“He literally sat down with a yellow legal pad,” said McAuliffe, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, adding that Clinton told him: “Make sure, Terry, you get these talking points out to every candidate.”
It was then, McAuliffe said, that Clinton confided that he has been frustrated with the Democrats’ message.
“He is just baffled and bewildered about why there has not been a more coherent message talking about what the party has done, why we allowed ourselves to become human pinatas,” McAuliffe said. “I think he is agitated that Democrats haven’t put their best foot forward in explaining to the American public what they’ve actually done.”
We feel that pain, as we know you do, too, Dear Reader. It’s really as bad as we’ve feared since 2007. We get no joy in that. A Nation at risk, and 2 men and a yellow pad the real firewall.
Faltering Democratic institutions still coasting on inertia from 40 years ago? The coterie of Democratic alleged political professionals? Useless. Many still claiming it’s just the economy. Some even believe it.
Brand Obama, the Post-Partisan Boy King, transcendent, floating away from petty politics, serenely unengaged while the Movement took shape. Watching and waiting for 20 months. Doing nothing, flinching before News Corp or Lindsay Graham. Then helpless, routed as the Movement unleashed its long telegraphed firestorm.
Why gossip about just replacing Biden on the ticket? Of the two, Biden at least acquitted himself honorably and effectively. Do you want to spend the next 6 years defending people who can’t — or worse — won’t, fight?
Dr Leo Strauss says
@Comment
One can definitely imagine Spitzer doing an O’Really freak out, ‘We’ll do it live! [effing] thing sucks!’
In a truly perverse universe, Parker would have a show with Eugene Robinson.
Comment says
CNN blew it with Parker Spitzer – What they should have done is have Spitzer do his own show and be a Democratic higher concept O’Reilly – People want to see him go after big shots – not have his co-host interfering with her own brand of southern Dowdism. She could have a daytime show.
Comment says
Mika actually wrote a biography about her career struggles. These people are ridiculous. Very little self awareness and so they have very little to say about what goes on the world.
Dr Leo Strauss says
Black would have been interesting at the helm of a Newsweak / web creature unlike Brown and Diller. Father Meacham landed nicely, now back at the table with Willie and Joe, pretending to blush at their blandishments and Mika’s fluttering lashes. Appalling.
Comment says
” … an ostracized, voiceless legion of the walking dead; they are no one’s constituency.”
Read more: http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/07/31/conrad-black-my-prison-education/#ixzz13gl6Qhsu
Lord Black is quite a writer
DrLeoStrauss says
@dilbert dogbert
Thank you for the referral – some vibrant institutional observations.
dilbert dogbert says
Dr Leo,
Have you looked at D Squared Digest for the comment on democrat party?
Comment says
We’re not the only one who noticed – but the goons match the candidates in style — Joe Miller has militaristic buzzcut goons, Paladino has goons with urban flair, and Rand Paul’s goons are Kentucky gothic – Yet – all united in a frenzy against the ectormorphs
Comment says
You could see Chuck Todd uneasily pick up on Tweety’s cue that it was time to be critical of Rand Paul over Goongate
DrLeoStrauss says
@Comment
Yes, it’s all part of the Movement morphology for centuries, private guards, then moonlighting serving military and then violence. We live in such debased times our so-called ‘political experts’ are astonished.
Comment says
Did you see Rand Paul had some goons smashing up a lib woman before the KY debate – This trend will grow.
Comment says
“God is the reason that I’m running … if I didn’t believe that it takes a complete dying of self to make things right in this Election cycle I would not be running …”
~Christine O’Donnell, CBN
Aldershot says
Wingman, is that you?
Comment says
We predict that Juan Williams will have a falling out with FNC down the road – simply because he is too medicore as a news ‘analysts’ to merit that high pay package and he is much less valuable now that he does not have the “…even the liberal NPR guy Williams supports tasering/bombing/ etc etc …” value any more. Too bad the slackers at NPR did not game his cashiering in the midst of some busy news cycle. But hey – he won the jackpot.
Mike Flugennock says
@Aldershot
Yeah, I was just going to say… this is probably _exactly_ what he planned. Anyone who went out and did their homework on Obama back in ’04, after he seemed to materialize out of nowhere to deliver the DNC keynote speech like a political “American Idol” winner, knew what he was all about all along. This, as opposed to the mindless legions of desperate, frightened Liberals and Fauxgressives who were in a prime state to be sold any line of BS you wanted to fob off on them.
Anyone who wasn’t totally tripping their brains out knew he wasn’t a “progressive” or a “change agent” or a “peace candidate” or anything else but your standard-issue corporate centrist Democrat. If not for his slightly elevated melanin level, he wouldn’t have gotten a second look; he would’ve been ranked right down there with Daschle, Gephardt, Lieberman, Hillary and the rest of that worthless bunch.
Aldershot says
BTW, Juan is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore.
Aldershot says
@Redhand
And yet, I think he’ll be re-elected a la Clinton.
DrLeoStrauss says
@Comment
Further proof that the universe has a sublime sense of humor at times.
Comment says
Wilson looks like a swallowed a lot of aggression in the past few years:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/24/valerie-plame-joe-wilson-cheney-apologize_n_772842.html
Comment says
The whole debate is worth watching – She may win:
http://www.delawareonline.com/video#/News/Coons%2C+O%27Donnell+spar+over+First+Amendment%2C+Supreme+Court+cases/43042526001/42498973001/641643796001
Redhand says
Quite an amusing post, actually. One needs almost poetic prose to get arms around the breadth of Obama’s “charismatic” incompetence: the Post-Partisan Boy King, transcendent, floating away from petty politics, serenely unengaged while the Movement took shape.
It might have helped if the smooth sob had actually tried to implement a 2nd New Deal, instead of whoring himself out to Wall Street with half-assed “reforms”; had not seemlessly continued Bush war and “national security” policies; and actually gave a crap about the “little people” who elected him.
Dr Leo Strauss says
@Aldershot
Just knowing he even had a plan would be good.
Aldershot says
Doc, perhaps everything is going according to (Obama’s) plan.