"We're electing a president -- we're not electing someone whose goal is to unify the country"

[jgraz]

Run time: 08:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxbxA_jlKy0   Posted on YouTube: March 01, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: March 01, 2008 By DU Member: jgraz Views on DU: 2359

 
Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell stumbles through the latest Clinton talking points, reminding us that electing a president is "serious business" and implying that it was a mistake to vote for JFK in 1960. :crazy:

[anonymeme]

1. "We Are Electing a President, NOT a Rock Star"

Re: "Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell stumbles through the latest Clinton talking points, reminding us that electing a president is "serious business" and implying that it was a mistake to vote for JFK in 1960."

Excuse me, but after watching the clip of Gov. Rendell, I can see that what you state here about the clip is not true.

He was not only good humored and affable -- despite Bill Mahr insulting the state of PA -- Gov. Rendell was also well spoken and answered the questions clearly and was fair to Obama as well as Hillary.

And the Gov. did NOT say that electing JFK was a mistake in any way. He said that Kennedy found that it was difficult to get some of the things he wanted done, done when he got to Washington.

And he also pointed out we are electing a President, not a rock star, and that happens to be true.

Here's the thing: Why not just post a clip and let people watch it a make up their own minds as to what they think, rather than color and characterize it -- in this case wrongly -- before anyone looks at it?

Characterizing something in advance -- or pre-coloring it the way the presenter wants it -- instead of just letting people see what's there reminds me of an old witticism:

Who are we supposed to believe? You or our own lying eyes?

[cornermouse]

2. Possibly because of the rather obvious way the Obama

supporters are behaving here and elsewhere? Think about it. They're getting that reputation outside the arena here on DU.

[NYPat]

3. He didn't stumble at all.

It showed a very fair minded Hillary supporter. JFK was a good president but he wasn't without blunders. Those of us who were there can put him in context. The analogy to Obama isn't a perfect one. Considering what a narrow victory JFK had, he didn't exactly inspire the hordes to elect him. JFK inspired young people to serve their country in the Peace Corp and that is perhaps his greatest legacy.

[jgraz]

13. You do realize you're posting on a opinion board, don't you?

At any rate, my opinion doesn't seem to have swayed your view in the least.

However, I'm starting to listen to these talking points with an ear toward how Obama would respond. The "We're electing a president, not a ..." is going to backfire bigtime for them, just as all of their other tactics have.

Ready on Day One? Ba bing!
Let's Get Real? Ba bam!
Phone calls at 3 am? Ba BOOM.

Hillary just keeps serving up the soft pitches and Obama is crushing them out of the park. This one will be no different.

[DWilliamsamh]

4. I am a PA resident and Obama Supporter....

But your characterization orf this segment was completely slanted.

Gov. Rendell Is a Hillary Super Delegate so I think one could expect that he would support her on a national television interview and do his best to make a case for voting for her. He didn't denigrate Senator Obama or JFK. His comments about JFK were completely true - it was difficult for JFK to get things done - but he made progress and we all know that had he lived he would have accomplished more.

The fact of the matter is there really are very few arguments anyone can make that Senator Clinton is a better candidate for the general election at this point and all that is left is "Obama's support at this point is largely a product of 'infectious enthusiasm.'" It's BAD argument but it pretty much all that is left. I just watched a guy who I have watched and liked since he was the D.A. in my city, and who I know to be not only a great politician, but a man of vision and tremendous optimism and hope who knows how to get his visions writ into law and policy against some pretty tough objections from those who say "that's not how we do it." As you can see, as evidenced by his comments about the H1(b) visas he knows how to frame a political/policy argument. If Ed Rendell has nothing better to say, not better argument than that, Hillary is toast.

[janetblond]

5. Unify the country?

Uh?
Unify the country?
What a shitty idea!
Why do that?
Let's all just keep at eachother throats and color-code the whole country ..
blue states, red states, purple states, Limbaugh states, Sean Hannity states ...
Let's just keep the status-quo .. let's stay DIVIDED ..
republicans, dems, libertarian, independents, black, whites, latinos, asians, left, right ...
Unify? Like ONE big country?
Unify? Like we're ALL AMERICANS?
What a shitty idea!
Unify ONE country?
Unify all Americans?
For what?
Isn't it so much more interesting hating eachother, so we can be the laughing stock of the world?
Afterall, everybody's gotta hate somebody! Come on!

United we stand!
Divided we fall!

[DWilliamsamh]

7. Why are you responding to my post with this? I don't get it?

Did I, or did Rendell, say anything about Barack Obama not being able to "unify the country?" Did I, or did Randell, say anything about division being desirable? No.


By the way "he'll unify the country" is a terrible rhetorical point of support for Obama, because a country of this size, and diversity of all types, can't ever truly be 100% behind anything. The fact is some people will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into any changes, no matter how many other people think they are or are not a good ideas. I don't particularly CARE if the people who strongly or weekly supported the lawlessness in the White House for the last eight years is enthusiastically in favor of change. Change will be brought and when they look up after having fought against it, they will be more free and more secure and they will pout about it. Who cares if they "like" the process of restring this country to what it is supposed to stand for and BE?


I am an Obama supporter and can't wait to cast my vote in the PA primary... but make a decent argument, not an incoherent, redundant rant, please.

[anonymeme]

11. janetb, Do You Remember George "the Uniter" Bush?

janetb, Do You Remember George "the Uniter" Bush?

Bush SAID that HE was going to unite and unify the country. And we've all seen how well that worked.

Obama may have said he was going to unite us, all, but as with so many other things, he has said very little at all about what he will do or not do or how he intends to accomplish anything, because he doesn't want to be pinned down and held accountable for anything he says.

But I can tell you, if the Obama supporters are as many have shown themselves to be, this country is going to be just as divided as it ever was.

I mean, that was some rant you put out there, but it's NOT really responsive to the original post nor to any of the posters who responded before you.

And trying to strong-arm people with sarcasm, isn't the way of unifying people. In fact, it's a lot like the bullying tactics used by the Right-Wing.

See, some of us -- I for example -- like Hillary and have heard her ideas, opinions and plans, and all we've heard from Obama is him telling every group he's with what they want to hear -- even if that is totally different and the opposite from what he told the last group he spoke to who he also told everything they wanted to hear.

Remember in his book The Audacity of Hope Obama said he was a blank screen onto which anyone could project whatever they wanted and as such he was bound to disappoint some if not all of them?

Sorry, but I don't want a blank screen for a President.

In any case, why don't you come over and unite with us Hillary supporters? And if not, why not?

And if you still don't want to unite with us, then maybe you'll understand our reluctance to believe that you want to unite everybody anywhere near as much as you want everybody to just come over and support Obama.

[MindMatter]

6. We aren't electing a person to inspire the people?

Wow. That's quite a statement.

I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of experts in all branches of government whose job it is to make the country work correctly. That really isn't the President's main job. If there is one thing that a President really should be able to do, it is to inspire the people.

Obviously we don't want a person who is charismatic AND evil. That gives us a Hitler or Reagan (and I'm not trying to draw a comparison between the two. Hitler was evil. Reagan was certainly not evil on that scale, but his ideas for the country were insidious and disastrous. Bad ideas and charisma are a terrible combination.

But that isn't what we have with Obama. Other than Iraq, his positions are not that much different from Clintons. The big difference is that he comes with charisma and without all the negative baggage.

[DWilliamsamh]

8. You are 100% right, 0% wrong (N/T)

[NYPat]

9. more like 50/50

JFK didn't inspire the American people to handle the Cuban missile crisis. He did that himself and we nervously trusted in him to be right, and he was. It's just not all a matter of inspiration.

[provis99]

12. except we lost in the Cuban Missle Crisis

Thats why the deal to remove US missles from Turkey, and not replace them, wasn't made public during the immediate aftermath of the crisis. It was made public 6 months later, when the American public wouldn't see the connection.

[NYPat]

15. You're correct about the missiles in Turkey

I did a some quick research. Would you say that the Bay of Pigs incident was a blunder?

[zalinda]

10. Yes, and that was the same argument about Bush n/t

[ladywnch]

14. his comments about our young people not educated to fill computer

programming jobs in this country and the need to increase the number of H1B visas is BULLSHIT!

There are PLENTY of programmers in this country who are out of work. The reason is corporate America wants to pay pennies for programmers instead of real wages. Hillary is trying to bring more foreigners into this country too.... she spoke to Silicon Valley and told them she would increase the number of visas to take jobs from America programmers. I guess she thinks it sounds better than having businesses sending the jobs to Bangalore directly.

[Eric J in MN]

20. Yes, at first I liked that he was bringing up the H1B visa issue,

...but that he spouted bullshit that H1B visas are needed because of a shortage, when it's really about lowering wages.

There is no shortage of American computer programmers.

[RBInMaine]

16. Hillary is DISLIKED by HALF the country. So how does she lead?

[sasquatch]

17. Yeah, lets put John "Surrender in Advance" Kerry up there so he'll put the entire country to sleep

He'll be like Fred Thompson minus the man boobs and trophy wife.
:eyes:

[JoeySoCal]

18. So then what the fuck was Rendall's point in injection race into it...

He nullified the only point he could have been making in cowering to the racists on Barracks implied 'unelectability' due to racists. I mean that is cheap fucking shit. Talk about cowering on your knees for political expediency. For a high elected official like a governor to be using race politically (esp for a Democrat), to try and suppress support of Obama by injecting suggestion to surrender to the racists into the political dialogue is one of the lowest most vile things I have witnessed throughout this long primary season. That's fucking shit and Bill Maher should really have pursued him on it. If Hillary is trying to paint herself as so tough that she wouldn't back down to the terrorists, why is her prominent campaign member suggesting that we should be surrendering to triffling little racist shit turds?!

[NewHampster]

19. Love the gov

Go Hillary