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How Not to Win Elections and Influence Voters
Harry Truman once remarked, “Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time.”
If the converse is also true, the ten Senate Republicans who broke the filibuster Tuesday against Barack Obama’s nomination of radical Judge David Hamilton to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals may find themselves in some hot water back home (see above editorial).
The ten — Lamar Alexander, Saxby Chambliss, Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, John Cornyn, Judd Gregg, Orrin Hatch, Richard Lugar, Lisa Murkowski, and John Thune – apparently are all too aware of their political faux pas.
Only Alexander and Hatch even bothered issuing press releases, both saying they would vote against confirmation (when their vote no longer matters). The other eight decided that, discretion being the better part of valor, it was probably all the wiser simply not to bring the matter up – though Lugar did find time to issue a press release enthusing about his meeting with actor Jason Alexander; Thune to applaud the success of his wood chip initiative.
As The WIRE noted earlier this week, 74% of grassroots Republicans now say Republicans in Congress are out of touch with their views. Guess most just aren’t into judges who support child pornography.
Mainstream Media Icon Bashes Chinese
Demonstrating once again that he’s not just another prime-time pretty face, Today show icon Matt Lauer turned his laser-like focus Tuesday morning on finding a way to offend the entire one-billion-plus population of China (not to mention, the 2.5 million Americans of Chinese descent).
In his obligatory Daily Devotional on Barack Obama, Lauer examined the President’s ability to “charm” (NBC’s word) the Chinese into … well, what the heck … just kind of forgetting about that bothersome old US debt problem. The implication clearly was that, surely, folks who have not yet even mastered a knife and fork could not possibly put such minor matters as trillions of dollars of unpayable debt ahead of the Obamameister’s dazzling smile.
Clearly, no one told Matt that in matters of international import, style runs a distant second to substance. He might want to go back and review the videos of his fellow network news mavens trying to pin Ronald Reagan down on his “personal relationship” with Mikhail Gorbachev. Responded Reagan, “Well, we didn’t exchange friendship rings if that’s what you mean.”
Apparently, the Today show honchos weren’t terribly impressed with Matt’s foray into xenophobia. His “charm” story didn’t make the cut as a “Top News” story on the show’s website, failing to finish above “Apple Pie Bake-Off: Meredith vs Martha” and “Titan the Great Dane Named World’s Tallest Dog.”
Matt Lauer: not just another
Prime-time pretty face
