3,000 Flock To See Bill Clinton and Alison Grimes While McConnell Rally Draws Crickets

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/10/21/3000-flock-bill-clinton-alison-grimes-mcconnell-rally-draws-crickets.html

3,000 Flock To See Bill Clinton and Alison Grimes While McConnell Rally Draws Crickets
By: Jason Easley
Tuesday, October, 21st, 2014, 8:38 pm

Momentum is definitely not on the side of Mitch McConnell. While Alison Lundergan Grimes and Bill Clinton drew a crowd of 3,000, the majority of attendees at Mitch McConnell’s rally were campaign staffers.

It was a tale of two tweets.

The Grimes rally in Owensboro, KY:

Mike Memoli ✔ @mikememoli
Follow

Local fire chief says 3,000 on hand for the Grimes/Bill Clinton rally in Owensboro
4:41 PM - 21 Oct 2014

This was the scene at McConnell’s rally:

Ronnie Ellis @cnhifrankfort
Follow

Smaller turnout, more "staffer volunteers" at mcConnell stop in Louisa
4:59 PM - 21 Oct 2014

McConnell’s struggles to draw a crowd are nothing new. It is why the Republican Party is bribing people to pretend to support McConnell during his bus tour.

The Hill reported,

In an email sent earlier this month and obtained by The Hill, Taylor Bumgardner, a Kentucky Republican Party regional political director, offers volunteers the opportunity to join McConnell on his tour, which launched Monday. Meals, lodging and transportation are included in the trip.

“Senator McConnell is seeking volunteers to join him on a 3-day campaign bus tour around the state on October 20-22 to show our support for Kentucky coal. You would join local supporters in contributing to an enthusiastic atmosphere at each of his events,” she wrote.

The mainstream media are saying that Grimes is the candidate who is running a bad campaign, but she isn’t the candidate who has to pay people to be her friend. Anytime a campaign has to start busing in and paying supporters to be there, it is a sign of a campaign that lacks support.

It is even worse, when a campaign has to bribe the supporters to show up. Alison Grimes is attracting thousands of people to her rallies while Mitch McConnell crowds are made up of people on his payroll.

This contrast makes it easy to spot who is running a bad campaign and here’s a hint for the mainstream press. It isn’t Alison Lundergan Grimes.

[JI7]

1. no wonder we are seeing the negative threads start popping up now

[MontyPow]

28. Or maybe some Democrats here legitimately don't like her running from our President.

[NanceGreggs]

79. Or maybe some Democrats here ...

... aren't legitimately Democrats.

[MontyPow]

81. True.

There are many Republicans here on DU. They're usually scolding classic Democrats for expecting the Democratic Party to run Democratic candidates. These Republicans support other Republicans in Democratic clothing like Charlie Crist, or the late Arlen Spector.

[NanceGreggs]

82. There are all kinds of people on DU ...

... and some of them are so transparent as to what they really are - know what I mean?

[MontyPow]

83. Sure.

I'll bet you thought I voted for McCain when I actually voted for Obama. And you thought I voted for Romney when I actually voted or Jill Stein. And you think I'll vote for the next Repuke when I'll actually vote for Bernie Sanders.

What I do know about you, is that you'll vote for anyone with a D next to their name, regardless of policy.

[NanceGreggs]

84. Clairvoyant as well.

Quite frankly, I wasn't the least bit interested in thinking anything about you at all. So the "I bet you thought" point is rendered moot.

And I will vote for anyone with a "D" next to their name. The alternative is an "R" - not even an option - or a third party, which is a waste of a vote.

[MontyPow]

85. The only wasted vote is the one cast for someone who doesn't reflect your values.

So your "D" vote can very easily be a wasted vote. My votes never are.

I hope this renders you mute.

[NanceGreggs]

86. No, the wasted vote is cast ...

... for the candidate who, despite their policies, has no chance of winning.

That's not rocket science - that's common sense.

And rendering me "mute" is something that ain't never going to happen.

[davidsilver]

88. I believe in white privilege in most instances but should that be a litmus test for being a

legitimate Democrat?

[Stallion]

2. Republicans should Bypass Charade and Tour Country Clubs for Check Signing Receptions

nm

[annabanana]

3. not surprised

S.O.P. for this crowd

[Robbins]

4. Good sign

Some of us may not like everything about her but country is better off with her winning.So will KT.

[Scuba]

13. + 1,000 Perfection is the enemy of progress.

[NaturalHigh]

5. Gotta hand it to Bill Clinton, he's still the rock star.

[VanillaRhapsody]

6. He bites that bottom lip....and all the ladies in the room swoon....to this day!

He's got "it".....whatever "it" is.....

[babylonsister]

12. Not even, at least not me. I like that he's a good

Dem, speaker and charismatic; that's it. I hardly swoon, but have at it!

[VanillaRhapsody]

14. Have you seen him in person?

[babylonsister]

16. No. So?

I'm not a swooner. His intelligence would be more likely to make me swoon.

[VanillaRhapsody]

19. I was describing the reaction of women who actually had....not just seen him on TV.

because I saw it with my own eyes...I didn't say it to mean every single woman in the world! Brad Pitt is not every single woman in the world's dreamboat either.....Bill Clinton is not even all that physically beautiful....yet he has that certain something that the ladies seem to respond to. You read about it all the time....

[Manifestor_of_Light]

40. I saw him campaign three times in person in 1992.

When he came to my city.
This was before anybody really knew who he was.

He had a media circus around him, boom mikes, big cameras and all that.
He was making a speech, but he could have been reading the phone book and he had more charisma than anyone I have ever seen.
He had as much charisma as real rock stars like Sting. I'm using him as an example because I saw The Police perform live in a basketball arena.

All I could do was stand there like an idiot and babble quietly and say "God he's good looking". My brain was putting out a dial tone. I couldn't think.

I also went to a private fundraiser in 1992 where Hillary spoke for over an hour with no notes, and I stood there and videotaped it.

[VanillaRhapsody]

44. Exactly.....these 2 are both forces to be reckoned with!

She's ambitious and he is charismatic...

[greatlaurel]

65. I have had the good fortune to see Hillary, Bill and Obama in person.

Bill Clinton has a charisma that impacts not just the ladies. When I got to see Bill in person, the men were just as ready to march out of that room and do whatever it was he asked and they did. Every person in that room went out and worked their tails off for Hillary. Bill campaigned hard in Ohio when Hillary was campaigning in the primary in 2008 and Ohio went big time for Hillary in the primary.

Hillary is an amazing speaker. She is very charismatic in person as well. I found her voice and delivery to be imspiring and pleasing at the same time. At the event, I got into a conversation with one of the sound guys. I commented that HRC sounded very different in person. He said that the replays of audio recording are usually altered and women's voices are often messed with to make them less pleasing on replay. (I have read that that was done to Howard Dean's scream, to make him sound terrible.) He said it was common for that to happen in the media and, as a sound technician he knew all the tricks. He was not a Hillary campaigner, he was just hired to do a job, as he said he was voting for the other guy.

One of the things I noticed is that HRC is very genuine and caring to the people around her. She took particular notice of the children of the campaign volunteers who were at the event and spent extra time with the kids and treated them like they were the most important people in the room. Her campaign staff tried to pull her away from the kids and she would have none of it. She took the time to spend with the least powerful people there. She would make a great president. After seeing her in person, I understand why the elites are working at a fever pitch throwing every slur at her they can. The elites are in terror of her because she will act for the good of the American people. It is a shame people did not bother to read her platform when she ran the last time. It was far better than Obama's. I can no longer access a copy of her platform. Sure wish I had printed out the whole thing in 2008.

Obama is a good speaker, but he does not have whatever it is that Bill Clinton has. Obama is a really good speaker and is impressive in his own way.

[LawDeeDah]

73. I might feel like that about Obama, to see him speak in person, but not Bill.

Not a chance. I gravitate to people that I admire and respect.

[greatlaurel]

74. Well, LawDeeDah, Obama has done some things as president that Bill would have never done.

It was a great honor to hear Obama speak in person. He gives a good speech, but he does not have that quality that Bill Clinton has. Bill Clinton used his talent for far more good than bad. The speech Bill gave at the 2012 Democratic National Convention for Obama was the greatest speech given in decades. Bill turned the tide for us in that election.

You can throw all the slurs you want at Bill, but he won the White House for the Democratic Party for 8 years and appointed good judges to the Supreme Court and the lower courts and he helped Obama win a second term. There is not a politician ever that is a saint and they all do political favors or end up forced into actions that are wrong, including Jack Kennedy and FDR(neither of whom were faithful to their wives). Obama has done some really horrible things as president and he is still heads and shoulders above and far better for the American people than any of the GOP choices. Really, Obama is no babe in the woods. He is as crafty and cunning as any politician out there. The biggest problem was obvious early on in his primary run in the people he had around him. Rahm Emmanuel and Larry Summers were big warning signs about the direction he was headed.

[LawDeeDah]

76. Bill turned the tide, in what way?

Subjective stuff. I find Bill unattractive in a lot of ways but I know tastes vary! have fun.

He was speaking at the democratic convention - you mean he convinced 5 million (I think that is what the margin was Obama won by) people to vote for Obama that otherwise wouldn't have? Were Repuglicans convinced to switch over or he got 5 million democrats to get off the couch and vote. I don't understand, please explain because this sounds like another 'Obama owes the Clintons' line that is stupid. Obama owes the Clintons Fuck All.

Oh, what 'horrible' things has Obama done (while Bill is such a wonderman of goodness?) lol. nevermind, you don't have to answer.
Crafty, cunning... un huh.

[JI7]

38. i feel the same way, i like listening to him speak and think he is

charismatic and intelligent. but never was into him in "swooning" type of way.

[VanillaRhapsody]

61. aye yi yi

[Treant]

55. Not just the ladies.

I mean, a man who could, at one time, answer the question, "You and what army?" with an actual army.

I'd tap that.

[VanillaRhapsody]

62. point accepted!

[LawDeeDah]

71. 'all' the ladies? Are you kidding me?

some barf. I can't see what the supposedly attraction to that guy is. At all. Nothing.

[MontyPow]

29. The President is a rock star. Why is Grimes running from him?

[msongs]

33. because he is....ya know what nt

[gratuitous]

35. How many Kentucky votes would she pick up?

How many undecideds or McConnell-leaning votes do you think Grimes would pick up if she came out in Kentucky as foursquare behind President Obama? I don't know the Kentucky electorate (perhaps you do), but my sense is that former Kentucky Secretary of State Grimes knows what she's doing and she has made the political calculation that focusing on her campaign and her issues is the path to victory, without appearing too close to the candidate who didn't win even 40% of the statewide vote in 2012.

[MontyPow]

36. Why it's almost as if a Democrat couldn't win a state wide election,

be a Democrat, and embrace the ACA.

Oh, wait. That's Kentucky's governor.

[gratuitous]

47. Why, it's almost as if the presidential campaign didn't happen

So you don't want to answer the question, instead substituting a non sequitur. Thanks for playing and tune in again for another episode of "Oh, So That's Your Agenda." Good night, everybody!

[MontyPow]

49. Yeah. Kind of silly to answer rhetorical questions.

But I'll take a stab at it. We don't know how many votes she would garner because she didn't do it.

As for agendas, yes, I have one. So do you. So does anyone who offers up opinion an argument.

But I like how easily people here allow Democratic candidates to abandon the President but should DUers abandon the President, well that's a whole other thing.


But I enjoyed playing "So that's your agenda".

[gratuitous]

52. No, it was a substantive question

You seem to be riding a particular hobbyhorse. I pointed out that Grimes, former Secretary of State (the person who oversees statewide elections), might have some insights and expertise on the makeup of the Kentucky electorate. I know that I don't, and it's apparent that you don't, either.

However, instead of admitting that you don't know what you're talking about, you prefer to make serial posts, criticizing Grimes for not running in lockstep with President Obama. I pointed out that Obama didn't poll even 40% of the vote in Kentucky a mere two years ago, a fact you avoided like a coughing ebola patient. When I asked you how many votes you think Grimes would pick up in Kentucky that she doesn't already have, you threw out a non sequitur about the governor's race.

Now you finally admit that you don't know how many Kentucky voters Grimes would pick up if she were to feature President Obama more prominently in her campaign, but you have to temper your ignorance with another criticism of Grimes' campaign that sounds like it has the same factual basis as your prior criticism, which is to say none. I submit that Grimes would pick up very few votes she doesn't already have if she were to feature President Obama, and in fact would lose more undecided and leaning voters than she could hope to pick up. I think Grimes knows the electorate in Kentucky pretty well, certainly better than me, and apparently better than you.

Do you have any basis for your criticism other than seeing Grimes lose voters in a race that has been polling very tightly? That's the agenda I alluded to earlier.

[NanceGreggs]

80. Beautifully crafted,

well thought-out post.

[herding cats]

7. I really hope she kicks McConnell to the curb.

A lot of people don't understand how badly we need Dems to win in conservative states, not just the more progressive states. Change is a slow and tedious process which is just beginning to show it's face in Kentucky.

[Kablooie]

8. McConnell must be happy. Turtles love to eat crickets.

[Rod Beauvex]

41. Hurk.

Warn people before you post Duzy's like that.

[sheshe2]

9. Poor Mitchie~

GOTV2014!

[BillZBubb]

10. Unfortunately crowd size isn't a good predictor of outcome.

Grimes still has an uphill battle to win in a mostly red state like Kentucky. I hope she pulls it off.

[MontyPow]

30. Not if she ran on OKinectCare. But why embrace what your constituents love?

[DavidDvorkin]

11. The bastard is going to win in spite of this.

[bigdarryl]

15. Some of you guys are so Debbie downer

[MontyPow]

31. Or Reality Ralph

[SleeplessinSoCal]

17. Better get good poll watchers. N/T

[Hulk]

18. I hope to hell she defeats Mr. Turtlehead...

What a worthless, cowardly sack of human waste. To even consider that he might be re-elected makes my head spin. Are the good people of Kentucky that fookin' stupid?

[kentuck]

20. And that is the small fact that Chuck Todd over-looked in his rush to "disqualify"...

Alison has traveled all over the state and met tens of thousands of Kentuckians from every walk of life. They like her. There is enthusiasm in her campaign. I think there may be a similar enthusiasm in the Georgia and Wisconsin races also. Alison's supporters are ready to fight for her...I mean really fight...I mean physical fisticuffs.

[Peacetrain]

21. Oh that is good!!!!

[valerief]

22. A couple of billionaires on your side can buy a lot of election fraud. nt

[A Simple Game]

23. I could use an all expense paid mini vacation. Do you think Mitch would swing by

Northern New York and pick me up? I would expect to be dropped of at the same location after the trip was over.

Wait a minute, ride with Mitch McConnell? I thought it said trip with Mitch Ryder! Love me some Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels!

[bullwinkle428]

24. Nice job, DSCC!

[aikoaiko]

25. The Big Dawg can still bring it

[Martin Eden]

26. ... and McConnell paid the crickets to show up and chirp

(not to be confused with Buddy Holly and his mates)

[mountain grammy]

27. Would love to see the defeat of Mitch McConnell!

[3rdwaydem]

32. Still, Grimes, unfortunately, is not going to win

We need to focus our resources in Kansas. If we can pick off that seat, the Republicans will be unlikely able to gain the Senate. Although it's an "independent" he will almost certainly caucus with the Democrats. They are even in the polls.

Kansas is the way to block the GOP from controlling the Senate.

[Hekate]

43. Who are you, again?

[3rdwaydem]

45. Just the guy telling you how it is. A little cold water reality.

Put a fork in Grimes - she's done. Kansas is the battleground for we Democrats to retain the Senate.

[LanternWaste]

58. I imagine we all like to pretend we "know how it is..."

I imagine we all like to pretend we "know how it is..." Often allows us to feel a wee bit more clever about ourselves than we in fact, are.

[3rdwaydem]

60. Whatever you got to tell yourself

I'll follow up with you on this thread after election night, right around the corner, and we will see who is acting more clever than they are. So, I'll post to this thread and your comment on election night and I can only pray that Kansas is a take away from the GOP so we Democrats hold the Senate.

I'm into accomplishing things and not pipe dreams. I will remind you of all of the on election night and then you might appreciate just how flawed your position is.

My money has gone to Kansas and Georgia - Michelle Nunn might pull it out. Unfortunately, Grimes is a right off no matter how many come out to see Bill Clinton with her.

[George II]

34. I saw Bill Clinton at a Malloy rally in West Hartford four years ago....

....he spoke for about 50 minutes solid without a single page of notes, just off the top of his head, and he was BRILLIANT! I could have listened to him for a couple of more hours.

He attracts big crowds where ever he goes, he's now the "elder statesman" of the Democratic Party.

[3rdwaydem]

50. Bill Clinton is a hero to me. One of the most able Presidents we have ever had.

[leftstreet]

54. Deregulated banks, gutted welfare, gifted Telecom$

Yeah, a real prince

[George II]

63. Clinton became President in 1993, banks were deregulated in the 1980s.

[leftstreet]

64. Try 1999. Glass-Steagall repeal

The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 and commonly pronounced ″glibba″, (Pub.L. 106–102, 113 Stat. 1338, enacted November 12, 1999) is an act of the 106th United States Congress (1999–2001). It repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933, removing barriers in the market among banking companies, securities companies and insurance companies that prohibited any one institution from acting as any combination of an investment bank, a commercial bank, and an insurance company. With the passage of the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, commercial banks, investment banks, securities firms, and insurance companies were allowed to consolidate. Furthermore, it failed to give to the SEC or any other financial regulatory agency the authority to regulate large investment bank holding companies.[1] ”The legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramm%E2%80%93Leach%E2%80%93Bliley_Act

[George II]

69. Or the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of NINETEEN EIGHTY!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banking_in_the_United_States#Deregulation_of_the_1980s_and_1990s

Deregulation of the 1980s and 1990s

Legislation passed by the federal government during the 1980s, such as the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 and the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982, reduced the distinctions between banks and other financial institutions in the United States. This legislation is frequently referred to as "deregulation," and it is often blamed for the failure of over 500 savings and loan associations between 1980 and 1988, and the subsequent failure of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) whose obligations were assumed by the FDIC in 1989. However, some critics of this viewpoint[who?], particularly libertarians, have pointed-out that the federal government's attempts at deregulation granted easy credit to federally insured financial institutions, encouraging them to overextend themselves and (thus) fail.

[LawDeeDah]

72. Telecommunications Act of 1996

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the first significant overhaul of United States telecommunications law in more than sixty years, amending the Communications Act of 1934. The Act, signed by President Bill Clinton, represented a major change in American telecommunication law, since it was the first time that the Internet was included in broadcasting and spectrum allotment.[1] One of the most controversial titles was Title 3 ("Cable Services&quot , which allowed for media cross-ownership.[1] According to the FCC, the goal of the law was to "let anyone enter any communications business—to let any communications business compete in any market against any other".[2] The legislation's primary goal was deregulation of the converging broadcasting and telecommunications markets.[3] However, the law's regulatory policies have been questioned, including the effects of dualistic re-regulation of the communications market [4] [5]

wiki

Combine the change in media with Glass Staegal and you got the message, loud and clear. Make funny money for Wall Street with derivatives and have a media that plays dumb about it.

[greatlaurel]

77. You sure do like to make excuses for the GOP and blame the Democratic Party for the GOP mischief.

Starting to look like you just do not like anyone who is a member of the Democratic Party. Those are good gish gallop talking points you have been using in this thread.

We need to get out the vote this November for Alison and every other Democrat running this year. We need to stop backstabbing fellow Democrats and start to reverse some of the damage inflicted on the American people by the GOP and the Koch brothers.

[LawDeeDah]

78. Well, i don't like Warren

I love her. And it is sounding more so that she is considering running.

Those debates will be lovely and exciting. Warren, Clinton, maybe Sanders and the half dozen or so others. Can't Wait!

[wheniwasincongress]

37. Isn't it good for McConnell if he drew crickets?

[BuelahWitch]

39. Having paid supporters should disqualify McConnell n/t

[Hekate]

42. You mean people weren't walking out in droves? because, you know, we've been told Dems are losing...

... by somebody who's posted the same debunked article about an Obama appearance twice. Plus Chuck Toad.

Seriously, this is good news. Thanks for posting it, babs.

[libodem]

46. .

[img][/img]

[MaeScott]

48. Kentucky, go vote and take a friend with you! nt

[Orsino]

51. That's surprising, given what McConnell has done to cricket voting rights.

How long are crickets going to continue voting against their interests?

[malthaussen]

56. Guess Mitch didn't pay enough.

A free night in Motel 6 apparently didn't attract enough enthusiasts.

-- Mal

[dinger130]

57. I hate to say this

but Owensboro is a much larger town than Louisa.

Louisa is in the mountains and coal country. Owensboro is in western Kentucky and is a more heavily populated region.

I know all about Louisa. My ancestor traded the town of Louisa for a gunstock back in the 1800s.

[Iliyah]

59. K & R

The corporate media is full of s***. Go Vote!

[KamaAina]

66. Well, turtles don't make that much noise

[Tommymac]

67. K & R & Tweeted - We Can Shock the World on Nov 4 if Dems Turn out. GOTV

[Ampersand Unicode]

68. They certainly didn't draw this cricket

That would imply that the GOP had a... conscience.

[EEO]

70. A rabid racoon would do more for the people of Kentucky than Mitch.

It would have a lot more energy and drive to get what it wants and be above corruption, anyway. Not the strongest endorsement for Grimes, but whatever.

[greatlaurel]

75. Alison Punches Back!

Tell it like it is Alison. The GOP will just think its Hell.

"During a rally in Kentucky will Bill Clinton, Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes said, “Kentucky is ready for a senator that’s an independent thinker that can put the partisanship aside and actually fight for the people for this state. One that won’t be bullied by Mitch McConnell or Chuck Todd. We can do this Kentucky.” "

http://www.politicususa.com/2014/10/22/alison-lundergan-grimes-punches-bullied-chuck-todd.html

Wish I lived in Kentucky, so I could vote for her.

[bobGandolf]

87. Now if they omly come out and vote.... n/t