This coming week is a No-Win Situation for ALL the Dem Candidates

[joeybee12]

Right now, the media whores are spinning the capture of Saddam as the greatest thing in the history of the world. They are out-doing themselves having hard-ons over their copy and news stories.

It's going to take a while for a little sanity to make its way into the news coverage, and then people will start asking whether it was worth it. And when the inevitable insurgent attacks continue, the capture will seem unimportant.

However, right now, since the media has canonized Saint George, who can do no wrong, the Dem candidates must be exceedingly cautious in what they say or do. The media whores are ready to pounce on anything and everything the Dems might say that they could spin into a very negative story. As I said, they can't win, but the best they can do is just NOT lose, because they could lose very badly this week, and commit a gaffe from which he or she might not recover.

That said, I think we need to give them all a break over what they might say that we disagree with. In a sense, the campaign has been suspended this week. Let's take a deep breath, wait a few days, then start ripping Dumbo a new one pretty damn soon once again.

[mrgorth]

1. Agreed

My concern is that * will now fly over to Baghdad as Santa or something and than is the SotU address. It could be bad for a while.

[joeybee12]

24. Agree, but I'm hopeful that it won't last too long--there are still

bombings daily, and those aren't going to stop. Hopefully it will be safe again to speak the truth in a week or so.

[Randi_Listener]

2. According to every poll....

...that I have seen. Chimpster isn't getting quite the boost the media thinks he would get. People are thinking about Christmas and their own pocketbooks. Saddam's capture does nothing to improve that.

[JailBush]

7. Exactly...

The people are exhibiting more common sense than the candidates' advisors. Frankly, I think it would be a great show of bravado if all the Democratic candidates refused to grant Bush any credit at all, instead telling him to take a flying leap.

[joeybee12]

11. Exactly! it's like the Thanksgiving fly-in joke--the media all creamed

in their collective pants, while the rest of us just yawned. And it didn't give him any boost.

[Imajika]

18. Your analysis is just plain bad

"Chimpster isn't getting quite the boost the media thinks he would get."

Bush has gotten one day of good press out of this so far, he is bound to get another few days worth. 1 days worth of snapshot polls is just not enough to gauge the full political effect of this news.

"People are thinking about Christmas and their own pocketbooks."

Most people are in a reasonably festive mood, the capture of Saddam will only add to this. I'd guess a couple more days of good media coverage knocks Bush up somewhat further in the polls. Saying that, support and opposition to Bush is solidifying to the point that you are unlikely to see Junior with the kind of sky high approval ratings he had after 9-11 ever again. Polling will never show that kind of support for Bush anymore, but he doesn't need those sorts of numbers to win in 2004.

"Saddam's capture does nothing to improve that."

Saddam's capture is very good news indeed for Bush - at least in the short term. If Bush maintains approval ratings in the 50's when the 04' election rolls around it is going to be near impossible to beat him no matter who we nominate.

Bush is going to get around 45% of the vote no matter what he does. All he has to do is add another 5-10% of the vote by drawing on swing voters and independents. News like the capture of Saddam helps solidify his base still further and allows him to focus on the small percentage in the mushy middle he needs to win.

Imajika

[otohara]

3. Basically They Are Telling People Not To Vote

whores

[JailBush]

4. Nonsense.

Truth is truth. We lost a lot of ground during the months following 9/11 that people were afraid to speak out. Now the Republicans intimidate the candidates from speaking out for a week or two. A few weeks later, the media will likely announce another Republican victory, once again cowing Democrats into silence.

The candidates should simply speak the truth - Saddam's capture doesn't change anything, and Bush is still a crook.

[joeybee12]

9. Do you actually think syaing that will make it onto the evening news???

The media will spin it so that the candidate is simply spewing sour grapes. He/she must keep quiet--trying to tell the truth now will only get that person in trouble. Would you rather have a candidate who keeps quiet for a few days and lives to tell the truth, or one who opens his/her mouth and the media filth flay that person so badly he/she is never heard from again.

It's a sad comemntary on journalism, I realize, but sometimes you have to deal with it.

[JailBush]

16. Allowing the media whores to dictate one's campaign is a fatal mistake.

They'll spin ANYTHING and EVERYTHING a candidate says, from now until election day.

The candidates should add MEDIA REFORM to their issues, and they should bash media whores (by name) along with George W. Bush. Otherwise, their fighting losing campaigns - except for Joe Leiberman, who's right at home with media whores.

[joeybee12]

20. By using the word "allowing" you make it sound as if one has a choice

And in this situation, one doesn't. They're like sharks smelling blood on the surface, ready to rip off an arm or a leg. They CANNOT be reasoned with at a time like this. Don't even try!

[Bridget Burke]

5. The media whores are ALWAYS ready to pounce....

If everybody waits timidly for them to begin being nice to the Democrats (or even just fair)--we'll have a long wait.

[Don Claybrook]

6. I disagree. It sounds like John Kerry made a good start

It was reported in these pages that some press idiot on some show asked him some inane question along the lines of "aren't you ashamed now" or "doesn't this mean you were wrong" or something like that (I'm sure Kerry supporters can chime in with the exact question). Kerry's response was to incredulously ask the interviewer if they (the press) thought foreign policy was about one man (Hussein).

I think that's a hell of an answer. It still lets Georgie have his moment in the sun, but lets everyone know that the Bush foreign policy is a train wreck, just like it was last week.

I fully expect the Dean, Clark, and Kerry campaigns to grind forward just like they have been.

As for Lieberman--no surprise there.

As for Gephardt--'I've always been for whatever President Bush stands for, as long as focus groups like it'. No surprise there.

Edwards--well, his daddy worked for 36 years trying to find Hussein, so don't come to the South telling him what to do, etc, ad infinitum.

[maxanne]

8. it's a shame that we're

allowing the repubs to frame the dialogue. Saddam Hussein was/is not the only issue in the entire presidential campaign.

There is still plenty to talk about. We should be talking about domestic issues. We should be talking about all those lost jobs and the ones we continue to lose. Bush may have been able to yank Saddam out of a hole - but there ain't no way he's gonna bring back 3 million jobs to the US before November 2004.

[Webster Green]

10. Saddam evil...Dean & terrists evil....Bush good.....

.....in other news....Michael Jackson's lawyers.......

[OneTwentyoNine]

12. Don't agree...

They caught one man in a hole.....Ok,does that change our economy? Will that stop the killing? When do our troops come home?

SH hasn't been the ruler of Iraq in 8 months--so why hasn't Iraq changed during that period? Its 100 times more violent now than it was then.

Let Bush start answering those questions...

David

[joeybee12]

23. My point is that his capture does not change anything, HOWEVER, the

media whores are playing it like it changes everything! And you can't reason with them right now until the next big bombing or whatever happens. Then the media whores willswitch gears again and play it big about HOW this could have happend with Saddam in chains. I don't want any of the Dems to change their positions, but just to lay a little low and be careful.

[John_H]

13. But they better be quietly doing what the rethugs do

Which is tetting the hoes know they're making a list and checking it twice and that only certain people on the list will get the big scoops as the campaign becomes the top story.

[Bill of Rights]

14. I'm glad General Clark is at the Hague

testifying against Milosevic (sp?). I don't think he will mess up there, and on the plus side, he will get increased coverage because of Saddam's capture.

[bearfartinthewoods]

17. i have been waitning for that segue.

it's totally logical to check in on that trail at this point. but not a word yet.

[GainesT1958]

15. They'd better not gloat too much, otherwise ANOTHER question...

Will be begged:

"Was capturing Saddam--one man--worth over 500 American lives, and counting?":mad:

And I really do think that SOMEBODY'S going to ask it, as even some of the media whores now sense that Americans are no longer jaded by a "Hail Caesar" mentality for everything that may actually go right in Iraq.

And for any Repub who says "it's over", I have one simple question:

"Where's Osama?":eyes:

B-)

[Nederland]

25. Careful

Was capturing Saddam--one man--worth over 500 American lives, and counting?":mad:

Careful with this, because there are a large number of people that would say yes. AS for your Osama comment, what are you going to say if they find him too? You can paint yourself into a corner with these types of responses.

[Khephra]

19. This will only last until the next major attack on the troops

And with it being the holidays, I sadly expect that to be coming along at any moment now--and it will all have been planned way before Saddam was captured too.

[joeybee12]

22. Eaxctly--that's when the Dems don't need to be so cautious--but right now

they really do. You can't reason with media whores. Anything they say the whores will try to spin so it's "controversial" and they can get more copy space, or more air time with their smirky faces on the camera.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

21. Pity for bush* that Saddam's men did NOT fly those planes into WTC

on 911 and has nothing to do with "war on terror"

[joeybee12]

26. Exactly, but try pointing that out now, and you'll get creamed by the

whores. Just sour grapes, they'll say.

[Donna Zen]

27. One would think America could make that connection

however, I was surprised last week to find out that many don't. The reply to me with a non-rush listener, was "Oh come on Donna, anyone knows that Saddam's a terrorist and that Iraq is the front line of the battle." Now this person knows very well that there was no connection between 911 and Saddam, and still sees this war as a part of the war on terrorism.

The country is seeing this as a victory.

[joeybee12]

28. Pretty damn scary, and what's even scarier is that what will make these

people wake up is another terrorist attack, which is even more likely since Dumbo has squandered our resources in Iraq. We are so screwed, and only more blood and terror will make these people see the light.

[Mountainman]

29. Stop letting the media whores run our lives! Become proactive.

Screw the media whores! Don't be intimidated by them. Don't be reactive be proactive. Be like General Clark. Talk about our alternatives! Give out our message. Don't hide in a hole like Saddam because the mean media whores will be bad to us!

Clark would not put this week aside because of some good news for Bush.
Stop being so timid. We have a certain number of days till the election. We should use them all to put out our message.


Rove wants us to be intimidated into not speaking and not voting. Instead of reacting to the media, be proactive!