GOP campaign urges post debate spin

[JoFerret]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041005/ap_on_el_pr/debate_spin&cid=694&ncid=2043

WASHINGTON - The assignment: go forth and spin. The objective: win the battle of the post-debate polls.

The Bush-Cheney campaign is urging supporters to go online after Tuesday's debate between Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) and Sen. John Edwards (news - web sites) in hopes of defeating what it calls the "Kerry campaign spin machine."

Operatives for the Democratic candidate "managed to mask their candidate's flip-flops on the war in Iraq (news - web sites)" after last week's presidential debate, Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman wrote in a letter to supporters.

"If we plan to win the election, we must fight back against their spin and make sure our friends and neighbors get the truth," Mehlman said.

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[proud patriot]

1. bawahahahahahaha

DUers to the polls :-)

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. The "truth" was dispersed in the form of 63 million Americans watching

live for themselves. Good fucking luck, jackasses! :hi:

[Brotherjohn]

3. They already lost that battle.

So "Operatives for the Democratic candidate 'managed to mask their candidate's flip-flops on the war in Iraq'"?

If by "mask", they meant "dismiss the myth of", then I'd agree.

[UpInArms]

4. GOPers attempt to create

millions of freepers?

The e-mail, which was sent early Tuesday, asks supporters to vote in online polls, conducted by most major networks after the debate, and to print debate fact checks to spread the word. Bush loyalists also were encouraged to post their views in message boards targeting swing-state voters, chat in person and online with would-be voters, and forward the GOP's e-mail call-to-arms to five friends.

[JuniorPlankton]

5. The Republicans are talking about spin

and not their own.
AMAZING!!! :wow:

[jimshoes]

6. Ken Mehlman is a dickhead

and all I can say is pathetic. They think it's all about spin. Reality does not figure into the equation for these dolts. Get your ass beat and just claim you won till you turn blue in the face.

> That's the kind of people I want running the country. <sarcasm>

[AlCzervik]

10. I just saw him on cnn, he is a major dickhead

and very angry looking. they must know something bad besides all the Bremer and rumsfeld stuff.

[w4rma]

19. As far as these people are concerned they think they can convince anyone

of anything with the right PR.

[FlemingsGhost]

7. T-Mac and the DNC encouraged the same thing.

It's amusing to see folks--on both sides--obediently contribute to the media circus, then turn around and insist it is out of control and a grave threat to their cause.

Americans are a strange lot.

[4_Legs_Good]

8. Exactly! I just got my letter from the DNC asking us to do the same thing

It's not outrageous, but it is unfortunate.

Personally, I don't plan to vote in online polls unless I really think that Edwards *does* beat Cheney tonight. However, if (and I fully expect he will) in my opinion he *does* beat Cheney, I'll be all over the polls like I was with Kerry.

It sucks that this comes down to online polls, but I guess that's how the game is being played. I think though that this is just the "first impression", and it's still 2 days before the media is really declaring a winner.

Alls I can say is:

GO EDWARDS!!! (make it so we don't have to spin!)

david

[demzilla]

17. I don't care if Edwards ends up on the floor

and Cheney is stomping on him. I'll vote online and say Edwards won the debate. Nice guys finish last, which is why we Dems need to beat the Freepers at their own game.

This is the reality of American politics today, and while I wish there was an ideal world I could vote in, there isn't.

[FlemingsGhost]

18. Thanks for illustrating my point.

It seems we are fast becoming a nation of fanatics and extremists.

Welcome to DU.

[demzilla]

20. The point is this

American politics has always been a hard-nosed game, ever since Adams vs. Jefferson. The fact is that we have to fight fire with fire, or we'll get burnt.

(Thanks for the welcome, by the way.)

[Gman]

11. There was a significant public opinion point during the Florida debacle

CNN was running a poll on its website asking if Gore should concede. It was all over Free Republic to hit that poll as often and as hard as they could. Freepers had scripts written that were designed to hit the poll over and over again and the results counted. (Contrary to the way polls are designed now that make it much more difficult to vote more than once.) Later, Novak went on and pointed out on live TV that the results said overwhelmingly that Gore should concede. In 2000 few realized that online polls were not accurate. The net effect was to create more pressure on Gore to concede.

So while you may find this distasteful, rest assured that voting in online polls tonight, sending LTTE's and calling radio shows is vitally important because if we don't I guaran-damn-tee you that they will.

[FlemingsGhost]

13. Smoke and mirrors.

Illusions and delusions. This is "democracy?"

No, this is a crumbling foundation.

[desi826]

21. There's a difference here.

DU wrote:

<It's amusing to see folks--on both sides--obediently contribute to the media circus, then turn around and insist it is out of control and a grave threat to their cause.>

Hold on, when T-Mac (as you call him) encouraged people to participate in polls and talk shows and such, it was in response to the fact that in the last election, Gore clearly won all three debates, but the media spun things almost immediately to make it appear that Bush won handily.

They'd probably weighted every poll the way they did this time, only there was no Democratic response to back that up.
They did not want that to happen again, so they encouraged participation.

Repubs are trying to spin it as though THAT is the reason Bush couldn't communicate his ideas well, not the fact that he just did badly in the first debate.

They are trying to say that Democrats hogged all of the lines and therefore was able to hide Kerry's flip-flopping, instead of just admitting Bush sucked.
Des

[gadem04]

9. I couldn't help

but retrieve that from the original post. It does make you think, though.

[amber dog democrat]

12. They can't handle the "truth"

Go ahead and try to spin ths one, if you can.
The fact is what the GOP does will not hold up under scrutiney.
I think the majority of the viewers will know the difference between spin and substance.

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

14. Repuke definition of spin = FACTUAL TRUTH that doesn't fit their lies

I'm so sick of these fascist assholes. It's time to kick some ass. Bring on your Orwellan spin, you wimpy-minded lock-step lemming excuses for human beings...

JB

[fylgja]

15. I thought this president was all for accountability....

I sure hear a lot of excuses coming out of the white house these days, though.

The Republicans are the ones spinning things faster than a tilt-a-whirl. The reason it looks like Bush lost the debate was because he really had no substance to him. His entire arguement for re-election appeared to be "I'm President now, so I should get re-elected!"

The Republicans talk about Kerry's "flip-flops" which, if you look at the record, are anything but flip-flops, while completely ignoring the about-faces taken by the Bush admin. Just look up what Bush promised in 2000 and what he did the MOMENT he took office.

[Tangledog]

23. Welcome to DU, fylgja

:hi:

The "tilt-a-whirl" metaphor is appealing. I think you'll like it here.

[Mr_Spock]

16. Don't they know you can't squeeze blood from I-raq? Or can you?

Fools - let's play pretend after the average causual watcher has tuned into something else - whatever.

[JoFerret]

22. Enjoy that original GOP headline for the time it lasted

It has now been neutralised.

[yellowcanine]

24. "I tell Republicans the truth and they think it is hell" - Harry Truman

Old "Give em Hell Harry" must have spun right out of the ground when crashcart started lying last night.

[Demeter]

25. Other Than Going Around in Circles

and digging a hole in the precise spot one is already standing in, I don't see what spinning will get the GOP. This is REALITY, dear fascists, and reality gets you sooner or later. In this case, right now!