"Terror in Dem Party: likely presidential nominee battered, bloodied, and

[joefree1]

"Terror in the Democratic Party: Their likely presidential nominee battered, bloodied, and ridiculed"

Can Clinton Save his Candidacy?

BY DONALD LAMBRO
Donald Lambro is the chief political corespondent for the Washington Times and a nationally syndicated columnist with United Feature Syndicate.
This is a year of turmoil and terror in the Democratic Party: Their likely presidential nominee battered, bloodied, and ridiculed even before the general election has begun; angry, unforgiving voters appear ready to wreak punishment on the scandal-ridden Democratic-controlled Congress; and a fiery anti-incumbent mood may be sweeping the nation.
Rarely, in contemporary American politics, has a prospective Democratic presidential standard-bearer emerged successfully from his early primaries burdened by so many deep public doubts about his character within his own party. This is the astonishing situation that now faces the Democrats and Bill Clinton as he moves to lock up the nomination and convince a doubting nation that he is not the "slick Willie" portrayed by his political enemies, depicted by the new media, and lampooned by late-night comedians.
edit ...
Another Democratic strategist, who conducts polls for the party, told me that in head-to-head polling against President George Bush, who has substantial negatives of his own, Clinton does poorly. "I did a poll in Idaho for a Senate race and we found that Bush had a 61 percent negative job approval rating. And yet Bush beats Clinton by 2-to1."
edit ...
"But right now the ammunition is there to use against Clinton," said Cunningham. "The worry among Democrats is that they will refine it and shape it in such a way that the comparison with Bush in the general election will used skillfully against Clinton."
Yet there are some in the Democratic Party who think that the way things are going, the Republicans won't have to do much to run a successful campaign against Clinton. Said one key strategist in the Bush-Quayle campaign committee, "We're following the Napoleonic maxim: Never interfere with the enemy when they are in the process of destroying themselves."
JUNE 1992
http://www.worldandi.com/public/1992/june/cr6.cfm

Keepin it real. :evilgrin:

"If you have no enemies, it is a sign fortune has forgot you."
- Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)




Images from Dean Rocks the House of Blues, Hollywood
From wtmusic http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=919849
From Joefree1 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=921300

[slinkerwink]

1. exactly! That's why it's a 1992 redux, and Dean will beat Bush

as Clinton did in 1992...

[joefree1]

2. I love this quote

"I did a poll in Idaho for a Senate race and we found that Bush had a 61 percent negative job approval rating. And yet Bush beats Clinton by 2-to1."

[eileen_d]

3. oh, come on

It's certainly ironic, and amusingly so, but it's no proof of anything.

[joefree1]

5. It's proof that all the heat Dean is getting

is because he is going to win.

"If you have no enemies, it is a sign fortune has forgot you."
- Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)

[eileen_d]

6. Pardon me for being literal

but it is no such thing. It's proof that Democratic candidates like Dean and Clinton can weather a torrent of criticism in the primaries and still win, but it's not proof that Dean *will* win.

My hair-splitting aside, I do appreciate that you posted the article, because it provides good perspective on our current primary season (even if it is from the Moonie Times). Just don't try to convince me it's a crystal ball.

[joefree1]

10. We agree

"It's proof that Democratic candidates like Dean and Clinton can weather a torrent of criticism in the primaries and still win, but it's not proof that Dean *will* win."

It's also warning I think of the scorched earth policy of some supporters which we should avoid here at DU.

That's good enough for me. Thanks. BTW it might be from Moonie Times but unfortuantely the quotes from Democrats are real. See below.

[KoKo]

4. Donald Lambro? Washington Times" Really Hard Hitting Article. They

must be running scared sh*tless, to put this big gun out posting hysteria from the Repugs! :D

[mot78]

7. Not to be rude, but isn't this thread a dupe?

BTW, I believe that the column is an omen for 2004.

[joefree1]

9. LOL, and it's over 12 hours old

But this isn't LBN:+

[KoKo]

11. BTW, I didn't see an "opinion" in your "Subject" quoting from RW Source.

Isn't that against the DU rules? :shrug: What is your opinion?

[xultar]

14. things that make you go hummmmm? n/t

[joefree1]

15. See #5 and #10

O8)

[joefree1]

8. Repugs?

"The drop in the turnout has to terrify the Democratic Party, Tsongas said.
...
Gov. Mario Cuomo offered this blunt analysis when the New York primary was over: "The turnout numbers--low--and the Tsongas numbers--high--mean trouble. The campaign isn't working. There's no clear message. The voters hear the captain and officers and the crew squabbling, and they aren't im pressed with our ship."
...
"The negatives are forming on Bill Clinton like a political stalactite, drop by drop," said veteran Democratic consultant David Sawyer. "Each drip leaves a residue that builds on his negative image."
...
New York Democratic strategist Bill Cunningham, a close Cuomo adviser, said, "I don't know if you can raise further doubts about Clinton. The doubts already exist and they're becoming harder to dispel.
...
"It's sort of like Night of the Living Dead," Cunningham said of the draft-dodging issue that has dogged Clinton's campaign. It came alive again in the New York primary when Clinton confirmed reports that he had received his induction notice prior to his decision to enter the Reserve Officers Training Corps program--a pledge that he broke when it became clear that he would not be drafted under the national lottery system that was implemented at the time.
...
Democratic media adviser David Garth similarly worries that "every time I think he's had his last wound he starts to bleed again and something else gets discovered.

[lancdem]

13. KoKo, the article is from 1992

:)

[KoKo]

17. Well, thanks, for clueing me in on that now that I've ranted and raved

:-)'s :eyes:

[WiseMen]

12. Comment on Dean Mild compared with Brown/Clinton. Why does Dean cry to DNC

[billbuckhead]

16. Earlier than January 1992 I had bet hundreds of $ that Clinton would beat

Bush. Hell, Clinton could have lost to Tsongas but I knew Clinton was the man. Now with BBV, I'm skeptical I'll ever have that feeling again. I do feel Clark is an extraordinary candidate, perhaps too good for our present 2 party duopoly.

[John_H]

18. BWAAAHAAA! Don Lambro--new dean supporter quotable reporter!

Yep, ol' Don and the Moonie Times always have the best interests of the Democratic Party in mind. Always. They did in '92 and they do now. Do Don and Rev. Moon want everyone to stop picking on Dr. Dean? Like clockwork, he gets quoted here on DU as proof we should stop picking on Dr. Dean.

Move over Howard Fineman, Bill Schnieder, and Frank Lunz, the Dean camp has just converted a Bush Shill into a newly objective journalist in the form Washington Times columnist Don Lambro!

Or are all these folks just up to their same ol' tricks? Nah.....

[stickdog]

19. The sky is falling! (nt)