This is what the dems are up against......and it's scary.

[buycitgo]

On the Laughably, Oxymoronically titled WGN radio show tonight-->

For most of an hour, Jim Warren, Mike Tackett, Rick Pierson (Chicago Trib) talked about the JackJeff dinner, Hillary's ascendence (unelectability, tho), and various shortcomings of each prospective dem candidate:

Kerry, wooden (hmmmm, sound familiar?)

Dean, angry, negative, unlikeable

can't remember the others, but all characerizations were negatively couched. added to this, I detected a bit of glee in their tone

Then, even worse, Eleanor Clift came on to talk more specifically about Hillary. I called in (second time that night....they wouldn't take my first question: is the unwavering story line for this year's election coverage going to be that whoever wins the nomination is too angry, too negative, without a positive outlook/plan?). they put me on hold, then came on that they were out of segment time, then put on a caller instead of me.

so i called back when Clift came on; asked her if she thought that the reason the country was so polarized concerning HC was that, for the EIGHT YEARS of WJC's presidency the RW media and Republican party demonized them, went after them with the full, yet illegitimate force of the law, and found NOTHING....also mentioned that they spent almost 20 MILLION on Mike Espy, and found nothing, either. was maybe the VRWC the reason that people don't like her, even though when you ask, they'd likely say it's because they're both so dishonest (I also mentioned Travelgate, Whitewater, other bogues investigations).

she said that HC's mention of a VRWC, while not the kind where they sat around and plotted what to do-------OH YEAH?????? what about the Elves? Scaife's boys? the imPEACHment---it had that effect.

THEN, and this is what really eats it, she said she's NEVER seen a group SO anxious to get rid of a president as the dems/left seems to be now WRT to B*.

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guess she forgot all about that little impeachment thingy. they'd already hung up on me, so I couldn't ask her about her senior moment.

THEN.......she said the dems are TOO NEGATIVE, TOO ANGRY!!! they kept using those phrases in tandem; and these are liberal to moderate newspeople....the producer told me during the 2000 selection that Tacket likes Gore.

One last. I ended my question by asking her what percentage of the time she thought the current regime tells the truth about Iraq. I said about 10% (too generous?), and asked that she answer that one first. she, of course, ignored that one, and they hung up as soon as I finished.

But this will be the storyline, mark my words, at least until they can dig up more damaging personal info on whomever wins the nom:

Too angry, too negative, not likeable, no positive programs.

they really beat that to death, just as I am now.

more on how media so assiduously toed the story lines against Gore....lots of discussion on that.....in added links

grasswire....dedicated to your SO, JW

[buycitgo]

1. to beat a dead horse:

"The story line is Bush isn't smart enough and Gore isn't straight enough," according to ABC's Cokie Roberts. "In Bush's case, you know he's just misstating as opposed to it playing into a story line about him being a serial exaggerator" (Washington Post, 10/15/00). A "story line," of course, is another way of saying that the media have preconceived notions about the candidates, which Roberts suggests are influencing reporters' decisions about which distortions are newsworthy and which are not.

......In contrast, media seemed uninterested in Bush's distortions across the board, whether the issue was Bush's personal record or important policy matters.

go here for examples:

http://www.fair.org/articles/bush-lies.html

[buycitgo]

2. almost 4000 hits on first google

Alterman's analysis of the 2000 election's "storyline" (Gore stiff and pendantic, Bush fun) shows the depths to which journalism has sunk. Highly readable and well documented, this makes an effective antidote to Slander , Ann Coulter's screed (which Alterman takes on full force); it will be interesting to see if he gets the same amount of media time she did, despite his being neither leggy nor blonde. The myth of the liberal media is an idea that is gaining currency; this is a strong opening salvo in that much-needed discussion.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465001769/103-8662406-7454226?v=glance&vi=reviews

[madrchsod]

3. well you must have

been one of the few listeners that could think. most listeners of wgn are either brain dead or actually dead. did any of the other callers ask when wally phillips was going to be on???

[BeatleBoot]

4. Yep, we are too negative...what a joke...

A hungry man is an angry man.

If manufacturing doesn't make a come back in the mid-west, Bush is toast.

[lancdem]

5. It's kind of ironic

But I think Bush has become almost as polarizing as Hillary is reputed to be. The percentage of people who strongly disapprove of Bush is now practically the same as those who strongly approve of him - 30 percent or so.)

[chaumont58]

6. This must be the new talking point for the whores: angry Dems

Last week, it was a mind boggling column by Nick Kristof, then this weekend, we get Brooks. Now, Eleanor Clift thinks Dems are too angry. Do these people ever read news, including what they, themselves, write? Americans are dying in Iraq, in bunches, in a worthless war, but Dems shouldn't get angry.
If one listens to the beltway liberals, getting a blowjob is just beyond the pale, but a war, now, we can rally around that.
I probably in a minority on the ole DU. I don't hate Bush. I hate the god damn beltway press, especially the so-called moderates or left of center: Al Hunt, Mark Shields, Margaret Carlson. Eleanor Clift adds herself to that list. All are led by Len Downie.

[sandnsea]

7. Let's stop posting gossip columns

That's all this shit is. If we stop posting pure negative gossip, we can focus on the issues. And maybe, if we ignore this kind of 'journalism' long enough, they'll have to report the Democratic message in order to sell their ad space. The reason America doesn't know there's a Democratic plan is because the media isn't reporting it. Haven't we been down this road about 20 times already? Don't blame the cockroaches if you would rather read shit like this than learn about the issues.

[SoCalDem]

18. Would that we could..

In EVERY market in the USA, every time you drive a car or try to listen to the radio at work, there is NO ESCAPING the rightwing philosophy hour after hour after hour after hour..

They are very clever the way they approach the topics of the day.. This is not "gossip" ..it's pure propaganda..

and they know full well, the ones they are targetting are the middle to lower "classes".. These are the ones who are juggling checkbooks, children,housework,work schedules.. These are the folks who "need" someone to blame for the way their frenetic life has turned out..

These are the ones who dreamed that American Dream (like it is on TV) ,and the only problem is that it's a NIGHTMARE.. Never enough money..never enough time..

These are the ones who will take the radio hosts' proclamations like kittens lapping up milk.. They will never see that their merry-go-round lives are of their own making.. They need someone to blame for the fact that they cannot afford all the "pretty - shiny" stuff..

Propaganda works... always has...always will..

the only thing that thwarts it, is an equal amount of time spent on the opposite opinion. ClearChannel/Murdoch/Ailes/Scaife have determined that THIS will not happen..

[BevHarris]

8. He makes an important point, and here's why we need to listen up

"negative, angry, not likeable."

"Counted, recounted, and then counted again."

"Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, and he's gonna use them."

"Paper ballots mean people will sell their vote." (it goes in a ballot box, dummy.)

What they are doing is marketing, PR, and they do it brilliantly. They "brand" us with these words, which I guarantee you they researched in a focus group, and it works. The best way to do counter-PR on this kind of thing is to come at it head-on.

Select some photos -- post 'em here if you like -- that show Bushco people as negative, angry, and not likeable. Then blog 'em. Boomerang it. Take their focus group line and associate it with them every chance you get. (Heh. They pay big bucks for this stuff. Use their investment against them).

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[BevHarris]

9. This woman is angry, negative, not likeable

Katherine Harris

[BevHarris]

10. This man is angry, negative, not likeable

Donald Rumsfeld

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[BevHarris]

11. This man is angry, negative, and even less likeable

Dick Cheney

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[BevHarris]

12. This man is angry, negative, and detested worldwide

George W. Bush

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[VolcanoJen]

13. These Republicans are negative, angry, and not likeable.

And this man is stiff, pendantic, and boring.

[BevHarris]

14. LOL! Good one! (Wouldn't have thought of it)

See, that focus group knew what they were doing. They just didn't know who they were doing it for.

All in unison now: Angry, negative, not likeable!

[BevHarris]

15. Not to mention puritanical, repressed, and horny

John Ashcroft

Bev Harris
http://www.blackboxvoting.org

[buycitgo]

16. bev/jen.....you are the best!!

perfect responses to the Bernays/Goebbels wing of the neoThuglican Party.

this is exactly the way to go.

and I'm so glad you're back at DU, Bev.

BTW, Harry Shearer talked up BBV voting on his excellent "LeShow" tonight......he HAS to be checking DU--tonight's show was like a microcosm of the forum: quick takes on London protests, Bremer's lies today, skit on #s 41-43 talking, a few other things that were subject of threads here.

what's the deal with Microvote? they apparently did a screen-projection of the vote in some county, and, as the vote unfolded, more votes were tallied than voters registered! Shearer talked about the software; also mentioned the common knowledge that voting software can be tampered with via internet, IIRC.

Also mentioned that he'd recommended some time ago that we use the revolutionary system of pieces of paper combined with some sort of instrument upon which to mark them, heh.

this week's show isn't up, but they're all worth listening to:

http://www.harryshearer.com/leshow/index.html

[BevHarris]

17. Thanks. Yeah, just ran across the Indiana MicroVote certification

It was lame. So lame it's in the book, of course. So now we have:

Microvote: 5,000 votes cast, 144,000 counted
ES&S, Allamakee County Iowa: 300 votes case, 3.9 million counted
Diebold: 500 votes cast, minus 16,022 counted for Al Gore.

"Trust us," they say. Harumph.

And thanks for the kind words.

Bev

[radfringe]

19. briefly caught Clift's comment about pulling out of Iraq

this makes it one of the extremely rare moments where I agreed with her

she said that the pull-out of Iraq had to be done carefully or we risk seeing civil war in Iraq, or the return of Saddam to power or the establishment of a theocracy

Considering how well Baghdad Bush does with planning - these scenarios are a high probability

Meanwhile.... war drums and sabers are rattling in the distance at Syria and Iran