Saturday Morning Election News Roundup
Posted by Phoenix Woman on August 16, 2008
– In former candidate news, a buddy of John Edwards explains why Rielle Hunter got $14,000 in additional video payments. Amazing how a guy who the press shunned or mocked during his short-lived primary campaign that ended during the height of winter is now getting more ink than ever, even as the similar foibles of a current candidate (cough*JohnMcCain*cough) are excused by the media.
– In other former candidate news, Alison Owings discusses the Hillary Holdouts, the small but vocal group that the news media loves to focus on in order to make it seem like John McCain might actually have a chance of winning this fall.
– In current candidate news, McCain’s trial balloon of Tom Ridge for Veep is being ferociously attacked by Fundies who don’t want a sane pro-choice man a heartbeat away from the presidency.
– Also in current candidate news, Jackson Browne joins Mike Myers and John Mellencamp in asking John McCain’s people to stop using his stuff in their campaign ads.
– Finally, Team Obama’s rapid-response crew smacks around bigoted slime-slinger Jerome Corsi with a point-by-point rebuttal that effectively changes the narrative.
11 Responses to “Saturday Morning Election News Roundup”
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Mercury Rising 鳯女 
Stormcrow said
If John Kerry’s campaign people had done this in a timely manner with the Swift Boat smears, we might not be having this conversation.
You simply cannot afford to take this kind of shit lying down.
Especially from authoritarians. They aren’t going to
respectfear you unless you make them eat it.And when you do simply ignore it and “hope it’ll just go away”, you demoralize your own supporters.
Stormcrow said
I think it’s charming that the media dote on the Hypothetical Holdouts.
While they steadfastly neglect to mention that when actual present-day backing from former Hillary supporters is measured, rather than speculated upon, they line up 100/1 in favor of Barack Obama.
I guess the media marionettes feel their ride on the corporate gravy train is less imperiled when they “report” on RNC sock puppets, instead of the way actual campaign contributions are being spent.
MEC said
I am more than a little surprised by all the reviews of Corsi’s book that point out it’s a pile of repackaged Internet-spewed lies and that Corsi himself is a nutcase conspiracy theorist. None of them, of course, acknowledge that Corsi was a lying nutcase back in 2004, and that the news media bear the blame for giving respectability to his lies about Kerry.
Stormcrow, I think that even if Kerry had responded rapidly and forcefully the way Obama has to Corsi’s lies, it wouldn’t have made much difference. The news media would have portrayed him as “on the defensive” without reporting his refutations of the lies, thus giving the advantage to Corsi.
Stormcrow said
MEC, I agree that the Media Marionettes would have swept it under the rug. But two groups would have taken notice.
Kerry’s supporters would have.
And the Repugs would have taken notice too. I suspect you’ve already noticed how cowardly these people are. When one of their intended victims hits back, they get all weepy and defensive.
That’s not a good way to react when you’re in the spotlight during an election year.
Charles said
The only thing that will stop the smear merchants is a lawsuit in which they are reduced to penury. Ironically, Kerry had an excellent case. By now, Corsi has gotten smarter at using innuendo instead of outright falsehood.
Charles said
On the Hillary Holdouts, I can’t imagine the sort of people who would be bitter in that way. Over the last 50 years, conditions for women have steadily improved. They are not yet truly equal and, because of the nature of childbearing/rearing may never be truly equal, but they are one h–l of a lot better than they were a half century ago.
As I have pointed out, conditions for men over have steadily worsened since the mid-70s. They have endured declining median wages, fewer opportunities, and less job security. Sexual harassment at work is probably not a major problem for men, but bosses have plenty of other means by which to harass. Since harassment is about power rather than about sex, it’s an equal opportunity situation.
And conditions for men were never that good. From WW II through the early seventies, they faced the military draft and still end up with most of the war injuries. The “good paying jobs” men were privileged to get were often dangerous and tedious: coal mining, steel work, and assembly line work, for example. As men’s status declined, they were still tormented by the inner demons of expectations to be the breadwinner. Even today, if women hate a job, they can quit for a few months “to spend more time with the family” and come back without stigma, while men are assumed to have had something really bad: a mental breakdown, a drug problem, or jail time.
Life is hard for most people, much harder if you start out poor, or a minority. There’s no defending the injustices women endured and continue to endure. But the progress is something to be celebrated.
The Hillary Holdouts sound like genuine losers to me.
MEC said
I strongly suspect that the “issue” for Hillary Holdouts has very little, if anything, to do with Hillary Clinton herself.
Stormcrow said
I think you’re right about that, MEC.
I think that for the few who really are turning their coats, the real issue isn’t gender.
It’s race.
Because we’ve seen this before.
Charles said
yeesh.
I have Nixonland sitting on the shelf. It must be getting time to read it.
Phoenix Woman said
Despite all the media attention lavished on the allegedly all-powerful PUMAs, they seem to be a rather small minority:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/07/28/20080728prezmoney0726.html
MEC said
Stormcrow, you are very likely right about the issue being race. I was thinking, however, that the issue was “*I* was going to be all important ‘n’ historic ‘n’ shit because *I* supported the First Female Major-Party Presidential Candidate, and now *I’m* nobody and it’s that other candidate’s fault I don’t have bragging rights!”