Stray political thoughts
Every four years the GOP talks about its chances of winning California and New Jersey. This year that's even more ridiculous than normal.
What does it say that the GOP wants to hate Michelle Obama? (The GOP tends to want wives who wave, smile adoringly at their husbands, and have no identity of their own.)
The four justices who voted against Constitutionally enshrined Habeus Corpus were the "constructionists" Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito.
John Ensign, the guy responsible for the GOP Senate election effort, "reiterated past statements that a 3 seat-loss would be a "great night" for Senate GOPers."
And, a video of a 2004 Obama interview surfaces where he seems far equivocal about withdrawing from Iraq. (Clinton oppo folks should have found this.)
What does it say that the GOP wants to hate Michelle Obama? (The GOP tends to want wives who wave, smile adoringly at their husbands, and have no identity of their own.)
The four justices who voted against Constitutionally enshrined Habeus Corpus were the "constructionists" Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito.
John Ensign, the guy responsible for the GOP Senate election effort, "reiterated past statements that a 3 seat-loss would be a "great night" for Senate GOPers."
And, a video of a 2004 Obama interview surfaces where he seems far equivocal about withdrawing from Iraq. (Clinton oppo folks should have found this.)
posted by mikevotes at
6:29 AM
6 Comments:
Odd. Just last week Ensign said that he would consider it a success if the GOP only lost eight Senate seats.
wrt Michelle Obama, this is the same pattern we've seen since Reagan, and I think it's some kind of misguided effort on the Republicans' part to win over women. IOW, "Ladies, you aren't (insert insult here), so you don't want to vote for that Democratic candidate."
By
Todd Dugdale , at 8:43 AM
If there was ever a year where vilifying a woman was a bad idea, this is the year. Forget about the charges of "left-wing" or "right-wing" media. In the wake of the Hillary campaign we are now in the age of the "sexist" media.
Go ahead, GOP. Slime Michelle. But remember your William Congreve and the furry that Hell hath not! Nothing will unite women around the Dem nominee than a right-wing goon squad attacking Mrs. Obama.
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-epm, at 9:12 AM
I wonder how much of Ensign's bemoaning is about lowering expectations so he won't take blame.
...
And regarding the Michelle Obama,
Todd, I think it's more about white men. I also think it's indirectly about immasculating the man. If he can't protect his own wife......
EPM, It all depends on how the media treats it. They decide whether swiftboaters are important and skipping Nat'l guard duty isn't.
I get your point, but I'm not so sure.
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mikevotes, at 2:04 PM
The "sexism in the media" is different than the swiftboaters and national guard issue. This is about shining a glaring light on the media for entrenched sexism. So if the "legitimate" media don't call out the cable cretins and other knuckle draggers, the "women's" groups will lump them in the same bucket... and I don't think the traditional corporate media want that sort of heat. ("NBC allows sexist attacks on Michelle Obama to go without challenge! Therfore NBC is OK with this sort of misogyny.")
Unlike the issues you raise from the '04 campaign, this isn't political in the same sense. This is about bigotry and misogyny and the legitimacy of the media... not which politician is the bigger hero.
(I'm in a rush and probably not being as clear as I like... but it all makes sense in my head!)
By
-epm, at 4:06 PM
I agree with you broadly. My point was that if the media don't talk about it, it doesn't gain the broad audience. It'd be active among the active, but maybe not receiving the condemnation it should.
By
mikevotes, at 5:33 PM
I wonder how much of Ensign's bemoaning is about lowering expectations so he won't take blame.
Oh, that's the major reason, of course. It's just odd that he "revised" his estimate from 8 to 3 seats in less than week. Morale is low in the GOP, and that's why we're seeing all of this negative, attack stuff, IMO. It tends to rally The Faithful.
Todd, I think it's more about white men.
I'll grant you that one. Either way, though, it usually backfires among women by creating sympathy for the wife. As epm insightfully pointed out, this is a bad year to employ this kind of strategy, but the GOP campaign tactics have remained essentially unchanged since 1994. This is all they know, and they're going to go with it.
wrt the media thing, I think we are beginning to see a change in the MSM. The pundits have just been so outrageously wrong for so long, and the paradigm they are pushing is so out-of-touch with their audience that they now realise their (shaky) credibility is at stake. They will begin to hedge their bets now that Obama is looking good in the polls. And if McCain erupts and loses his temper in a colourful manner, they will be much more inclined to run with that and throw him to the metaphorical wolves.
By
Todd Dugdale , at 10:57 PM
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