Dear Doom&Gloom Democrats -- let's go back to June, 1992.............

[CatWoman]

............. back when Bill Clinton was 20 points behind the president he later defeated, and the great minds of the time said that his victory would be impossible.

Can Clinton Save his Candidacy?

BY DONALD LAMBRO



This is a year of turmoil and terror in the Democratic Party: Their likely presidential nominee battered, bloodied, and ridiculed even before the general election has begun; angry, unforgiving voters appear ready to wreak punishment on the scandal-ridden Democratic-controlled Congress; and a fiery anti-incumbent mood may be sweeping the nation.

Rarely, in contemporary American politics, has a prospective Democratic presidential standard-bearer emerged successfully from his early primaries burdened by so many deep public doubts about his character within his own party. This is the astonishing situation that now faces the Democrats and Bill Clinton as he moves to lock up the nomination and convince a doubting nation that he is not the "slick Willie" portrayed by his political enemies, depicted by the new media, and lampooned by late-night comedians.

The Arkansas governor's candidacy has need deeply weakened by allegations that he committed adultery during his marriage; that he personally took steps to avoid being drafted during the height of the Vietnam War; that he and his wife, Hillary, an influential lawyer with a prominent law firm that does business with the state, were insensitive to the appearance of conflict of interest throughout his governorship; and that he has been slippery and evasive in answering questions from the news media about his personal and professional conduct.

Clinton made his dubious national television debut on the CBS network's popular 60 Minutes program, following the Super Bowl telecast. On this show, in response to charges that he hand engaged in a 12-year affair with Geniffer Flowers, Clinton admitted that he had "made mistakes" in his marriage. Shortly after fighting his way back to emerge victorious in a no-holds-barred New York primary, and with the presidential nomination almost assured, his picture appeared on the cover of Time magazine beneath the ominous headline, "Why Voters Do Not Trust Clinton."

Sound familiar????

http://www.worldandi.com/public/1992/june/cr6.cfm

[MissB]

1. Thank you.

Great read. There are times when it is just downright disheartening to hear the media bash the Democratic candidates. It's nice to read an article that does sound so familiar to what we are hearing now.

[Killarney]

2. Thank you for posting this!

:toast:

[CatWoman]

3. I, in turn, need to thank Joe Conason

we all need to thank him for providing this archived story (via Salon)

:hi:

[Cooley Hurd]

4. And Dean is only 5 points behind w/ 10 months to go!

I think the Anti-Dean dems should give the Dr another look and prepare to back him if and when he garners the nomination...

[deminflorida]

5. That's a big IF....it would be a smaller IF, if he'd modify his tax

stance concerning the middle-class. It's a show stopper.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Yuo know here is the deal

We have a major problem with the deficit

And yuo know what else? Clinton HOROR OF HORRORS, raised taxes as well

Taxes are not the solution and WE NEED to get money into the treasury, as Goerge has pissed off the surplus that was there.

Dean is being HONEST, IMHO, and ANYBODY taking over after Bush will have to raise taxes and probably cut some services... this was done by design by Bush... or jsut go on as nothing and BANKRUPT the country

[Cooley Hurd]

7. He'll do so out of necessity, and per our requests when the time comes...

The Clinton\Gore tax policies were very fair to the middle class and is a tried and proven model for "true" (meaning "jobs") economic stimulus. I have no doubt Dean will follow a similar path once elected.

[creativelcro]

18. Not true. Dean made a perfectly sound argument

about his plan. We need more money to balance the budget. So, we get rid of Bush tax cut. He argues that, because of the increases in fees left and right (property taxes, education , etc) necessary to fund the tax cut, in reality most middle class got NO benefit at all. My property taxes alone are up more than what I got from the tax cut. So, I am in favor of eliminating this tax "cut", if it comes with increased funding for those areas that got underfunded because of the tax cut.

[goforit]

8. Thankyou for keeping the faith!!!.

There are few that do!!!

[Unforgiven]

9. Thanks

for bitch slapping me, I needed that. So maybe were not so bad off after all?

[CatWoman]

10. Exactomondo

:D

[Catherine Vincent]

11. The Repukes should be reminded of that too.

When you hear the repuke callers on C-Span, they all say that GWB will win in a landslide. Trying to intimidate the democratic listeners. They don't know jack shit.

[CatWoman]

12. Watching the rountable on MTP today

made me physically ill.

Safire and Broder lead the pack in trashing Dems, comparing Dean to McGovern, and predicting a * landslide win.

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Touchdown]

13. Thank you Catwoman!

The trend of doom and gloom threads about our chances is really getting under my skin. I posted this yesterday...

I'd like to be inspired today (it's snowing in Denver). Too often I see these defeatist and doom & gloom threads, lamenting about our chances because the big media echo chamber has already anointed Chimpy another 4 years, before we even get out of the starting gate. Yet I see very little posts on the positive side of our chances, and even less participation in those threads.

So let me examine why the Republicans win, when their agenda is good only for 22% of the electorate. That's the number they won with in 2002. No, it was hardly a mandate. remember they barely won. An extra 2 seats in the Senate is not a landslide.
They (Repugs) have belief and confidence in their cause!... How more obvious can it be? They have adopted a belief system that their cause is just and nobody is going to stand in their way. Consequently, that absolute surety of their beliefs, as wrong as they are, and their confidence that the majority of America agrees with them, like it or not, translates into votes. Think about it. We see the trogs paraded onto the shout shows and they speak in platitudes, can't defend their positions with actual argument, they just shout the challengers down. They never detract from the inevitability of their righteousness. Aside from John McCain in the primaries, you never hear a Repug dissing another Repug, explaining away a faulty position, apologizing for any platform they might have, or backtracking on a questionable agenda their putting through.Dismissing them as just lockstep automatons misses the fact that this confidence is appealing to much of casual voters out there.

It's this one aspect of the Repugs that I envy above all others. We need to adopt that kind of confidence. I'm not saying adopt their lies, and simplistic ideologies, but their beliefs, their arrogance, their confidence, their surety of their cause, and their morale. We need to do the same thing.

Never explain ourselves! When the question of gay marriage comes up, we state our position ( pro-civil unions, at least right now) with absolute moral clarity, and no mushy seeking of approval from the electorate...we DEMAND that approval, or we question the fair-mindedness of the dis-approving. This can work for any issue, including middle class taxes.

Once the primaries are over, never criticize any Democrat until the election is OVER! And especially don't criticize (publicly) the next President, whoever he may be. You know their not going to criticize the Chimp, so why should we put up with that for our own candidate?

Talk as if we already have it in the bag. what, do you think people are going to remember, much less care what you said 11 months ago? Fugaddabboudit! You come forward and say, without flinching or any sign of uncertainty, that Kerry/Dean/Clark/whoever is going to not only win this election, but he will take 43 states in the EC. Regardless of whether or not it really happens is irrelevant, the key is to display such a confidence, and surety in your candidate (Senate, House, Local too) that it rubs off on those fence sitters, and they'll start to believe it too, and hopefully seek out some campaign information, which further bolsters their support.

Never underestimate the intelligence of the "majority". Americans love the underdog. They love the man who stands up to being attacked, and they love watching him fight back. Americans love self confidence in a person, and the convictions in his beliefs. If we look and act like we're winners, then they will respond positively, and just like it worked for the Repugs, it will work for us.

Happy new President's Year!

Alas, I got 3 responses to this rant, while the defeatist ones get more than 100. I'm not original, or brilliant, but I thought hard about it, and wanted to write it down, but people were too busy talking about how it's hopeless, and we might as well pack it in, and they just couldn't be bothered by something positive. I guess defeatism sells here.:eyes:

[CatWoman]

16. Touchdown

Thank you very much for such an awesome and well written rant!!

:hi:

[Touchdown]

19. Hey! Off topic...

Are you Eartha Kitt, Michelle Pfeiffer, or Julie Newmar?;-)

[CatWoman]

21. heh

I'm a "sistah" :D

[chefgirl]

14. Great post, but

I hate to say this, but I can distinctly remember by this time (just prior to NH) there was this new wind blowing in this country. His name was Bill Clinton.
Maybe it was only up here in New England, nevertheless, I was already impressed and had sort of a 'finger in the wind' feeling about him that he would win against Bush. You could just tell.
I don't have that feeling about any of our candidates at this point, not even Dean, notwithstanding him being the current front runner.

*W* has a lot more die hard supporters than his father had, at this point in the process, from what I remember. Not only that, the wingnuts have been fostering hatred for Dems among their idiot electorate for a lot of years now. That hatred wasn't even a real factor in '92.

It was nice to look back in hindsight and laugh at how wrong they were about Clinton, but I just don't think you can compare then to now.
I really dont want to rain on the parade, I'm just giving my honest recollections.

-chef-

[CatWoman]

15. a new wind blowing

winds of change.............

that was the theme for the 1992 Dem Convention -- Barbara Jordan gave the keynote.

I can't begin to tell you how much that inspired me.

I was living in El Paso, Texas at the time.

[chefgirl]

17. I hadn't remembered that

You know what really inspired me? Maya Angelou at the inauguration.
Wow! I have never before or since heard anything so powerful.
What always stays with me is the way she delivered the last line of her poem.....

Good Morning!

Thats exactly how I felt that day too. Boy, I would give a lot to be that hopeful about our country again.

-chef-

[Military Brat]

20. How about "I can see clearly now" for a Democratic theme song?

I would love to hear this song played at the Democratic Convention, because Dems are optimists and believers that we can overcome what has gone wrong and get this country back on track.


I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiney day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been prayin' for
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiney day

Look all around, there's nothin' but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin' but blue skies

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiney day

[ithacan]

22. as usual,

common sense from CW!!

:hi: