Posted on 11/04/2004 4:47:09 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
If there's one place where Democrats know they'll receive a warm reception, it's The Today Show. So take it as a sign of the depths of Dem depression that Katie Couric had to admit this morning that "with Dems licking their wounds" it was difficult for the show to find a Dem willing to come on!
You'd think that it would have been a cinch to find a leading Republican insider to talk about W's plans for the second term. So who did Today choose? Gillepsie, Frist, Hastert, maybe even Cheney? Nope, they went to a guy firmly on the outside, Today's favorite Republican, John McCain.
Three highlights from McCain's appearance:
1. In one of the most unvarnished bits of liberal editorializing I've ever witnessed at Today, Matt Lauer expressed skepticism about W's ability to bring people together in his second term. Said Lauer: "He actually divided the country by governing from 'the far right.' Why should people trust him this time?"
2. McCain took a huge swipe at Kerry's notoriouly lackluster record as a Senator. "Speaking personally, If you work at it you can really enhance your effectiveness in the Senate," advised McCain!
3. McCain denied a Newsweek report that Kerry offered him, in return for accepting the VP nomination, control over the DOD and a say on all foreign policy
Then it was on to Katie's interview of PA Gov. Ed Rendell, who was still looking depressed. It was then that Katie mentioned Today's difficulty in booking a Dem this morning - a nice little insult to Rendell, letting everyone know he was far from the first choice!
A clearly unhappy Katie, still dressed in black, asked "the Dem Party was organized, the base energized, and W had low approval ratings. Why couldn't this be translated into victory? There must have been some problems in strategy."
Rendell cited the failure to respond quickly to the Swift Boat Vets, contrasting this with Bill Clinton's rapid response approach.
Katie: "Did Dems fail to appreciate the importance of moral issues to voters?"
Rendell's response showed that the Dems still don't get it. He tried to define family values in terms of government programs. For him, it's all about "valuing families," meaning more government child care, health care, etc.
He added it was hard to make the case with terrorism and Iraq in the background.
With rising frustration in her voice, Katie said Dems are known for getting out the vote, and asked why young people didn't show up at the polls. Rendell claimed they did, but that overall turnout was up so the effect of young people was diminished. He bragged about Kerry's win in PA.
Katie: "It was a big loss to have Daschle lose. How will the Dem party retool and go forward?"
Rendell cited 1964 and LBJ's huge victory, whereas by 1968 the Republicans had won back the WH. Rendell: "This is not a time for hand wringing and soul searching. If not for 9/11 and Iraq we'd be talking about Pres. Kerry."
Then it was on to an interview with Tim Russert.
Russert: "The party has to come to grips with itself. There is a disconnect in large parts of the country with the Dem party. Dems have to find words, language to speak to people of faith."
Note that once again, the Dems are addressing the issue in superficial terms. They discuss the need to find ways to "speak" about values, about the need to find "the right language," rather than looking into their souls and realizing that their values are simply out of synch with those of most Americans.
Russert gave his list of people he expected to leave the administration. Some were predictable: Powell, Rumsfeld and Ashcroft. But I was surprised when he also mentioned Condi Rice, saying "she has to figure out what she wants to do with her career."
At the beginning of the second half-hour, Evan Thomas of Newsweek appeared to tout a special Newsweek edition telling the inside story from the campaign. By far the most interesting comments were his absolute massacring of Teresa Heinz Kerry. I couldn't type fast enough to keep up, but among his blasts at her:
"A negative for the campaign, a bad campaigner, all about her, very demanding, a drag on her husband."
Not to mention John-the-Baptist Edwards...truly scary and of course Kerry himself - King of the Polls...a more indecisive 'could have been' never came so close to being POTUSA.
Hey, Katie, the Republic is alive and well with George W. at the helm – get over it, Socialism just ain’t for America and Americans!
LOL. I'm very flattered to learn that I take priority over the Raggedy Annies!
Screw you, Matt. We won! YOU move to the right.
LOL! Unless I lost count, by the election, the Kerry campaign was on its third "religion outreach" advisor!
One I recall was "Teresa is a hypochondriac"(Does this explain her "medicated" demeanor?)
Great report. I don't deny enjoying your reports when they're this funny. LOL!
Excellent analysis, IMHO.
Here's a thought-- What if Evan Thomas was right and the MSM did deliver a 15% boost? Would Kerry's numbers have been lower if they had been tough on him? Of course. But we will never know what the percentage would have been if they won't stop trying to program the American voter.
I guess Teresa is a "drag",,when one has a billion dollars, it does create a drag. haha
I think Matt was in black too.....She looks like she is going to a funeral. Makes me feel good.
And once again, the Slick Bent One provides no help whatsoever for whom he campaigns for. The media keeps wanting to trot this guy out but his candidate never wins. I suppose his presence help motivate the black vote to go more for Kerry but Kerry still did not get elected. We need to keep him and McAwful the Punk around for the next couple election cycles - in order to hit the 60 mark!
Do you believe it? The inability to admit defeat and learn from it, has ruined them.
Works for me.
I might have to actually buy Newsweek for the first time in years to read this. In fact, I think I'll break the rule and buy all the enemy publications: Time, Newsweek, today's NYT, New Yorker... and put 'em in the magazine rack next to my lounge chair for random fun reading this winter.
This report was one of your best. I can hardly wait to get to the grocery store check out line to read Evan Thomas' hit piece on Teresa. (I don't keep people waiting, I let them go ahead of me as I read the rags...without buying.)
It would be incredibly difficult, I would say impossible, for the Dems to take Zell's advice.
Their whole party, all their coalitions, their endless public statements, their thousands of votes, are entirely based on opposition to everything Zell has said. The Dem party couldn't adopt his advice without totally dismantling itself. I don't think they can. Perhaps the American electorate will do it for them.
I'd love to see a tape of this.
Thanks, GL for your great reporting.
Matt was sending sartorial signals that he is slowly emerging from his state of mourning. He has gone from yesterday's all black to a charcoal grey with pinstripes!
A lot of us have been trying to explain that these 'right track/wrong track' questions the pollsters love to use are misread by the MSM. When that number was negative they assumed it was 'the war, the economy, the President' whereas what the voters told them Tuesday, was that is the values and morals and morals of the country that are on the wrong track.
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