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Obama's calm and cool vs. McCain's anger -- we should see more Freudian slips

Submitted by Chad on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 10:19am.
I don't follow women's fashion all that well, but I have noticed that women wear fewer slips than they did 20 years ago. But we still have "Freudian slips" and there were at least two good ones last night.

Or they were presented, at least, as Freudian slips. John Kerry and Joe Biden, in separate speeches, each started to say George Bush when they meant John McCain.

Hillary Clinton had a great line Tuesday night about the similarity between Bush and McCain: "With an agenda like that, it makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart."

The figures that have been tossed around the convention have been John McCain has voted with George Bush 90% (or 95%) of the time.

It would have seemed that McCain (or Mitt Romney) could easily have run the 2008 presidential campaign drawing from the Bush regime but trying to add their own flavor to woo independent voters. And amazingly, McCain is running toward Bush like he was calling shotgun in Cindy's private plane.

It's fun to watch Democrats made that analogy, especially since it's true. If McCain's party next week is a tribute to W, the Democrats (who hopefully will be in St. Paul) need to keep that message going.

When Republicans cry to the teacher (i.e., the media) that someone wasn't genuflecting toward them, all Democrats need to say is "John McCain, if you love George W. Bush so much, why don't you marry him? Oh, that's right, you don't believe in gay marriage."

Seriously, Republicans are that bully in the playground. And bullies hate it when someone fights back. Republicans will think the Democrats (for once) are being mean. And the reply should be, "Sen. McCain, if you think Bush is so great, why are you ashamed at how much you want to be like him? If Bush is so great, then you have nothing to hide."

The other fun part about making Republicans angry is that McCain gets angry at the drop of a hat. He doesn't even wait until the hat hits the ground, his anger kicks in as soon as the hat leaves the hand.

The Democrats need to be Mr. Rogers, the calmer the voice, the better. This is where I disagree with the pundits (well, I usually disagree with the pundits): they have been begging for blood in this convention, and they have been pissed off about the lack of blood.

I like the level from this convention. When people are angry, the way to make them angrier is to be calm. Obama is calm and cool. Respect John McCain but say he's not the right person at the right time. This only makes McCain angrier. And the angrier he is, the worse he looks, especially toward independent and swing voters.

This isn't to say Democrats should be passive. They should point out the extensive differences between the two candidates; they just shouldn't be angry about it.

Obama promised a different type of campaign, and the MSM hates it since there isn't as much blood. And if Obama has the strength to pull off this strategy, then the Republicans angry machine will look really bad.

Next week will be an angry time - the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul will be filled with anger, and this from a party with dominance in the White House, the courts, and with enough of a stranglehold in the Senate to prevent progress. Their anger will show like a slip coming out of a dress. All the Democrats have to do is just say in a calm voice, "Hey Republicans, your slip is showing."
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Yes, indeed....

Submitted by Rider3 on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 1:25pm.
The calmer we stay in stressing our points, the worse the Repuglicans will behave. I remember years ago after reading a book for Psych class that to really anger your opponent is to stay calm. I remember using this technique with my sister years ago when we were having an argument. I was stunned by how heated she became when I said, "I'm not going to discuss this any further" in a very calm voice. She just LOST it! It's a good strategy, and it's more civil.
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just say in a calm voice,"Hey Republicans, your SHOW IS SLIPPING

Submitted by codypup on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 12:44pm.
with all we have, still not that far ahead..... but we are ahead..... a black man from the poor party who does NOT get any good media attention who does NOT control the current courts or government AND WE'RE STILL KICKING THEIR ASSES against a war hero with hundreds of millions and the big political machine WE MUST BE RIGHT... do the Republicans dare put that fool in office.... might as well make JEB the VP
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Wake Up America

Submitted by gmpierce on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 12:41pm.
The best speech at the convention was the "wake up America" speech by Dennis Kucinich.

As best I can tell, it wasn't a keynote speech at the invitation of the party, it may have been given by the invitation of the black caucus.

Dennis was engaged, he was eloquent and he said what the Democratic Party should be saying. The audience responded.

This is the Dennis who was declared "un-electable". And then the MDP (mainstream Democratic Party) went on to insure that he remained "un-electable".

He was ignored by the party and by the media. If it were not for You Tube his speech might never have happened.

If we are actually allowed to HAVE an election, I will ignore both Obama and McCain and write in "Dennis Kucinich". It's the only honest vote I can make.
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RE: Wake Up America

Submitted by Im_Chance on Tue, 09/02/2008 - 4:09pm.
gmpierce,

I agree with you whole heartedly. I could go on and on about what I, and many others, think and know about the corrupt and incompetent New Democratic Mainstream Party (NDMP). But there's just too much territory to cover here in order to tell the whole, nasty story in comprehensive form. And I can't help but believe that the NDMP and corrupt Republican party continuously rely on this for their own existence and gain.

Kucinich was/is the person we need as President of the United State of America. But our corrupt, capitalistic-corpratist government, and dumbed down American population will not permit this. The political attack on Kucinich after his pull out from the Democratic candidate race is, in part, proof of this.

As a life long Democratic, I was prepared to vote for Dennis Kucinich for President. But I, and many others, did not have the opportunity to have our vote count. At this point in time, I feel obligated to rethink my party affiliation. I would never be a Republican, but neither do I feel represented by, or agree enough with, nor trust the current NMDP. I feel lost and unrepresented.

I too am considering writing in Kucinich's name when I submit my vote for President of the United States of America. But I also fear the real possible and negative ramifications of doing this. I feel lost and stuck. I don't believe that this is how our nation's founding fathers wanted its' citizens to feel when voting for US President, or any elected office. But here we are.

What can, or will, each of us Americans do about any of this, if indeed our country truly is a Democratic nation, who's government is run by and for the people? Again, I am at a loss for a real, rational, and satisfying answer to this question.

As a nation in peril, I wish us all the best in the days ahead of us.

Chance
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water-cooler wars

Submitted by knixphan on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 12:19pm.
Yes, the dems need to get aggressive, and so do we. We cannot afford to back down from right-wing co-workers, neighbors or family when undecideds are in the mix.
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Kivals and the bong

Submitted by El Greco on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:19am.
The rumor must be true, republicans do smoke the best pot. Have fun at the convention in the Twin Cities and in the next 4 years blaming the Dems for all the problems in America. Think I'll get in my Volvo and have a latte at Starbucks paid for with my social security check you putz.
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Despair, not glee

Submitted by kivals on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:33am.
My comment was written out of despair, not a sense of joy. I am a progressive and am quite upset that the Democrats have blown it, once again, and that the lunatic McCain will most likely win. Not only will he greatly increase the odds of an economic depression in the coming years, but he also gives us a fair chance of experiencing nuclear war. My wife and I may explore the possibility of emigration after McCain wins.
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The race is over, McCain won

Submitted by kivals on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:29am.
The Democratic convention proved that either Democrats are incapable or learning or that they really are just playing the loser role in a great pseudo-drama intended to fool the common people into thinking they have a democracy. Either way, it comes out the same. Anyone who has been paying the slightest attention would have by now realized that character trumps policy in presidential elections, and the Republicans always ignore policy and focus on character and usually win. The Democrats have all conceded that John McCain has a sterling character, while arguing that Obama also has a wonderful character. The Republicans will obviously argue that McCain's character is one of the most unassailable and impressive in US history while Obama is at best a typical politician, at worst the spawn of Satan, and most likely a dishonest Muslim who believes in black liberation theology and hates America. Most of the voters, having absolutely no clue about the men or their proposed policies, will use the common form of reasoning, often applied where one recognizes one does not have much expertise in the matter, of splitting the difference between the two versions of reality, and conclude that Obama may have slightly better policy positions but that McCain has a far better character, and that superior policy proposals are worthless if coming from someone the voter cannot trust. So McCain wins, in a landslide. It is over even before Obama speaks. How sad.
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what are you smoking

Submitted by Donnat on Fri, 08/29/2008 - 12:10pm.
and can I have some? I guess the choice of Palin this morning takes the wind out of this rant. Donnat
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The race is not over - yet

Submitted by Malgoska on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 11:31am.

Kivals, I think you've got the "democratic" process straight. Yes, those are the criteria of electing a leader in this country. The policies be damned, all that counts is how the prospective president looks on TV, and the character of course. The characters are being assasinated on both sides, with repiglicans having more practice in mudslinging (or swift-boating). So repiglicans produce nastier and nastier commercials, presenting McCain as just about a saint, while Obama is pictured in darker and darker colors.

I am afraid that if dems don't do something drastic, and I mean REALLY DRASTIC - the dumber half of the citizens of this fsckd up country may actually lean to the right. And that will be what repiglicans need to steal another election. Not by a landslide of course, but by, say, another ruling of the supremes...

Kucinich's speech, and for that matter Clinton's speech, both should be televised as pro-Obama ads nationwide. With great frequency. I've noticed that in CO a repiglican swift-boating ad runs average 4 times an hour, while dem ad extolling the virtues of dem side runs about 2 times an hour. We have to do much better than that in order to break through the wall of sheer stupidity. Not only in CO, but NATIONWIDE.

Otherwise, we may all bend down, put our heads between our legs and kiss our butts goodbye.

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