angry?

Well, Mr. Gillespie, you've got me there. I'm g-d mad. I am mad enough to contribute to the candidate of my choice, work like hell on his campaign, register people to vote, go door-to-door with his message, drive new voters to the poll on Election Day, and work and work and work until the BFEE is OUT OF BUSINESS, once and for all.

The poor, the mentally ill, the disabled, the long-term unemployed, and other people's children depend on me, and I will not fail them.

Fondly,
Julie

[colorado_ufo]

30. You GO girl!

Well said!

[JPace]

31. "Its actually growing"

don't mean to be a downer but actually the
democratic party is getting smaller. In the
Early 60's half the voters identified themselves
as democratic, now its closer to a third, same
as repugs. That is why trying to work on getting
the voters out to vote doesn't work anymore. We
need think tanks and pro dem media outlets and
our leadership needs to work on the art of
persuasion to help new voters and old voters
to come over to the democratic party. These are
all the things that the repugs have been
dedicated to for the last 20 years and it is
now paying off big time.

[truthisfreedom]

24. everyone knows that it was gentle, positive-minded Revolutionaries who

got rid of British rule here.

we've been forced to accept an unelected fraud who has hogtied and raped our party, and converted our country into a war machine, from a democracy into a corpocracy. if they think we're going to take it lying down, they might be a little surprised to find pitchforks in their a**es next November.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

25. GOP: increasingly more rightwing,...

...elitist, wealthy and obnoxious beyond belief.

"President Bush is a strong and principled leader who has returned honor and integrity to the White House."

Bwahahahahaha!!!!!

[uhhuh]

26. Oh Boy!

I would hate to be a member of the Democrat Party. They sound like a bunch of losers. I'm so glad that I'm in the DEMOCRATIC party.
I wonder how guys like this from the Republic party get so full of sh*t?

[truthisfreedom]

28. the Democrat party? maybe we SHOULD change our name...Democracy Party!

has a nice ring to it.

[no_arbusto]

27. Time to get real, this is BS

This "elitist" bullshit is getting old. I'd like to hear it from all of you. Who are people you know voting for in 2004?

OK I've got about 15 "middle of the road" friends who will most likely not be voting for Bush. My girlfriend's one sister and boyfriend are fundies and will vote Bush or none of the above and the other sister and boyfriend are young "anarchists" who may vote Dem, if at all. My parents and step parents are either teachers, engineers, or small business owners who will not vote for Bush. My grandparents are former coal miners, secrataries, and steel workers who would never vote for Bush. My girlfriend's parents are a former steelworker and a nurse. Her grandfather is a lifelong Dem who is an elected official. She's got a freeper aunt who works as a billing clerk or something and a Union Electrical Worker Freeper uncle. My best friend is a liberal, his parents are a Democratic high school teacher, and a Democratic college professor. My Dad's best friend is a Democratic teacher, as is his wife. My engineer stepdad's best friend is a Democratic engineer from India and his wife is a liberal attorney. You get the picture.

Maybe my situation is unique but the majority of people I know are definitely NOT voting for Bush in 2004. I have just listed a lot of middle to upper-middle class people that will not be voting GOP in 2004. I don't think that "elitist" is an appropriate term, but I do think that the majority of "educated" people will not vote for Bush.

[grasswire]

29. you gotta admit...

....that it's a howler that snooty Republicans call America's working class and disadvantaged people "elitist." The very people they consider inferior are the people they say are elites.

Ain't that a hoot?

[Don_G]

32. Well Duh!!!

If you keep kicking a dog when he's down, the dog is eventually going to go for your throat. This is what's starting to happen and those dimwits think they can call on lawyers and public opinion to keep them safe.

The damage is done. They will have to live with the consequences they've feared for so long.

[Triana]

33. Number one...

If we are liberal, and angry then GOOD FOR US! Number Two: The Repukes always (ALWAYS) accuse Democrats of being and doing what the Repukes themselves are - only the Repukes are doing it 10x worse. (ie: pretentious hypocrisy is the Hallmark of Republicans)

SO - if you want the *truth* in this statement, it reads as follows:

"As the Republican Party gets smaller, it becomes increasingly more conservative, elitist and angry, and as it becomes increasingly more conservative, elitist and angry, it gets smaller," Gillespie says in the text. "As its presidential contenders continue to pander to the conservative special interest groups that dominate their party, they're moving further and further outside the political mainstream. ...

[xchrom]

34. the gop is becoming

more racist, sexist, and flat out facists.
didn't we fight a world war against you guys -- and won?

[dusty64]

35. Oh brother.

:crazy:

[havocmom]

36. Just more neo-con projection. They need counseling and meds.

"further and further outside the political mainstream" Check.
"elitist and angry" Check.

Let's think:
Who has the bigger turnouts, protesters or backers of maladministration policies?

Who draws crowds that are a sampling of America as opposed to who invites a select few to pay big bucks for a chance to view the power elite?

Who can go all over this nation and mingle with people at random as opposed to having to go abroad and be sequestered with carefully chosen and supervised groups, getting there via carefully chosen and supervised routes?

Who talks to the press, (working hard to talk to them, actually) and who uses access as a means of rewarding media outlets that stay in lock step with the party line despite all evidence that it is a march over a cliff of deceit and unbridled meglomania?

Who is inclusive and constructive and who is elitist and angery?
That projection problem of the GOP's is getting worse every day. Proof that this nation needs to stop neglecting issues of mental health.

[johnfunk]

37. Headline should read

RNC Chairman's Rant Proves Republicans Increasingly Regressive, Shrill, Scared

[leesa]

39. And they are moving in exactly the right direction, despite

the RW decades old pressure to become fascists like the RW.

[Papa]

40. I like how they paint themselves as middle of the road

Who exactly is to the RIGHT of this administration? Someone tell me please.

[Fovea]

42. has returned honor and integrity to the White House

And they are hidden under stacks and stacks of subpeona'd records that Bush/Cheney has no intention of letting go of.

[donotpassgo]

43. Didn't Bush get (s)elected because of the HATRED OF CLINTON?????????

n/t

[xxqqqzme]

45. got that cutesy alliteration thing

going 4 ya Ed - OK how's this? The rnc is the party of:

fabrication and fantasy;
myth and misrepresentation;
distortion and digust;
whoppers and weinies;
cowards and connivers;
exaggeration and excuses;

This is fun!

[FredScuttle]

46. Oh, and another thing, Ed

It's the DEMOCRATIC party, you miserable weasel!

[Rex]

47. Sounds like the RNC is doing damage control for Turkeygate

This 'news' is nothing new for the neo-facist RW. They've been saying essentially the same dam thing about the Left for decades...this is just an attempt to keep public attention away from President Photo-op Embaressment.

[Skittles]

49. repugs hold $2000 a plate dinner fundraisers

and they call US elitists ?????

[Rex]

50. Skittles that's brilliant!

I've never thought about it like that.

[Skittles]

51. that RNC codeword "elitist"

and the term "limousine liberals" are getting really old. It's the GOP that is the Greedy Old Pig party. They don't give a shit about the common person. THEY ARE THE ELITISTS.

[RobinA]

54. Well, By Elitest

they mean people who believe in, among other things, science and evolution. "Elitest" is their code word for people who exercise their ability to read.

[BiggJawn]

59. You said it, Skittles!

2 Kilobucks for a hotdog on a stale bun and for another kilobuck you get to pose next to mr. "smiling like a possum eatin' shit"...

We're the "elitists" because unlike the GOP's un-washed millions, OUR un-washed have educations. and education is a dangerous thing. It cause your body to grow a big bullshit detector.

The GOP counts on that "Cargo Cult" vote from people who slave for minimum wage, but won't vote for Unions or Democrats because the AM radio gasbags tell them that if they just keeping voting for ReTHUGlicans, then someday they too will be wealthy beyond their dreams...

[AlFrankenFan]

52. Well I wonder why?

*points to Bush*
But how are we elitist?

[Just Me]

55. Gill-es-pie is the "elitist",...

,...and obviously doesn't get that the majority of people need a leadership that stands for a vision INCLUDING "the people". No one talks to "the people" anymore. They all chant freakin' soundbites. They all treat people like they are commodities. At least Dean invites his supporters to "vote" on whether to compete against BUSH'S $$$$$ vs. campaign finance laws. HELL,...why isn't the media beating the shit out of Bush for opting out of campaign financing,...and his $100 million plus already raised (MORE THAN 90% of Americans hope to earn at 1/100).

Where are our minds these days? Is any, ANY, human being worth that kind of money? What about the "worth" of every human being that this freakin' spoiled president says all people are worth? Where is the worth of all those human beings being spread? We have got to take the outside-in words of this vicious administration and turn them outside-right. They have defied logic. We have to get back to common sense,...which no rationalization can defy.

[Coventina]

56. Coventina: Republicans increasingly cartoonishly evil

"As the Republican party becomes increasingly evil, the more silly they appear," Coventina was heard saying after reading this post....

[BiggJawn]

60. Any person with a brain OUGHT to be VERY angry!

Gee, Ed....You have your boy's buddies in the SCOTUS steal the election (I will NEVER "get over it"!) that our boy won by half a Mega-votes.

Your guys take a huge surplus and turn it into the biggest DEFICIT since King Ronaldus the Last.

You GOP'ers are presiding over the WORST economy since Herbert Hoover.

You got the bright idea (foisted on you by the cretins in the next example) that maybe if you take out Hussein that you wouldn't have to kiss the Ass of Saud anymore, so now we have lots of our young and best coming home in "transfer tubes"...

You have a "shadow government" controlled by a bunch of neo-cons who played too damn much "Dungeons and Dragons" in their college days and now think the whold fate of the world can be decided by a roll of the 20-sided and a 6th level fighting dwarf with a +4 magic hammer....

And you're surprised that we're ANGRY??????

Honestly, you should be surprised if we weren't angry, but that's how your unwashed millions are, aren't they? give them lots of distractions on the tube ("Survivor", "The Bachelorette", "Who wants to 'Pork' Paris Hilton", etc...)and tell them to "Go SHOPPING" and they do it.

Hell yes, I'm angry. I hope the rest of the country is getting angry, too, angry enough to start building gibbets on the mall for you and your ilk...