Comments on: Norm Coleman on Bush’s Eight Last Years http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/ Tracking Minnesota Politics Since 2005 Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:30:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Alberta Lias http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23620 Alberta Lias Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:24:36 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23620 <em>"But Aaron - if despite all the bad things happening - if Obama loses….. What will the message be then?"</em> The message will be that the politics of lying and smearing work, because that is what McCain is running on. He has nothing else, and he knows it. He is on the wrong side of every issue, supporting Bush at best and even more extreme than Bush at worst. So he is running by trying to tear down Obama rather than elevate himself. It is his only chance and he knows it. And if you want to know what will happen, just look at 2004. Bush ran against Kerry the same way, with the politics of lying and smearing. And when he won, he had no popular mandate. He tried to privatize Social Security, and got nowhere. He ran Iraq even further into the ground, and his approval rating plummeted. Hurricane Katrina showed how Bush deals with emergencies, and the entire country was horrified. The public had ignored the issues in 2004 and voted on personalities. And when they suddenly saw what kind of issues and policies Bush was pushing, they resoundingly rejected them. And the same thing will happen to McCain if he wins this November. He will have been elected as the result of a personality contest, not by the issues, and he would have no popular mandate. And when the people realize that he is simply President Bush but even worse, they will resoundingly reject his policies just as they have most of Bush's. Really, this isn't that complicated. “But Aaron - if despite all the bad things happening - if Obama loses…..

What will the message be then?”

The message will be that the politics of lying and smearing work, because that is what McCain is running on. He has nothing else, and he knows it. He is on the wrong side of every issue, supporting Bush at best and even more extreme than Bush at worst. So he is running by trying to tear down Obama rather than elevate himself. It is his only chance and he knows it.

And if you want to know what will happen, just look at 2004. Bush ran against Kerry the same way, with the politics of lying and smearing. And when he won, he had no popular mandate. He tried to privatize Social Security, and got nowhere. He ran Iraq even further into the ground, and his approval rating plummeted. Hurricane Katrina showed how Bush deals with emergencies, and the entire country was horrified. The public had ignored the issues in 2004 and voted on personalities. And when they suddenly saw what kind of issues and policies Bush was pushing, they resoundingly rejected them.

And the same thing will happen to McCain if he wins this November. He will have been elected as the result of a personality contest, not by the issues, and he would have no popular mandate. And when the people realize that he is simply President Bush but even worse, they will resoundingly reject his policies just as they have most of Bush’s.

Really, this isn’t that complicated.

]]> By: GirlfromNYC http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23609 GirlfromNYC Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:14:03 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23609 Come on people, FOCUS. This isn't as much about McCain/Palin as it is about folks being uninformed and apparently, for a number of women, feeling slighted that the media, and some bloggers, have had a feeding frenzy for almost two weeks as they wait to learn who she really is. The bigger issues are that Mr. McCain, dropped a bomb when he decided to put up for the second highest office a complete unknown...Sorry, she is known to Alaska..so a 99.8% unknown(100% to the rest of the world) whose views on issues is very different than much of the rest of the country's. Similarly he could have chosen my plumber Bill...he runs a small business, loves his family, likes to fish and hunt and communicates well. Mr. McCain and his team have raised a red flag (Mrs. Palin) in front of a bull (the voting public) to distract us from the goal of determining the qualities we want in the next President of the US. So now that we know that, we need to get back to the game and focus because as much as I don't like some of what I've read, I know that this isn't about how great Ms. Palin is or how mean some people have been to her. She should have expected to come under this scrutiny just as she said Hillary should have expected it and she shouldn't be dodging it and hiding from answering the tough questions. The fact is that she could be intensely qualified, but we don't know that and the thought that 50million people will vote her into office because they think she's pretty and a fighter scares the sh*t out of me. This election is about the future of America and by extension the planet. And if you want to lead the free world you out to be able to speak to it and tell it what you stand for. Come on people, FOCUS.
This isn’t as much about McCain/Palin as it is about folks being uninformed and apparently, for a number of women, feeling slighted that the media, and some bloggers, have had a feeding frenzy for almost two weeks as they wait to learn who she really is.
The bigger issues are that Mr. McCain, dropped a bomb when he decided to put up for the second highest office a complete unknown…Sorry, she is known to Alaska..so a 99.8% unknown(100% to the rest of the world) whose views on issues is very different than much of the rest of the country’s. Similarly he could have chosen my plumber Bill…he runs a small business, loves his family, likes to fish and hunt and communicates well.
Mr. McCain and his team have raised a red flag (Mrs. Palin) in front of a bull (the voting public) to distract us from the goal of determining the qualities we want in the next President of the US.
So now that we know that, we need to get back to the game and focus because as much as I don’t like some of what I’ve read, I know that this isn’t about how great Ms. Palin is or how mean some people have been to her. She should have expected to come under this scrutiny just as she said Hillary should have expected it and she shouldn’t be dodging it and hiding from answering the tough questions.
The fact is that she could be intensely qualified, but we don’t know that and the thought that 50million people will vote her into office because they think she’s pretty and a fighter scares the sh*t out of me.
This election is about the future of America and by extension the planet. And if you want to lead the free world you out to be able to speak to it and tell it what you stand for.

]]> By: paul94611 http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23606 paul94611 Wed, 10 Sep 2008 07:06:50 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23606 Funny... I had thought the past eight years of "borrow & spend" economics of socialized corporate losses is the governing philosophy of the republican party. National debt that went from 4 trillion to 10 trillion dollars does not sound like responsible spending or assuming personal responsibility to me. Placing a health insurance bureaucrat between me and my doctor just to enhance republican profit potential does not sound like responsible governance to me. If George McCain wins in November it will be because folks want more war, more debt and more bank failures that their tax dollars will go to bail out. 50K for Fannie & Freddie for each of us before interest. That is republican fiscal conservatism for ya. The one fact of life is that fat cat republicans just want their government services for free, charging up the bill so my kids can pay the price, at interest to republican fat cat bankers. Funny…
I had thought the past eight years of “borrow & spend” economics of socialized corporate losses is the governing philosophy of the republican party. National debt that went from 4 trillion to 10 trillion dollars does not sound like responsible spending or assuming personal responsibility to me. Placing a health insurance bureaucrat between me and my doctor just to enhance republican profit potential does not sound like responsible governance to me.
If George McCain wins in November it will be because folks want more war, more debt and more bank failures that their tax dollars will go to bail out. 50K for Fannie & Freddie for each of us before interest. That is republican fiscal conservatism for ya.
The one fact of life is that fat cat republicans just want their government services for free, charging up the bill so my kids can pay the price, at interest to republican fat cat bankers.

]]> By: Buddydave http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23599 Buddydave Wed, 10 Sep 2008 02:02:54 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23599 "And the Franken campaign needs to make this into an attack ad stat." Agreed. The video plays. Fade to black. ANNOUNCER: Belehduh belehdudeduh is right, Norm. Too bad you voted with Bush 95% of the time. Isn't it time for something better than belehduh belehdudeduh? FRANKEN: I'm Al Franken and I approved this message. “And the Franken campaign needs to make this into an attack ad stat.”

Agreed.

The video plays.

Fade to black.

ANNOUNCER: Belehduh belehdudeduh is right, Norm. Too bad you voted with Bush 95% of the time. Isn’t it time for something better than belehduh belehdudeduh?

FRANKEN: I’m Al Franken and I approved this message.

]]> By: rEaDtHeFiNePrInT http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23597 rEaDtHeFiNePrInT Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:32:52 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23597 Amuseinc: First things first..Capitilize America. It is a special place and deserves capitalization. (telling - don't you think?) Second: "George" McCain...really? God bless this country for all votes counting equally, but I must say, it scares me. It really does. Amuseinc: First things first..Capitilize America. It is a special place and deserves capitalization. (telling - don’t you think?)

Second: “George” McCain…really?

God bless this country for all votes counting equally, but I must say, it scares me. It really does.

]]> By: goatchowder http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23596 goatchowder Wed, 10 Sep 2008 01:21:54 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23596 And here is Sarah Palin telling her church that it was god who made her governor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k84m2orSOaM Her pastor gets all choked up. Palin is another George W. Bush: fundamentalist, willfully-ignorant, vindictive, corrupt, imperious, anti-environment, eager to go to war, and, like Bush, in way, way over her head. Add to that how much McCain resembles Cheney-- short-tempered, angry, warmongering-- and we're looking at four years of Bush/Cheney to an even more dangerous level. And here is Sarah Palin telling her church that it was god who made her governor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k84m2orSOaM

Her pastor gets all choked up.

Palin is another George W. Bush: fundamentalist, willfully-ignorant, vindictive, corrupt, imperious, anti-environment, eager to go to war, and, like Bush, in way, way over her head.

Add to that how much McCain resembles Cheney — short-tempered, angry, warmongering — and we’re looking at four years of Bush/Cheney to an even more dangerous level.

]]> By: As Palin falls apart « The Mississippifarian http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23587 As Palin falls apart « The Mississippifarian Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:59:51 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23587 [...] Norman Coleman at his most eloquent [video] [...] […] Norman Coleman at his most eloquent [video] […]

]]> By: Norm speaking honestly « Greg Prince’s Blog http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23566 Norm speaking honestly « Greg Prince’s Blog Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:13:47 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23566 [...] Hat tip:  MN Publius [...] […] Hat tip:  MN Publius […]

]]> By: 10%? http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23560 10%? Tue, 09 Sep 2008 14:12:12 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23560 You do realize that TFRWG is being sarcastic, right? You know, joking to get a point across? Dan, if you really believe that he was being serious, you have some problems. I figure you were just joking right back with your reply, though. Anyway - my point: some memes need to go away, as people here have pointed out: (1) Democrats are for BIG government while Republicans are for SMALL government - this is plainly wrong or else some thought would have gone into the whole invading Iraq decision. Also, with the bailouts and decreases of corporate taxes - these are BIG government measures, they just don't help the same people the Democrats tend to help. Also, Clinton's government was much smaller and effeciently run than Bush's has been, even before Newt. (2) Palin being anything other than an extremist - note that Dan's argument on this board is to ignore Palin's extremism and make something up about Obama/Biden. This is typical. I neither agree with the Obama/Biden representing the 10% fringe nor do I agree that Palin is a regular old person politically - she is an extremist in her economic views, social views, and how she views her role in policy decisions based on her own fundamentalist beliefs (one can refer to this as "church-state separation" which is a cornerstone of our society and the core of the 1st Amendment). (3) McCain is a maverick - before he ran for president, at times he was, but he has run a right-wing campaign which has not distanced himself from Bush in any meaningful way, appears to be taking on Bush's policies, and even chose a younger, even more extremist, female version of Bush for his VP. You do realize that TFRWG is being sarcastic, right? You know, joking to get a point across? Dan, if you really believe that he was being serious, you have some problems. I figure you were just joking right back with your reply, though. Anyway - my point: some memes need to go away, as people here have pointed out: (1) Democrats are for BIG government while Republicans are for SMALL government - this is plainly wrong or else some thought would have gone into the whole invading Iraq decision. Also, with the bailouts and decreases of corporate taxes - these are BIG government measures, they just don’t help the same people the Democrats tend to help. Also, Clinton’s government was much smaller and effeciently run than Bush’s has been, even before Newt. (2) Palin being anything other than an extremist - note that Dan’s argument on this board is to ignore Palin’s extremism and make something up about Obama/Biden. This is typical. I neither agree with the Obama/Biden representing the 10% fringe nor do I agree that Palin is a regular old person politically - she is an extremist in her economic views, social views, and how she views her role in policy decisions based on her own fundamentalist beliefs (one can refer to this as “church-state separation” which is a cornerstone of our society and the core of the 1st Amendment). (3) McCain is a maverick - before he ran for president, at times he was, but he has run a right-wing campaign which has not distanced himself from Bush in any meaningful way, appears to be taking on Bush’s policies, and even chose a younger, even more extremist, female version of Bush for his VP.

]]> By: smiling dog http://mnpublius.com/2008/09/norm-coleman-on-bushs-eight-last-years/#comment-23536 smiling dog Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:22:37 +0000 http://mnpublius.com/?p=2521#comment-23536 Yawn says: "An Obama victory will properly be framed as a rejection of the Republican party A McCain victory will wrongly be framed as a racist, poorly informed decision by the uneducated in our society." Yawn, yes it will be a rejection of the Democratic Party, largely by racist, poorly informed and homophobic people all over this racist country, but a rejection nonetheless. It's hard to win elections in this country without pandering to the ignorance of so many. If the Republicans win, how do you frame their victory? Acceptance of George W. Bush (Tell that to McCain, who is running on a platform of "change" and running away from Bush)? Acceptance of the war? (have you seen the polls?) Acceptance of the dead economy? This is the country we live in. If your premise is that the validity of a political party's platform is determined by whether they win an election, then you would be right. But a democracy is only as good as the people who show up at the polls and these are the people that have already elected and reelected Bush. Yawn says:
“An Obama victory will properly be framed as a rejection of the Republican party
A McCain victory will wrongly be framed as a racist, poorly informed decision by the uneducated in our society.”

Yawn, yes it will be a rejection of the Democratic Party, largely by racist, poorly informed and homophobic people all over this racist country, but a rejection nonetheless. It’s hard to win elections in this country without pandering to the ignorance of so many. If the Republicans win, how do you frame their victory? Acceptance of George W. Bush (Tell that to McCain, who is running on a platform of “change” and running away from Bush)? Acceptance of the war? (have you seen the polls?) Acceptance of the dead economy?
This is the country we live in. If your premise is that the validity of a political party’s platform is determined by whether they win an election, then you would be right. But a democracy is only as good as the people who show up at the polls and these are the people that have already elected and reelected Bush.

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