The Politics of Hate
Yeah, I’m sure you think I’m talking about Hisbollah, and the title would fit. But no, I’m thinking of folks much closer to home.
Yesterday, the Democrat Party 2000 unanimous candidate for Vice President was defeated in a Senatorial primary by a Fat Cat multi-millionaire. Someone with no political experience at all. But someone who does “hate” President Bush. And who tarred Joe Lieberman as not only pro the “war against terror”, but also for being willing to work with the Republican majority.
How sad, anyone who is willing to work with the other party, to further the interests of the country as a whole, is a “traitor” to the party. Don’t misunderstand, Lieberman isn’t a Republican in disguise. After all, he voted with the Democrat pack over 90% of the time. But he didn’t make it 100%, and for that he lost his primary.
Yes, he will most likely win the fall election as an independent. But why does someone with 18 years of meritorious service to his country and his party, someone who a mere six years ago was seen as fit to be Vice President, now not qualify to continue on as a Senator???
All of which must be sending Hillary Clinton searching for the Valium tonight…..
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Hatin’ on Hillary: N.H. Dems lambaste Clinton
By Brett Arends Boston Herald Business Columnist
Monday, August 7, 2006
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Dick Bennett has been polling New Hampshire voters for 30 years. And he’s never seen anything like it.
“Lying b**** . . . shrew . . . Machiavellian . . . evil, power-mad witch . . . the ultimate self-serving politician.”
No prizes for guessing which presidential front-runner drew these remarks in focus groups.
But these weren’t Republicans talking about Hillary Clinton. They weren’t even independents.
These were ordinary, grass-roots Democrats. People who identified themselves as “likely” voters in the pivotal state’s Democratic primary. And, behind closed doors, this is what nearly half of them are saying.
“I was amazed,” says Bennett. “I thought there might be some negatives, but I didn’t know it would be as strong as this. It’s stunning, the similarities between the Republicans and the Democrats, the comments they have about her.”
Bennett runs American Research Group Inc., a highly regarded, independent polling company based in Manchester, N.H. He’s been conducting voter surveys there since 1976. The polls are financed by subscribers and corporate sponsors.
He has so far recruited 410 likely voters in the 2008 Democratic primary, and sat down with them privately in small groups to find out what they really think about the candidates and the issues.
His conclusion? “Forty-five percent of the Democrats are just as negative about her as Republicans are. More Republicans dislike her, but the Democrats dislike her in the same way.”
Hillary’s growing brain trust in the party’s upper reaches already knows she has high “negatives” among ordinary Democrats. They think she can win those voters over with the right strategy and message.
But they should get out of D.C., New York and L.A. more often, and visit grassroots members. Because we’re not talking about “soft” negatives like, say, “out of touch” or “arrogant.”
We’re talking: “Criminal . . . megalomaniac . . . fraud . . . dangerous . . . devil incarnate . . . satanic . . . power freak.”
Satanic.
And: “Political wh***.”
(Note: I don’t usually like reporting such personal remarks, but in this case you can hardly understand the situation without them. I have no strong personal feelings about the senator.)
There are caveats. Any survey can be inaccurate or misleading. And 55 percent of ARG’s sample was either neutral or positive about Sen. Clinton. Thirty-two percent currently say they plan to vote for her in the primary.
But Bennett says he’s never before seen so many N.H. voters show so much hatred toward a member of their own party. He’s never even seen anything close.
He believes top national Democrats are missing this grassroots intensity. Instead, he suspects, they are blinded by poll numbers, which give Hillary a big early lead based on her name recognition.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, agrees.
“There is far more anti-Hillary sentiment in the Democratic Party than the pollsters understand,” he says. In the race for the nomination, “she is ripe for plucking,” he says.
Sen. Clinton’s team could not be reached for comment.
New Hampshire is small, but it’s a bellwether state with clout. Its primary probably holds the key to the Democratic nomination. And New Hampshire, alone, swung from Bush to Kerry in ’04.
It’s hard to see any Democrat winning the White House without carrying the state in the presidential election. And it’s hard, right now, to see Hillary carrying the state.
http://tinyurl.com/otbk9
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Which reminds me, Matthew Dallman had a post a few days ago, “CONTEMPORARY LIBERALISM IS DEAD”.
No, not discredited, just dead…..
Actually, as I reread it, he doesn’t mean it’s dead at all. What he is really saying is that the “Liberalism” of the 60’s is the “Conservatism” of 2006. You’ll have to read the whole thing to begin to understand:
http://tinyurl.com/zeyee
Yesterday, the Democrat Party 2000 unanimous candidate for Vice President was defeated in a Senatorial primary by a Fat Cat multi-millionaire. Someone with no political experience at all. But someone who does “hate” President Bush. And who tarred Joe Lieberman as not only pro the “war against terror”, but also for being willing to work with the Republican majority.
How sad, anyone who is willing to work with the other party, to further the interests of the country as a whole, is a “traitor” to the party. Don’t misunderstand, Lieberman isn’t a Republican in disguise. After all, he voted with the Democrat pack over 90% of the time. But he didn’t make it 100%, and for that he lost his primary.
Yes, he will most likely win the fall election as an independent. But why does someone with 18 years of meritorious service to his country and his party, someone who a mere six years ago was seen as fit to be Vice President, now not qualify to continue on as a Senator???
All of which must be sending Hillary Clinton searching for the Valium tonight…..
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Hatin’ on Hillary: N.H. Dems lambaste Clinton
By Brett Arends Boston Herald Business Columnist
Monday, August 7, 2006
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Dick Bennett has been polling New Hampshire voters for 30 years. And he’s never seen anything like it.
“Lying b**** . . . shrew . . . Machiavellian . . . evil, power-mad witch . . . the ultimate self-serving politician.”
No prizes for guessing which presidential front-runner drew these remarks in focus groups.
But these weren’t Republicans talking about Hillary Clinton. They weren’t even independents.
These were ordinary, grass-roots Democrats. People who identified themselves as “likely” voters in the pivotal state’s Democratic primary. And, behind closed doors, this is what nearly half of them are saying.
“I was amazed,” says Bennett. “I thought there might be some negatives, but I didn’t know it would be as strong as this. It’s stunning, the similarities between the Republicans and the Democrats, the comments they have about her.”
Bennett runs American Research Group Inc., a highly regarded, independent polling company based in Manchester, N.H. He’s been conducting voter surveys there since 1976. The polls are financed by subscribers and corporate sponsors.
He has so far recruited 410 likely voters in the 2008 Democratic primary, and sat down with them privately in small groups to find out what they really think about the candidates and the issues.
His conclusion? “Forty-five percent of the Democrats are just as negative about her as Republicans are. More Republicans dislike her, but the Democrats dislike her in the same way.”
Hillary’s growing brain trust in the party’s upper reaches already knows she has high “negatives” among ordinary Democrats. They think she can win those voters over with the right strategy and message.
But they should get out of D.C., New York and L.A. more often, and visit grassroots members. Because we’re not talking about “soft” negatives like, say, “out of touch” or “arrogant.”
We’re talking: “Criminal . . . megalomaniac . . . fraud . . . dangerous . . . devil incarnate . . . satanic . . . power freak.”
Satanic.
And: “Political wh***.”
(Note: I don’t usually like reporting such personal remarks, but in this case you can hardly understand the situation without them. I have no strong personal feelings about the senator.)
There are caveats. Any survey can be inaccurate or misleading. And 55 percent of ARG’s sample was either neutral or positive about Sen. Clinton. Thirty-two percent currently say they plan to vote for her in the primary.
But Bennett says he’s never before seen so many N.H. voters show so much hatred toward a member of their own party. He’s never even seen anything close.
He believes top national Democrats are missing this grassroots intensity. Instead, he suspects, they are blinded by poll numbers, which give Hillary a big early lead based on her name recognition.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, agrees.
“There is far more anti-Hillary sentiment in the Democratic Party than the pollsters understand,” he says. In the race for the nomination, “she is ripe for plucking,” he says.
Sen. Clinton’s team could not be reached for comment.
New Hampshire is small, but it’s a bellwether state with clout. Its primary probably holds the key to the Democratic nomination. And New Hampshire, alone, swung from Bush to Kerry in ’04.
It’s hard to see any Democrat winning the White House without carrying the state in the presidential election. And it’s hard, right now, to see Hillary carrying the state.
http://tinyurl.com/otbk9
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Which reminds me, Matthew Dallman had a post a few days ago, “CONTEMPORARY LIBERALISM IS DEAD”.
No, not discredited, just dead…..
Actually, as I reread it, he doesn’t mean it’s dead at all. What he is really saying is that the “Liberalism” of the 60’s is the “Conservatism” of 2006. You’ll have to read the whole thing to begin to understand:
http://tinyurl.com/zeyee
posted by Colmar at 12:45 AM
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