What fresh Orwellian hell is Bill Clinton's "image" message?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

""If we let people believe that our party doesn't believe in faith and family, doesn't believe in work and freedom, that's our fault," he said.

Democrats "need a clear national message and they have to do this without one big advantage the Republicans have, which is they won't have a theological message that basically paints the other guy as evil."

Perhaps, he forgets HOW we got tarred with that image.

Just ONCE I would love for this man to admit that a HUGE contribution to Al Gore's loss was his OWN behavior.

[DemOperative]

1. How many politicans of his stature would admit to that?

I agree, Bill Clinton is a major reason the party is where it is today , for the good as well as the bad. You're a smart woman. But Clinton IS the party to all those who demonize him. Just like Bush IS the party to us. Who else do we have? Jerry Brown?

And no one better mention John freaking McCain to me for awhile.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. But more for the bad than the good

I resent his comment in that nowhere in it does he take responsibility for his own actions that served to well to help ignite this evangelical base with their "what will we tell the children?" shit.

BTW...you can't fool me for a minute nor can Bill. When he says FAMILY he MEANS "gay folks can fend for themselves."

[RummyTheDummy]

3. I'm confused

Didn't Bill Clinton win two presidential elections? How many have we won before or since?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

[regnaD kciN]

5. How many elections did he win...

...after being caught with his pants down in the Oval Office?

[DerBeppo]

15. one. eom

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Who allowed the concentration of the media? That got anything to do

with it?

I'm real glad Clinton was able to do well for himself. I don't deny he oversaw the greatest economic expansion in history. Now back to that IMAGE thingy...did he play a role in it or not?

[DemOperative]

7. Put it this way

an affluent ,liberal, hard working and organized group who decides to boycott the party would really suck.

It better not come to that.

[no name no slogan]

10. Um, barely won is more like it

He NEVER got a majority of the vote. If not for Perot in 1992, it's quite likely he would not have won at all.

Not to mention the steady decline in Democratic officeholders since 1992, when he was our, um, "leader". The number of Dems in state legislatures hasn't been this low since 1964. We lost not only the US Senate, but the House, too. Not to mention the governorships.

Quite frankly, I'd trade control of any of the above for Clinton's "Democratic" presidency. Hell, we still would have got NAFTA, "welfare reform", insurance reform, gutting of Glass-Steagal and other laws regulationg Wall Street, and a continuing "war on drugs".

At least with a Repub in office, we KNOW he's our enemy. With Clinton, it was hard to tell sometimes.

[Lerkfish]

16. Bill won on charisma, not platform, frankly...

its what Reagan had, and what Gore, Lieberman, Mondale and Dukakis did not.

Kerry came the closest as anyone since Clinton, and even then, it was only until the latter part of the campaign that anyone got to see that (as much the fault of the media as the campaign).

Unless and Until we can groom a candidate of sufficient charisma again, we will always be hammered on platform, because nice and inclusive, although best for governing, is not as sexy as hate and fear.

As long as the repukes use hate and fear to the level that they do now, we can't defeat them, I guess, until we get someone that out-charismatizes the masses.

IMHO.

I was really hoping and had convinced myself Kerry had done that...and I think he COULD have done that, without Rove on the opposing side, adept at character assasination.

[bemildred]

4. Yeah, what a crock.

Like it's a TV show about whether we are Ward and June Cleaver.

[THUNDER HANDS]

8. He won't see it

And in some respects, its hard to blame him. When you cheat on your wife, get caught, get impeached, AND rise in popularity, its hard to say you're sorry.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

9. Breaking: Jeffrey Dahmer says PETA needs to deal with their image

[Julien Sorel]

11. What's done is done.

What do we get out of Clinton making a Jimmy Swaggert-style mea culpa? It just brings that stuff back into the public's mind.

And for the record, by the way, I think your criticism is absolutely correct; it simply doesn't move us from point A to point B.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

12. Thanks for just getting my angst

[Julien Sorel]

13. I understand your angst.

I feel your angst, to channel Bill Clinton ;-)


But I think his point is absolutely correct, and attacking Clinton for his failings obscures the message he's sending. I don't want to see the party move any further to the right. We can give ground on a few issues, but I think that needs to be balanced with changes elsewhere -- for one thing, I think we need a more populist economic message, and I say that as someone who reflexively despises populism. But overall, I think the party is well positioned on the issues. What we desperately need is to repackage our message, and build a theme that people will understand, that will allow people to see the Democratic values that inform our positions.

[bluedog]

14. I don't understand

I saw John Edwards and Liz on a talk show.talking about the death of their son..I think it was Zahn.who kept pushing them to answer something like how did they handle it and kept asking questions about how often they go to the grave....well, Edwards just said its private and they don't talk about it in public....thats what I think the networks picked up on...they wanted these pele to talk about God and the great faith they had in him after their sons death...........and Edwards wouldn't fall into that.

It was a private matter........but the media wanted a "news" story.....and Mrs Edwards if you are out here.......I'm proud of the way you both handles Paula Zahn.........

[kodi]

17. nonsense, the Left can also use religious metaphors to message

why do you think springsteen is so effective with his lyrics, he uses well-known, culturally saturated biblical and mythological terms as metaphors to create his story imagry

or just where the hell did that term "the promised land" come from?

think this use biblcal reference is not capable of moving people and make one motivated?

"I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."MLK 4/3/68