m. moore on how to blow it- democrat style

*How To Blow It*

It's the most winnable presidential election in American history - but the Democrats are old hands at losing. Michael Moore offers some helpful hints on how they might gift it all to the Republicans.

*By Michael Moore

0908/08 "The Guardian" -- - *

/"Let's snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
"We never met an election we'd like to win."
"Why get elected when you can be defeated!"/

These have been the mantras of the Democratic Party. Beginning with their stunning inability to defeat the most detested politician in American history, Richard Nixon, and continuing through their stunning inability to defeat the most detested politician in the world, George II, the Democrats are the masters of blowing it. And they don't just simply "blow it" - they blow it especially when the electorate seems desperate to give it to them.

After eight years of Ronald Reagan in the Oval Office, the public had seen enough. The Democrats chose Michael Dukakis as their nominee. Two months before the election, he was ahead of Bush I in the polls. Then he went to an army tank factory in Michigan, put on some kind of stupid-fitting helmet and rode around in a tank with a goofy smile on his face. Weeks later, when asked what kind of punishment he would like to see given to someone who might rape his wife, he started mumbling some sort of bleeding-heart gibberish instead of just saying what anyone would say: "I'd like to tear the bastard limb from limb!" The voters were so put off by his wimpiness, they elected an actual wimp over him, George H W Bush.

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights, pro-choice, they don't like war, they want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal healthcare system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: they support the death penalty.

So you would think, with more than 200 million eligible voters, the Dems would be cleaning up, election after election. Obviously not. The Democrats appear to be professional losers. They are so pathetic in their ability to win elections, they even lose when they win! Al Gore won the 2000 election, but for some strange reason he didn't become the president of the United States.

If you are unable as a party to get the landlord to turn over the keys to a house that is yours, what the hell good are you?

Well, in 2006, the Dems had a come-to-Jesus meeting with themselves and, under the leadership of Rahm Emanuel, won so many House seats, they just waltzed in and took the place over. What a great day that was, seeing Nancy Pelosi bang the gavel down to open Congress. And what was her first act? To declare that any discussion of the impeachment of George W Bush was verboten and no one was ever to bring it up again. And that was that. It sent a clear message to Bush that he could just keep doing what he'd been doing for the first six years. The result? That's exactly what he did, with Congress authorising every war funding bill he sent to them. How did the American people respond? Congress's approval rating sank lower than Bush's. How disgusting do you have to be to sink lower in the public's eyes than a man who can't even successfully choke himself on a pretzel?

So when you hear Democrats and liberals and Obama supporters say they are worried McCain has a good chance of winning, they ain't a-kidding. Who would know better than the very people who have handed the Republicans one election after another on a silver platter? Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.

After the debacles of Iraq, Katrina, gas prices, home foreclosures, our standing in the world, the failure to capture Bin Laden, and revealing the identity of a CIA agent in an act of revenge, it would seem that Barack Obama should be on a cakewalk to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The man should be able to sleep his way through the rest of the campaign season.

Ha! Think again. How many Democrats does it take to lose the most easily winnable election in American history? Not many. Just a few "close advisers" to Barack Obama who tell him a bunch of asinine stuff and he ends up listening to them instead of his own heart. As the party hacks in the past two elections have proven, once they get the candidate's ear, the rest of us might just as well order pizza and stay inside for the next four years.

In an effort to help the party doofuses and pundits - and the candidate - spare all of us another suicide-inducing election night as the results giving the election to the Republican pour in, here is the blueprint from the Democrats' past losing campaigns. Just follow each of these steps and you, the Democratic Party establishment, can help elect John Sidney McCain III to a four-year extension of the Bush Era:

*Keep saying nice things about McCain.* Like how he's been "good on global warming" and campaign finance. Keep reminding a country at war that he and he alone is a war hero. Not to mention an all-round good guy. Say that enough and what happens? The same thing that happens when you repeat over and over, "Apply directly to the forehead" - people start to believe it! You've sold them on the idea that McCain isn't a bad egg, and they do not hear the rest of what you have to say: "But John McCain is four more years of George W Bush." If you keep saying he used to be a "maverick", our less-attention-span citizens hear only the "maverick" part, not the past tense verb included in that sentence.

This is not to say you should in any way demean John McCain as a human being or as an American. Disagreeing strongly with his policies or the direction he would lead the country is not the same as denigrating him as a person. This particular style of politics is the cesspool that the Right and the Republican Party apparatus swim in. We do not further our agenda by imitating them. Fight, fight back, and fight hard - but fight clean. It's ultimately what I believe the majority of Americans would like to see.

There is also nothing wrong with saying nice things about McCain's constituency, and you should. We want to hold out our hand to people who have voted for Republicans in the past. Many of them are tired, a good number are disgusted. They won't agree with a lot of what we stand for, but they've had it up to here with the Republicans and we should make sure our tent is big enough to welcome them in.

So if you want to help elect McCain, keep blessing him as if he were the white knight who accidentally hopped on the wrong horse. Forget to continually point out that he is truly up to no good. Keep pulling your punches. Don't remind people McCain wants to help the oil companies even more than Bush did. Don't bring up that he wants to outlaw all abortion. Back away from painting McCain as the guy who thinks it's a good idea to stay in Iraq until pigs fly. That way, if you keep praising him, you can send a mixed message to the less-informed who are simply not going to figure it out. When they walk into a voting booth, they will see two names on the ballot:

*�* Barack Obama
*�* War Hero

Trust me, this ain't Sweden. War Hero wins every time.

*Have Obama pick a vice-presidential candidate who is a conservative white guy, or a general, or a Republican.* Yes, it will seem like smart politics at first. Shore up Obama's lack of military experience with a hawk.

Be true to Obama's message that he'll be a president for everybody by having him run with a Republican.

Make a pitch to the purple states of Virginia and Indiana to vote Democratic this time by putting one of their own on the ticket.

Or swing for the fences and make the red state of Ohio happy by handing the vice-presidential slot to its governor.

But by doing any of this, you will upset the base that not only must come out on election day, it must also be active and work dozens of hours during the campaign. They have to personally bring 10 people each to the polls with them if we are to avoid the disasters of the past two elections. Many won't do this extra work if Obama picks the wrong Veep. It will suck the air out of the balloon in a big way.

Obama electrified the nation on the notion of change and hope and a fresh direction in Washington. If he picks a running mate who screams "Same old same old", it will make it harder for him to attract all the new voters he needs to bring to the polls to win. Remember there are nearly 100 million adults who choose not to vote. That is a large base from which to draw millions of new votes. Obama should not desert a strategy that has worked well for him.

There is nothing wrong with picking someone who can help him win a swing state or someone who has more experience than he does in certain areas. But when I hear pundits say, "He has to pick a Catholic", well, John Kerry was a total Catholic and the Catholic vote went to Mr W. I mean, here's one of the largest groups in the country - 66 million Catholics - and they/we have allowed only one Catholic to be president in 208 years. You would think they would have been flocking to Kerry in 2004. That is not the way people think. It is the way pundits think. Keep listening to them and you can help elect John McCain the next president of the United States.

*Keep writing speeches for Obama like the one in front of the American Israeli lobbying group the day after the final primaries.* Here's what he said: "The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat." And: "Let there be no doubt: I will always keep the threat of military action on the table to defend our security and our ally Israel. Sometimes there are no alternatives to confrontation."

Sounds like a speech McCain would give. Sounds like he's ready to invade Iran. He staked out an even worse position for the Palestinians vis-a-vis Jerusalem than the one held by George W Bush. Keep that up and more and more supporters will be less and less enthused. It will be harder to keep the base motivated if they continue to hear how Obama wants to expand Bush's "faith-based" initiatives, doesn't have a health plan that covers everyone, and wants to send more troops to Afghanistan. The implied message of this is that the Republican plan is a good plan. So why would voters want to elect the candidate imitating the Republican when they can get the real thing? Talk like this gets McCain elected.

*Somehow forget that this was a historic year for women and that there is more work to do.* Obama should be making a speech about gender like the brilliant one he gave on race back in March. Millions of people, especially women, had high hopes for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Attention must be paid. And you don't pay attention to it by having your advisers run your wife through the makeover machine, trying to soften her up and pipe her down. Michelle Obama has been one of the most refreshing things about this election year. But within weeks of the end of the primary season, the handlers stepped in to deal with the "Michelle Problem". What problem? She speaks her mind? She wears what she wants? She thought he was crazy to run for president and tried to put her foot down? Only a crazy person would want her husband and family to be chewed up and ground through the political grist mill.

Michelle's biggest sin, according to the punditocracy, was to say that, as a black woman, this may be the first time in her adult life she's been really proud of her country. Shock! Surprise! Outrage! But not from any of the black women I know.

Barack Obama, outnumbered in his household 3-1 by the female gender, has a lot at stake in making sure that women's rights and opportunities are on a par with men's. As one who knows what it's like to be in a class of people who traditionally have not held power, he's in an excellent position to speak to another group that has been left out - women - and assure them that he will be their advocate.

Plus, this is just good politics. Women vote by a larger margin than men. And if it remains true that Obama will not carry the white male vote (as most of the polls indicate he will not), then he simply cannot win without capturing a strong majority of the female vote. Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton both lost the white male vote but won the White House. They did so by winning an overwhelming percentage of the black, Hispanic and female vote. That has to be Obama's strategy. Otherwise Cindy McCain will be our new First Lady.

*Show up to a gunfight with a peashooter.* Convince yourself that the Republicans are just going to roll over and play dead because there is simply no life left in their party. Convince yourself this one is in the bag! Convince yourself that if you play by the rules, the Republicans will, too. And when McCain and his people roll out their nuclear arsenal on you, just go all sweet and sensitive and logical. Believe that the truth shall prevail, that good people will see what the Republicans are up to. As they smear you, your family, your religious beliefs - cower, back down, go on the defensive. Heck, if they don't like your new I'm-running-for-president logo, denounce it, apologise for it, and fire the person who designed it.

But don't stop there. Be ready to jump and change anything at a moment's notice. If they ask you to stand on your head and do the hokey-pokey, snap to it and do it with a smile on your face and don't forget to apologise for not doing the hokey-pokey earlier, you meant no disrespect and please don't take it as any indication that you do not love your country, your flag, and your Christian God.

Do all of that, and then listen for that sound - the sound of your supporters shuffling away in silence. Don't worry, though - they won't vote for McCain. They'll just stop showing up at the campaign headquarters over on Maple Street. They'll say they're too busy to go on another three-hour door-to-door literature drop. They'll still take a list of a hundred voters home to call and read the index card over the phone about "why you should vote for Obama" - but there won't be much enthusiasm in their voice, and the voter on the other end of the line will hear that. After 15 or 20 calls, they'll give up - after all, there's dishes to do and a dog to walk. And on election day they'll go do their duty and vote, but they will not be up at 6am driving around the city picking up strangers who need a ride to the polls.

*Denounce me! * The candidate Obama, at some point, might be asked this question: "Michael Moore is a supporter of yours and has endorsed you. But in his new book, Mike's Election Guide, he says the following (go ahead and fill in the blank - I've provided a full list of outrageously offensive lines already taken out of context in advance to make it easy for rightwing commentators and Fox News). Will you still accept his endorsement or do you denounce him?"

And he better denounce me or they will tear him to shreds. He had better back away not only from me but from anyone and everyone who veers a bit too far to the left of where his advisers have told him is the sweet spot for all those red state voters.

We can't take four more years of this madness. We need you to be a candidate who will fight back every time they attack you. Actually, don't even wait till you have to fight back. Fight first! Show some vision and courage and smoke them out. Take the offensive. Keep asking why these lobbyists are McCain's best friends. Let's finally have a Democrat who's got the balls to fire first.

--

/^_,',',',_ //^ /Kraig Grady_ ^_,',',',_
Mesotonal Music from:
_'''''''_ ^North/Western Hemisphere: North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>

_'''''''_ ^South/Eastern Hemisphere:
Austronesian Outpost of Anaphoria <http://anaphoriasouth.blogspot.com/>

',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',

Agreed 100%. Another thing that's been pissing me off with the Obama
camp lately is their response to the recent McCain ads. McCain came up
with a humorous ad about how Obama is a celebrity. Obama responded
with a stuffy response about how they're trying to paint him as
incapable and emphasizing how he "doesn't look like all of those
presidents on the dollar bills" (which Obama and McCain supporters
alike responded to with a "Huh?"). Of course, McCain's camp picks up
on this right away, so they roll out an ad about how Obama is "the
one" - which I honestly found to be hilarious. Obama responds with
another uptight response about how the McCain camp has taken the "low
road" and is engaging in negative politics and such. The McCain camp
continues to hammer Obama here with this joke about checking tire
pressure - "The Barack Obama Energy Plan". Obama responds with an
uptight response about how he is being misrepresented.

Paris Hilton comes up with a hilarious political ad in which she lays
out the obvious energy plan that I would say reflects the feelings of
virtually every American interested in the political process at all.
Notwithstanding the depths that the nation has sunk to that the
brilliant insights into energy management are coming from Paris
Hilton, McCain's camp quips in response "Paris Hilton might not be as
big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy
plan." Obama's response to the ad? "Whatever." Humorless. If you
support Obama, are you not supposed to think that that ad is funny?

Have they lost their minds? Why are they taking the bait on this?
Where are the quips that turn it all back around with the McCain
group? Are they so arrogantly uptight in their message that they've
lost any semblence of a sense of humor? The focus of McCain's ads here
isn't really to distract from the issues at all -- it's to highlight
this huge weakness of Obama's, his uptightness about himself. And
McCain's ads while informationally useless, are genuinely amusing.

I mean, in this case, it's not even that hard to figure out how to
handle! If McCain is going to mine Britney Spears and Paris Hilton
form pop culture, there's no contest. Obama has a huge pop culture
advantage - go on youtube and look up some of the videos where Obama
speeches are replaced with speeches of the Rock talking shit on WWE.
"Do you smell what Barack is cooking" was a catchphrase for months.
Why not do something funny there? I mean, McCain is taking Obama's
popularity and making it out as though it's a BAD thing, and Obama
took the bait hook, line, and sinker, so now he's avoiding being
portayed as a celebrity. And I expect McCain to dominate Obama's
behavior similarly in the future unless he figures this one out
quickly.

Another thing I forgot to mention - There has been a drastic change in
the Obama camp's behavior from since this election started. He
inspired me initially with his messages of ending the twisted logic,
the divisive arguing - the so-called "negative politics" that dominate
the world. I grew up in an extremely conservative family and went to
an extremely liberal school, so I'm used to hearing good ideas - and a
huge excess of illogical bullshit - from both sides. I am about as
swing voter as they come, but Obama's message had a special meaning
for me specifically, I felt.

If you ever sign up for Obama's emails, they all read something like this:

"While Barack Obama is working to change the culture in Washington,
John McCain has turned a blind eye to the lobbyist loophole. He has to
if he's going to look out for his friends."

"Senator McCain has proven that he's committed to maximizing the role
of Washington lobbyists in this race."

"A number of McCain's senior campaign staffers are Washington
lobbyists who have exploited this loophole to avoid disclosing their
activities. And McCain has built his fundraising strategy around huge
checks from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. He
literally cannot afford to lose their support."

"McCain is running to continue George Bush's failed policies for
another term, and he's relying on the Bush fundraising machine of
Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs to drive his campaign."

Trying to win converts by smearing McCain's image to make it look like
he's in bed with the lobbyists and oil companies, by attempting to
classically condition everyone to be reminded of Bush when they think
of him, and to put forth a bunch of allegations of corruption with no
sort of evidence or anything to really go by -IS- negative politics. I
mean, maybe all of this is true, but how the hell am I supposed to
know? This is classic spin, it's no different than hearing the stuff
that passes for "knowledge" on talk radio.

It's really just saying "here's the real scoop, trust me. and if you
don't know if you should trust me, I'll scare you away from the other
guy, so you trust me." Now, maybe I'm naive for thinking that you can
win an election without resorting to that sort of negativity and
twisted logic. But then I remember a quote from a faraway time - "yes
we can. yes, we can." What the hell happened to that? If this was the
plan all along, then why waste months of my life convincing me
otherwise? I'm losing interest in all of this fast.

Humor is the big element lacking. It is possibly the only thing that might save the US from the mean spirited dialog that so permeates everything.
regardless how self serving Paris Hilton is, it was a great act and probably did more for her than any of her other 'acts' as far as making her likable.
I also added what might be the beginning of some fun which the US has little of in politics.

This stuff has actually worked quite well in Italian politics

Obama seems to be lead by his party more than him being the leader of them. If he can't lead a party, how does one do a country.
In the end McCain might be more uncontrollable by the powers that be, he really does have his 'maverick' side. but maybe that has been beaten to a pulp.
He might be used to being in a cage too!

/^_,',',',_ //^ /Kraig Grady_ ^_,',',',_
Mesotonal Music from:
_'''''''_ ^North/Western Hemisphere: North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>

_'''''''_ ^South/Eastern Hemisphere:
Austronesian Outpost of Anaphoria <http://anaphoriasouth.blogspot.com/>

',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',

Mike Battaglia wrote:
> Agreed 100%. Another thing that's been pissing me off with the Obama
> camp lately is their response to the recent McCain ads. McCain came up
> with a humorous ad about how Obama is a celebrity. Obama responded
> with a stuffy response about how they're trying to paint him as
> incapable and emphasizing how he "doesn't look like all of those
> presidents on the dollar bills" (which Obama and McCain supporters
> alike responded to with a "Huh?"). Of course, McCain's camp picks up
> on this right away, so they roll out an ad about how Obama is "the
> one" - which I honestly found to be hilarious. Obama responds with
> another uptight response about how the McCain camp has taken the "low
> road" and is engaging in negative politics and such. The McCain camp
> continues to hammer Obama here with this joke about checking tire
> pressure - "The Barack Obama Energy Plan". Obama responds with an
> uptight response about how he is being misrepresented.
>
> Paris Hilton comes up with a hilarious political ad in which she lays
> out the obvious energy plan that I would say reflects the feelings of
> virtually every American interested in the political process at all.
> Notwithstanding the depths that the nation has sunk to that the
> brilliant insights into energy management are coming from Paris
> Hilton, McCain's camp quips in response "Paris Hilton might not be as
> big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy
> plan." Obama's response to the ad? "Whatever." Humorless. If you
> support Obama, are you not supposed to think that that ad is funny?
>
> Have they lost their minds? Why are they taking the bait on this?
> Where are the quips that turn it all back around with the McCain
> group? Are they so arrogantly uptight in their message that they've
> lost any semblence of a sense of humor? The focus of McCain's ads here
> isn't really to distract from the issues at all -- it's to highlight
> this huge weakness of Obama's, his uptightness about himself. And
> McCain's ads while informationally useless, are genuinely amusing.
>
> I mean, in this case, it's not even that hard to figure out how to
> handle! If McCain is going to mine Britney Spears and Paris Hilton
> form pop culture, there's no contest. Obama has a huge pop culture
> advantage - go on youtube and look up some of the videos where Obama
> speeches are replaced with speeches of the Rock talking shit on WWE.
> "Do you smell what Barack is cooking" was a catchphrase for months.
> Why not do something funny there? I mean, McCain is taking Obama's
> popularity and making it out as though it's a BAD thing, and Obama
> took the bait hook, line, and sinker, so now he's avoiding being
> portayed as a celebrity. And I expect McCain to dominate Obama's
> behavior similarly in the future unless he figures this one out
> quickly.
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Meta Tuning meta-info:
>
> To unsubscribe, send an email to:
> metatuning-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> Web page is http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/metatuning/
>
> To post to the list, send to
> metatuning@yahoogroups.com
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>

It sucks. Obama was presented as the knight in shining armor that was
going to help unite the country a while ago. Now that perception is
gone. Actually, I'm reading now that McCain is thinking about adding
Leiberman as a VP, which would make it a Republican-Democrat ticket.
I've always like McCain's $300 million prize idea, and I never really
liked off-shore drilling. And since Obama supports that now, there's
not much of a difference between them anymore.

So now McCain is presented as the bi-partisan guy that's going to
reach across the aisle and tie everything together. Maybe in a few
months that image will shatter as well, at which point I'll likely end
up voting for myself.

I strongly dislike that McCain has flip-flopped with his stance on
abortion and gay marriage though. And if more supreme court justices
die during his term, and a lot of very conservative judges are put in,
we could see a pretty drastic shift in legislation that might last for
a long time. Nonetheless, Obama is starting to look like a "good ol'
Democrat" through and through at this point, which is... stunning when
you consider how revolutionary his ideas seemed a few months ago.

-Mike

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 1:01 AM, Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@...> wrote:
> Humor is the big element lacking. It is possibly the only thing that
> might save the US from the mean spirited dialog that so permeates
> everything.
> regardless how self serving Paris Hilton is, it was a great act and
> probably did more for her than any of her other 'acts' as far as making
> her likable.
> I also added what might be the beginning of some fun which the US has
> little of in politics.
>
> This stuff has actually worked quite well in Italian politics
>
> Obama seems to be lead by his party more than him being the leader of
> them. If he can't lead a party, how does one do a country.
> In the end McCain might be more uncontrollable by the powers that be, he
> really does have his 'maverick' side. but maybe that has been beaten to
> a pulp.
> He might be used to being in a cage too!
>
> /^_,',',',_ //^ /Kraig Grady_ ^_,',',',_
> Mesotonal Music from:
> _'''''''_ ^North/Western Hemisphere:
> North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>
>
> _'''''''_ ^South/Eastern Hemisphere:
> Austronesian Outpost of Anaphoria <http://anaphoriasouth.blogspot.com/>
>
> ',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',
>
> Mike Battaglia wrote:
>> Agreed 100%. Another thing that's been pissing me off with the Obama
>> camp lately is their response to the recent McCain ads. McCain came up
>> with a humorous ad about how Obama is a celebrity. Obama responded
>> with a stuffy response about how they're trying to paint him as
>> incapable and emphasizing how he "doesn't look like all of those
>> presidents on the dollar bills" (which Obama and McCain supporters
>> alike responded to with a "Huh?"). Of course, McCain's camp picks up
>> on this right away, so they roll out an ad about how Obama is "the
>> one" - which I honestly found to be hilarious. Obama responds with
>> another uptight response about how the McCain camp has taken the "low
>> road" and is engaging in negative politics and such. The McCain camp
>> continues to hammer Obama here with this joke about checking tire
>> pressure - "The Barack Obama Energy Plan". Obama responds with an
>> uptight response about how he is being misrepresented.
>>
>> Paris Hilton comes up with a hilarious political ad in which she lays
>> out the obvious energy plan that I would say reflects the feelings of
>> virtually every American interested in the political process at all.
>> Notwithstanding the depths that the nation has sunk to that the
>> brilliant insights into energy management are coming from Paris
>> Hilton, McCain's camp quips in response "Paris Hilton might not be as
>> big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy
>> plan." Obama's response to the ad? "Whatever." Humorless. If you
>> support Obama, are you not supposed to think that that ad is funny?
>>
>> Have they lost their minds? Why are they taking the bait on this?
>> Where are the quips that turn it all back around with the McCain
>> group? Are they so arrogantly uptight in their message that they've
>> lost any semblence of a sense of humor? The focus of McCain's ads here
>> isn't really to distract from the issues at all -- it's to highlight
>> this huge weakness of Obama's, his uptightness about himself. And
>> McCain's ads while informationally useless, are genuinely amusing.
>>
>> I mean, in this case, it's not even that hard to figure out how to
>> handle! If McCain is going to mine Britney Spears and Paris Hilton
>> form pop culture, there's no contest. Obama has a huge pop culture
>> advantage - go on youtube and look up some of the videos where Obama
>> speeches are replaced with speeches of the Rock talking shit on WWE.
>> "Do you smell what Barack is cooking" was a catchphrase for months.
>> Why not do something funny there? I mean, McCain is taking Obama's
>> popularity and making it out as though it's a BAD thing, and Obama
>> took the bait hook, line, and sinker, so now he's avoiding being
>> portayed as a celebrity. And I expect McCain to dominate Obama's
>> behavior similarly in the future unless he figures this one out
>> quickly.
>>
>> ------------------------------------
>>
>> Meta Tuning meta-info:
>>
>> To unsubscribe, send an email to:
>> metatuning-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>>
>> Web page is http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/metatuning/
>>
>> To post to the list, send to
>> metatuning@yahoogroups.com
>>
>> Yahoo! Groups Links
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

i can't forgive McCain for first putting forth the anti torture bill them wimping out on his own bill. add his own history of torture first hand too!

/^_,',',',_ //^ /Kraig Grady_ ^_,',',',_
Mesotonal Music from:
_'''''''_ ^North/Western Hemisphere: North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>

_'''''''_ ^South/Eastern Hemisphere:
Austronesian Outpost of Anaphoria <http://anaphoriasouth.blogspot.com/>

',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',

Mike Battaglia wrote:
> It sucks. Obama was presented as the knight in shining armor that was
> going to help unite the country a while ago. Now that perception is
> gone. Actually, I'm reading now that McCain is thinking about adding
> Leiberman as a VP, which would make it a Republican-Democrat ticket.
> I've always like McCain's $300 million prize idea, and I never really
> liked off-shore drilling. And since Obama supports that now, there's
> not much of a difference between them anymore.
>
> So now McCain is presented as the bi-partisan guy that's going to
> reach across the aisle and tie everything together. Maybe in a few
> months that image will shatter as well, at which point I'll likely end
> up voting for myself.
>
> I strongly dislike that McCain has flip-flopped with his stance on
> abortion and gay marriage though. And if more supreme court justices
> die during his term, and a lot of very conservative judges are put in,
> we could see a pretty drastic shift in legislation that might last for
> a long time. Nonetheless, Obama is starting to look like a "good ol'
> Democrat" through and through at this point, which is... stunning when
> you consider how revolutionary his ideas seemed a few months ago.
>
> -Mike
>
> On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 1:01 AM, Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@...> wrote:
> >> Humor is the big element lacking. It is possibly the only thing that
>> might save the US from the mean spirited dialog that so permeates
>> everything.
>> regardless how self serving Paris Hilton is, it was a great act and
>> probably did more for her than any of her other 'acts' as far as making
>> her likable.
>> I also added what might be the beginning of some fun which the US has
>> little of in politics.
>>
>> This stuff has actually worked quite well in Italian politics
>>
>> Obama seems to be lead by his party more than him being the leader of
>> them. If he can't lead a party, how does one do a country.
>> In the end McCain might be more uncontrollable by the powers that be, he
>> really does have his 'maverick' side. but maybe that has been beaten to
>> a pulp.
>> He might be used to being in a cage too!
>>
>> /^_,',',',_ //^ /Kraig Grady_ ^_,',',',_
>> Mesotonal Music from:
>> _'''''''_ ^North/Western Hemisphere:
>> North American Embassy of Anaphoria Island <http://anaphoria.com/>
>>
>> _'''''''_ ^South/Eastern Hemisphere:
>> Austronesian Outpost of Anaphoria <http://anaphoriasouth.blogspot.com/>
>>
>> ',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',',
>>
>> Mike Battaglia wrote:
>> >>> Agreed 100%. Another thing that's been pissing me off with the Obama
>>> camp lately is their response to the recent McCain ads. McCain came up
>>> with a humorous ad about how Obama is a celebrity. Obama responded
>>> with a stuffy response about how they're trying to paint him as
>>> incapable and emphasizing how he "doesn't look like all of those
>>> presidents on the dollar bills" (which Obama and McCain supporters
>>> alike responded to with a "Huh?"). Of course, McCain's camp picks up
>>> on this right away, so they roll out an ad about how Obama is "the
>>> one" - which I honestly found to be hilarious. Obama responds with
>>> another uptight response about how the McCain camp has taken the "low
>>> road" and is engaging in negative politics and such. The McCain camp
>>> continues to hammer Obama here with this joke about checking tire
>>> pressure - "The Barack Obama Energy Plan". Obama responds with an
>>> uptight response about how he is being misrepresented.
>>>
>>> Paris Hilton comes up with a hilarious political ad in which she lays
>>> out the obvious energy plan that I would say reflects the feelings of
>>> virtually every American interested in the political process at all.
>>> Notwithstanding the depths that the nation has sunk to that the
>>> brilliant insights into energy management are coming from Paris
>>> Hilton, McCain's camp quips in response "Paris Hilton might not be as
>>> big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy
>>> plan." Obama's response to the ad? "Whatever." Humorless. If you
>>> support Obama, are you not supposed to think that that ad is funny?
>>>
>>> Have they lost their minds? Why are they taking the bait on this?
>>> Where are the quips that turn it all back around with the McCain
>>> group? Are they so arrogantly uptight in their message that they've
>>> lost any semblence of a sense of humor? The focus of McCain's ads here
>>> isn't really to distract from the issues at all -- it's to highlight
>>> this huge weakness of Obama's, his uptightness about himself. And
>>> McCain's ads while informationally useless, are genuinely amusing.
>>>
>>> I mean, in this case, it's not even that hard to figure out how to
>>> handle! If McCain is going to mine Britney Spears and Paris Hilton
>>> form pop culture, there's no contest. Obama has a huge pop culture
>>> advantage - go on youtube and look up some of the videos where Obama
>>> speeches are replaced with speeches of the Rock talking shit on WWE.
>>> "Do you smell what Barack is cooking" was a catchphrase for months.
>>> Why not do something funny there? I mean, McCain is taking Obama's
>>> popularity and making it out as though it's a BAD thing, and Obama
>>> took the bait hook, line, and sinker, so now he's avoiding being
>>> portayed as a celebrity. And I expect McCain to dominate Obama's
>>> behavior similarly in the future unless he figures this one out
>>> quickly.
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------
>>>
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>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> >
> ------------------------------------
>
> Meta Tuning meta-info:
>
> To unsubscribe, send an email to:
> metatuning-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
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>
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>
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>
>
>
>
>
>

I agree Mike. Obama could definitely stand to get a sense
of humor. Probably the single thing I most often think of
when I think about what killed Kerry.
I saw Obama on Colbert on YouTube, and it was painful to
watch how he could even make Colbert unfunny.
I'm also less than thrilled about his lack of candor
regarding the FAA (FISA). If it was a necessary political
compromise, then just say so.
Not that I was ever crazy about Obama. Though I do
generally like his technology platform, his 'hopeful, but
with tough love' message, and the way he financed his
campaign. Basically, he's popular, and that's a good thing
to have in a leader (to a point). Anyway, it'd certainly
be a nice change to have a president that a significant
portion of people actually liked (not just in comparison
to the alternative).

-Carl

Mike wrote:
> If you ever sign up for Obama's emails, they all read something
> like this:
>
> "While Barack Obama is working to change the culture in Washington,
> John McCain has turned a blind eye to the lobbyist loophole.

Yeah, I saw stuff like this on facebook and ran the other
direction.

I remember in the primaries, I looked at the websites of all
the major candidates in both parties. I could hardly tell them
apart! They all seemed to use the same CMS and basic page
layout. They all used the same 2nd-grade-level language. And
they all had a page, which was like the second link from the
left on the home page, laying out vague "plans" on the "issues",
with each issue represented by a large, colorful icon.
Ron Paul's was the most different, but even his site was pretty
similar.

-Carl

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, Kraig Grady <kraiggrady@...> wrote:
>
> i can't forgive McCain for first putting forth the anti torture
> bill them wimping out on his own bill. add his own history of
> torture first hand too!

I suppose that those who are tortured are the most likely to
torture. Seems true with child abuse anyway.

If you haven't read McCain's 197x account of his POW years, it
was fairly interesting.

-Carl