Does Rham Emanuel really not want Democrats on Colbert?

[question everything]

why?

I know that Barney Frank was unhappy but, really..

[BeyondGeography]

1. It's all part of message control, a distinctly Clintonian trait

at least when it comes to the Democrats.

Really, someone at Team Hillary needs to pick up the phone. Nothing is dumber in this day and age than for a Democrat to mess with Colbert, the first person in the universe who had the balls to humiliate Bush and the entire Washington establishment in public at his correspondent's dinner gig last spring.

[aquart]

4. I thought message control was Republican.

But nice working in a Clinton smear.

Not wanting freshman congressmen to make fools of themselves is not a crime.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Oh, so the Colbert ban is for Democratic freshmen only?

And that's a good thing?

Really, what is the upside here? Colbert had been one of the few bright lights of the dark ages and we're going to lay ground rules for him? He'll eat Rahm Emanuel and the Democratic establishment for lunch. Smart move.

[Hippo_Tron]

7. Message control is very much a part of both parties

And while Clinton was very good at it, calling it Clintonian is absurd.

And going on Colbert is not really a threat to message control. It's a good way for freshmen congressmen to get exposure to their district and actually look like real people for a change, which is something that voters love. The only people who come off of Colbert making fools of themselves were fools before they went on the show. Congressman Lynn "10 commandments" Westmoreland being the prime example of this.

[question everything]

12. Indeed. One freshman Democrat who got his exposure on Colbert

and won - sorry do not remember his name - came after the elections and both of them harmonized on the national anthem.

[Richard Steele]

10. Yes, which is why it is particularly frightening to see it coming from this quarter.

"Message control", to me, means taking the time to
ensure that everyone on the team knows the next play.
Making sure that everyone STARTS from the same page from day
to day, hotbutton issue to hotbutton issue.

Telling elected officials which TV shows they should appear
on goes WAAAAY beyond that. And when it's a proven LOSING
party strategist like R.E. issuing that dictate, telling
CongressPersons -NOT- to appear on a show that is solid GOLD
among the hippest, leftmost US citizens.....

Well, ya just gotta wonder how many DOZEN times ol' Rahm is
gonna be allowed to shoot the Democratic Party in the foot before
folks realize he's doing it on purpose.

Personally, I wonder why anyone even listens to him anymore.
If his strategy had been followed for Election '06, our
across-the-board landslide victory would have been a mild gain,
at best. He was shooting for a barely 'break even' result; only
wanted to spend money on the few seats he "knew" Dems could win.

Can you say, "out of touch with the Electorate"? I knew you could!

The man has a PROVEN TRACK RECORD of recommending bad plans which
serve the Repubs better than the Dems he claims to be one of.
Or WOULD HAVE served the Repubs better, had they not been IGNORED,
like during Election '06.

If he's a Repub mole, he's pretty good. Good enough to fool some
honest Dem voters for a very long time.

But if he honestly is a "Democratic Party Strategist", then he's
a man of truly breathtaking incompetence.
DECADES of breathtaking incompetence.
And he "stays the course" like nobody's business. No one can
accuse Rahm of learning from his mistakes, no matter how huge!

Either way: fuck him. Fuck him in the heart.


(Eddited fer running time, and to fit yer screen. Certinly NOT fer spellin,
if that's what yer thinkin!)

[WorldResident]

11. That trait won us two elections

:D

[napi21]

2. I suspect Rahm is just trying to protectthe newbies from damage.

I watchedColbertthe night Altmire was on. He's a newRep. from Pa. who pushed out Melissa Hart. I don't think he did terrible,but his inexperience did show a bit.

[aquart]

3. I thought he didn't want the freshman congressmen to do it.

Because they're too inexperienced not to look like earnest fools.

[bluedawg12]

6. I agree with Rahm- Colbert has gone to far.

He has made more than one look like a fool, look undignified.

The Democratic party's primary goal is not to give comedian Steven Colbert fodder for his show.

I don't care how sympathetic he appears, how he is a parody of certain talking balloon heads- he has crossed the line more than once and I agree with Rahm.

[Hippo_Tron]

8. I haven't seen a Democrat look like a fool on Colbert's show

Only morans from the Republic Party like Lynn Westmoreland come off looking like fools.

[The2ndWheel]

14. That's the primary goal?

So in all that time before Colbert's show, the Democrats were just preparing not to give Colbert fodder for his show?

Your ideas intrigue me, and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[KingFlorez]

9. The members interviewed knew what the show was about

They know it's a comedy show and the interviews were staged to be funny, it's not like Colbert just made them look foolish or something like that.

[Orangepeel]

13. most people who go on Colbert end up looking stupid

no everyone of course (Eleanor Holmes Norton, for example, was fantastic). But most people do.

[blondeatlast]

15. If they don't go in knowing it's a comedy show, they best not go on anyway.

I hadn't heard this about Emanuel and take it the way I take "Some people say..." until I do.

But I've seen too many wide-eyed innocents of both parties on CR and unless they know what they are doing, it's a bad idea to go on it.

OTOH, I've seen some great performances from members of both parties who were clearly comfortable with the format.

[Beelzebud]

16. It only makes Rham look like a mirthless jackass that can't have fun.

[blondeatlast]

17. Does he? Can anyone find a cite on this? Until then, it's "Some people say..." for me. nt

[question everything]

18. Colbert showed a newspaper clip

with the story


DCCC’s Omnipotent Rahm Emanuel Blocks Stephen Colbert

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=22223

hat politically savvy news platform ‘The Hill‘, reported today that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s (DCCC) all-powerful Democratic Caucus Chair, Representative Rahm Emanuel, has forbidden freshly elected Democratic members of Congress from appearing on the insanely popular Comedy Central show, The Colbert Report with the taunting but always hilarious Stephen Colbert.

More..

[blondeatlast]

19. "...freshly elected..." being operative here. I have to agree.

In this age, media savvy has to be part of the duties for public office, IMHO. The newbies need some boot camp for dealing with ALL media, as I've said on DU often before.

Colbert is very sharp and has no sacred cows; that's why I love the show.