Another Brahmin eruption (Why Kerry is Toast)

Arizona Republic ^ | 3/19/04 | Phil Boas-Editor of "Plugged In"

[zarf]

I was trying to recall the exact moment I lost interest in the 2004 presidential race. It was March 7, the day The New York Times published Maureen Dowd's gushing paean to John Kerry.

Dowd gloried in the "vast palette of cultural preferences" that paint the Kerry persona. Why, he not only reads Keats and Shelley and T.S. Eliot, he writes his own verse on the "barren desolation of the desert."

[zarf]

Absolutely the best "analysis" of why this election will be a walk.

[Betaille]

"We hate snobs."
Yup. That's why I wish the Kerry cursing out a secret service agent on the ski slopes was getting more airplay. Even Rush Limbaugh seems to have dismissed it. He mentioned it but didn't really hammer him.

[Britton J Wingfield]

Hugh Hewitt has been doing a great job of beating him up with it.

Hewitt is the single best conservative radio host, imho.

[Hugin]

First I heard of it. Nice way to treat someone who is there to take a bullet for you if called upon.

[Betaille]

"Hugh Hewitt has been doing a great job of beating him up with it."
I don't know of him, when/where is he on?
By the way, i think the biggest thing that happened in Kerry's flopping over the last 2 weeks was his "Crooked liars" comment. It showed Right Wing talk show hosts and internet users like us that we have his ear... and he's let us know that we can drive him NUTS! ;)

[Howlin]

As a comparison -- what Dowd wrote about W.:

Cultural Drifter / MAUREEN DOWD

Politics/Elections Editorial Opinion (Published)
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/library/opinion/dowd/100399dowd.html
Published: October 3, 1999 Author: MAUREEN DOWD
Posted on 10/02/1999 23:49:47 PDT by JohnHuang2
October 3, 1999

LIBERTIES / By MAUREEN DOWD

Cultural Drifter

WASHINGTON -- Here are some things you might not know about George W. Bush:

He hasn't gone out to see a movie in the last five years.

He likes Van Morrison.

The last actress who made his heart race was Julie Christie in "Doctor Zhivago."

He doesn't identify with any literary heroes, but is drawn to Paul Newman's defiance in "Cool Hand Luke" and Jack Nicholson's irreverence.

He loved "Cats."

In an interview about culture, W. gamely concedes there are yawning gaps. Baseball, he says, is his favorite "cultural experience." (Like his father, he views cultural questions as some kind of psychoanalysis.)

We're in a van on the way to Reagan airport after his speech to the Christian Coalition.

He has one word for opera: "No." He likes "nice, quiet jazz on the radio." He went to one ballet "and was amazed by the athleticism."

Although some of the Bushes are musical -- his uncle Jonathan was in a Bronx revival of "Oklahoma" in 1958 and his uncle Bucky plays the guitar and sings -- W. is not.

"I loved 'Cats,' " he says brightly.

He said he doesn't watch TV series, just news and sports. "Culturally adrift," he says, making a funny face. "Occasionally, I'll cruise into an A&E biography. The last one I saw was about me."

He avoids cable chat. "Now that I'm the subject, there's no telling what you'll hear about yourself. So I've just chosen not to listen."

He says he's usually asleep by Leno and Letterman, but adds: "They're actually very funny. Even at my own expense."

I asked if he and his wife, Laura, ever fight over the clicker. He says he's mostly doing work stuff or falling asleep. "We're both usually reading instead of battling over flickers."

He did not try to impress his librarian wife when they were dating by reading more. "Our first date was to go play putt-putt golf," he says.

As to literary preferences, he said: "I've always liked John La Care, Le Carrier, or however you pronounce his name. I'm mainly a history person." He's just finished "Isaac's Storm," a history of the Galveston hurricane of 1900, and reads Robert Parker's detective-for-hire stories.

Asked if he likes movies, he says: "Not too much. I like 'em O.K. I haven't been to a movie theater since I've been Governor. We occasionally rent movies. We've got a Blockbuster card the girls use more than Laura and me. The last movie I saw I really liked was 'Saving Private Ryan.'

"But prior to getting elected I did go to movies. Laura and I were talking the other day about the last time we'd gone to a movie. I think it was the day Ann Richards called me a jerk. It was 'Forrest Gump.' "

Has he ever censored his twin 17-year-old daughters' movie picks? "I can't think of anything. Uh oh, a giant hole in the net of censorship."

In an interview with GQ, the 53-year-old Governor said that when he was at Yale in the 60's, he did not share the musical tastes of the counterculture. He said he liked the Beatles before their "weird, psychedelic period."

I asked who was his favorite Beatle. "The first drummer," he joked. "As you know I was a fraternity man at Yale. I had parties. We had a lot of groups come in. I just was not, I mean, I like music. But I'm not a great aficionado of music."

Asked if he would set a cultural tone in the White House closer to Jackie's Pablo Casals or Bill's Kenny G, W. replied: "I imagine it would be eclectic. You know we've had Lyle Lovett come to the mansion to play. I probably won't be spending a lot of time making the list up. I'll delegate."

W. sometimes waggles his hips when he's on a stage. Does he like to dance?

"No," he said. "It's not a religious thing. I just don't dance. At the last inauguration, I did the box step for about 25 seconds and declared my dancing over for the year.

. . . I don't go to dances and I don't socialize very much."

Asked about Warren Beatty's Presidential flirting, W. asks something that probably hasn't even dawned on the Hollywood star: "The question is, Can he survive the Iowa caucuses?"

The Governor's perfect day would include running, fishing and watching sports on TV, followed by dinner with friends with Van Morrison playing in the background. Then, bed by 10.

Is this a great country or what?

[beaversmom]

Heard Hewitt tonight and he was sort of buying into the fact that the SS guy knocked him over. I haven't seen any video but it sounded like Kerry ran into the SS guy.

Hewitt is the single best conservative radio host, imho.

He's okay but he's no Michael Medved ;)

[Betaille]

"Nice way to treat someone who is there to take a bullet for you if called upon."
THIS is the stuff that destroys candidates. You can win an election on policy differences... but far more voters are swayed by simply not liking/trusting a candidate. This is especially bad for a challenger, since they are more unknown than incumbents.
Cursing out some poor guy who is putting his life on the line for you is exactly the kind of snobbery that will bring Kerry down.

[Britton J Wingfield]

He's nationally syndicated, and on top of that is a freeper! He says he starts each day reading FR.

http://www.hughhewitt.com/ has all his info.

He also writes for the Weekly Standard,and WorldNetDaily.

I listen to him here in Phoenix in the afternoons on am 960.

[kevao]

The biggest thing now will be that clip I saw on Fox News tonight, the interview he had last fall when he said it would be "irresponsible" for any senator to vote against the $87 billion for our troops in Vietnam. Devastating.

[Betaille]

After reading his website, Hugh seems like my kind of guy. He stays right on message, and really hammers his enemies where they're weak.

[Britton J Wingfield]

I think the SS guy did run into him. Stuff happens. Throwing a snit over it and then declaring "I don't fall down," then cursing his protector shows Kerry's true face.

Hewit played the "I voted for the 87 billion before I voted againstit" about 400 timestoday :)

Also Kerry's claimthatto vote againstit would be irresponsible, right before he did vote against it :)

[Betaille]

"He says he starts each day reading FR."
I bet that's why he's so good at staying on-message, he reads our posts. :)

[ChocChipCookie]

I think this made me love President Bush more than ever, which is saying quite a lot!

[Britton J Wingfield]

I usually miss Medved unless I'm driving at lunch. He has the time slot before Hewitt. He's good, though. Just my schedule.

[Adrastus]

Made the mistake of reading Dowds column and, to put it charitably, what the hell's the matter with that woman? Isn't she ever embarrassed by anything she writes? I've never read such sophomoric drivel in my life. And she does this crap for money? That column will be a real asset for "The Snob."

[Howlin]

I think she meant that article as a slam, but I sure didn't think so.

How can you not like somebody who loves Van Morrison?

[beaversmom]

I'm just teasing with ya. I do like Hewitt as well but Medved is my favorite. I want his brain!

[bolthead]

I used to listen to Hewitt all the time when he was on in the morning, but haven't heard him much the last few years since he switched to PM. Loved it when he referred to FReepers as Coast Watchers.

[des]

Best column she ever wrote...only George W. wrote it for her. GW is a lot like my guy. I wish he could relate to the women who want daddy/mamma as POTUS...not by pandering, but...oh, squeeze me, I'm dreaming again.