From scream to snore

From scream to snore
: The Dean Scream and the backlash against his negative attitude and everyone’s negative campaigning in Iowa only made all the candidates in tonight’s New Hampshire debate cautious to the point of boredom. Mistake. This debate got more attention than any before. This was the chance for a candidate to electrify the audience. Nobody did.

: Why didn’t anybody ask Dean the obvious question: What were you thinking?

: Why didn’t Clark repudiate Michael Moore?

: Why isn’t Lieberman higher in the polls?

: Roger Simon, Michael Barone (on FoxNews) and I all think that Lieberman was the stand-out. He was fearless and direct in his stance on the war. He was clear on all his stands. Beat the bunch. Sadly, the bunch will likely beat him Tuesday.

: CampaignDesk.org notes that big news organizations have sidelined Lieberman before the vote.

: Michele’s mature, graphical answer to the debate. Just go.

20 responses to “From scream to snore”

  1. Firas Avatar

    Please explain your dean-scream fixation. It’s mind-boggling. Do you think it borders on inhuman or something? The guy was excited! He was amongst supporters! He was rallying his ‘troops’! Why are you so upset?
    And why on EARTH would Clark repudiate Moore? Would you, if you were Clark?
    Nobody likes Lieberman because he’s far too centrist.
    Most bloggers are biased, Jarvis, but you border on dishonest.

  2. anne.elk Avatar

    No one asked Dean about it because it’s just not a big deal, in fact, it’s only something to less than nothings. Ask Howard Stern why it’s not a big deal, and then look again at your own posts.
    Since you like to see anti-semitism everywhere, well, we all know the reason Lieberman isn’t liked more right? Wink wink? Yes, it’s because he’s a republican jackass, pun intended.

  3. Angus Jung Avatar
    Angus Jung

    Yeah, Jeff, why are you so upset? WHY ARE YOU SO UPSET?!? WHADDAYA MEAN “STOP YELLING,” I’M NOT YELLING!!!!

  4. kkl Avatar

    Geesh, we’ve been discovered by the vocal Dems….and we were having such a nice conversation..

  5. anne.elk Avatar

    Jeff,
    Why is it that your coterie all seem to think that you’re not a Dem?

  6. Firas Avatar

    Yes, kkl, you want every blog to fester into an LGF-like swamp of incoherent frothing, don’t you? Note: not everyone’s American. Not every country has a Democratic party. So are any of you going to talk about the issues rather than harp on caricatures?

  7. Michael Avatar

    My biggest question was: Why was John Edwards so utterly clueless about the Defense of Marriage Act? I couldn’t wait for Brit to toss in the follow-up question, which he still fumbled.

  8. Chris Galdieri Avatar

    I think Clark could have spun the Moore thing easily enough, by saying something about how there are questions Dubya has yet to answer about his National Guard service, etc. But instead he just came across as utterly disengaged and disinterested in his own campaign, almost like an SNL parody of Ronald Reagan. It was just plain weird.
    I’m also curious as to why Moore has so enthusiastically embraced the commander of the Kosovo mission Moore links to the Columbine shootings…

  9. Warbonnet Avatar
    Warbonnet

    Why on earth would Clark repudiate Moore?
    The proper and measured way to respond to such extreme charges in the absence of concrete evidence is to give the POTUS the benefit of the doubt. It shows those on the fence that you can behave objectively even when a more partisan answer may be more politically gainful in the short term.
    Clark’s response was the equivalent saying, “Gee I don’t know if the POTUS stopped beating his wife. I haven’t seen any evidence that proves he didn’t.” It’s unfair to repeat such a charge without having any proof to back it up…and every independent knows it.
    This could have been a mini-Sista Souljah moment for Clark, but he opted not to do the right thing.

  10. Warbonnet Avatar
    Warbonnet

    Why on earth would Clark repudiate Moore?
    The proper and measured way to respond to such extreme charges in the absence of concrete evidence is to give the POTUS the benefit of the doubt. It shows those on the fence that you can behave objectively even when a more partisan answer may be more politically gainful in the short term.
    Clark’s response was the equivalent saying, “Gee I don’t know if the POTUS stopped beating his wife. I haven’t seen any evidence that proves he didn’t.” It’s unfair to repeat such a charge without having any proof to back it up…and every independent knows it.
    This could have been a mini-Sista Souljah moment for Clark, but he opted not to do the right thing.

  11. Warbonnet Avatar
    Warbonnet

    Why on earth would Clark repudiate Moore?
    The proper and measured way to respond to such extreme charges in the absence of concrete evidence is to give the POTUS the benefit of the doubt. It shows those on the fence that you can behave objectively even when a more partisan answer may be more politically gainful in the short term.
    Clark’s response was the equivalent saying, “Gee I don’t know if the POTUS stopped beating his wife. I haven’t seen any evidence that proves he didn’t.” It’s unfair to repeat such a charge without having any proof to back it up…and every independent knows it.
    This could have been a mini-Sista Souljah moment for Clark, but he opted not to do the right thing.

  12. Warbonnet Avatar
    Warbonnet

    Why on earth would Clark repudiate Moore?
    The proper and measured way to respond to such extreme charges in the absence of concrete evidence is to give the POTUS the benefit of the doubt. It shows those on the fence that you can behave objectively even when a more partisan answer may be more politically gainful in the short term.
    Clark’s response was the equivalent saying, “Gee I don’t know if the POTUS stopped beating his wife. I haven’t seen any evidence that proves he didn’t.” It’s unfair to repeat such a charge without having any proof to back it up…and every independent knows it.
    This could have been a mini-Sista Souljah moment for Clark, but he opted not to do the right thing.

  13. Mr. Davis Avatar
    Mr. Davis

    Warbonnet
    Congratulations and thanks on figuring out how to stop Firas.

  14. Reid Avatar

    I caught Kerry saying something about Bush getting out of the White House and “don’t slam the door on your way out.” Why are Democrats so crass? I can’t imagine President Bush, or any mainstream Republican Presidential aspirant making such crude remarks.

  15. Firas Avatar

    Mr. Davis: stop what? I’m just hoping his connection improves soon, so he doesn’t, you know, press submit thrice a second. I think his point about the Clark/Moore issue is well-made, as is Galdieri’s.
    I still think repudiating Moore would be the equivalent of suicide for his campaign, though.

  16. Dean Avatar

    Firas:
    So, Pat Robertson suggests that Bill Clinton had raped a woman during his time as governor. This after he announces he’s endorsing Bob Dole.
    Do you think, if Dole were asked about this in a parallel debate, you’d be okay w/ Dole simply answering, “Well, the rumors are out there?” Or do you think the right thing (and not even necessarily suicidal thing) would be to say, “That’s ridiculous”?
    Ya know, an awful lot of Dems (and even more Lefties), confronted w/ comments by the likes of Moore, inevitably argue that not only does Moore not hold a position in the Party (true), but that he’s entirely and wholly fringe—that no one really believes what he says.
    Ask them to repudiate such a person, however, and all of a sudden, it’s “suicide”?
    Let’s not hear any more about Ann Coulter, then, shall we?

  17. HH Avatar

    “No one asked Dean about it because it’s just not a big deal”…
    Yeah he’s only declining in the polls by the day… No big deal at all.

  18. Firas Avatar

    Hey, I can read Coulter all I want, don’t be silly.
    Here’s my position on Moore: he’s not an honest filmmaker. Bowling for Columbine was basically pointless (didn’t put the blame on anyone), but Roger and Me was weird one-sided slamming.
    He has some good points though, and holds an awful lot of sway amongst the more far-left voters. You know, those you won’t go for Lieberman.
    Dude–your candidate lied to the world! One of the people I support refused to renounce an on-the-fringe thinker! wtf?

  19. EB Avatar

    I thought Sharpton was hilarious with his IMF, Federal Reserve non-answer, it was sooooo funny, but not on purpose…. even when they asked a follow up, he continued his fake sentence using monetary sounding words.
    But his reply to Dean was intentionally funny: Howard, don’t worry about all that hollering back in Iowa, if I had spent all that money and came in 3rd, I’d STILL be hollering!”
    Lieberman was the only sensible one there, he gave great answers that were honest and heartfelt AND well reasoned.

  20. JorgXMcKie Avatar
    JorgXMcKie

    I dunno. If every statement of belief that turns out not to be correct, or if every prediction about future events turns out to fail to occur is regarded as a lie, then there will be no truth tellers. Given this standard, all the candidates have “lied to the world.” Now what?