Why does Gephardt bash Dean?

[lancemurdoch]

I like Gephardt more than Dean, but why is he spending minute after minute in his speeches bashing Dean? I don't mind if he does it somewhat, but spending half of your time bashing Dean is a big turnoff. I am actually a supporter of Gephardt over Dean, look through my posts. Someone should tell his campaign person to make his comments on Dean short - "I am for working class stuff like being against NAFTA, Dean is a fiscal conservative who does this that and the other". Short and sweet, don't go on and on (and on and on) bashing Dean.

Of course Gephardt hasn't been as bad as some - does Lieberman do anything except bash Dean? Lieberman is like a Bush plant in the campaign. At least Gephardt is usually attacking Dean from the left, or when Dean makes gaffes like the Confederate flag thing. But Gephardt is getting too drawn into the thing - go back to talking about jobs and unions and stuff we care about, let the other clowns bash Dean.

[slinkerwink]

1. Gephardt's desperate, that's all.

:shrug:

[Cocoa]

2. I reject the hypothesis

I've seen him speak a million times and he has a very conventional, if repetitious, speech, which is mostly about Bush.

If he criticizes Dean, it's conventional criticism, not bashing. He doesn't even bash Bush, though he criticizes him strongly.

[TexasPatriot]

3. iowa (nt)

[Tadah]

4. the power of the internet

ummmm... he wanted to show people what the power of the internet can do.... in 2008, I expect to see DeanFacts.com^10th...

Dean ran his campaign like a televangelist and you need graphic evidence to change peoples' minds.

[eileen from OH]

5. Because that kind of thing

is proven to "work" - supposedly. Why did Bush trash McCain? Why did Chambliss bash Cleland? Why did (sorry) Gore bash Bradley. They wouldn't do this kind of negative shit if it didn't WORK. Not with you or me, but the people that run campaigns can cite chapter and verse of the effectiveness of negative ads & bashing other candidates. Why? Again, because they work, at least with the majority of voters who DON'T get beyond the ads,hence the effectiveness and the reliance on bashing. Vicious Cycle City.

Edwards, who is my lock-solid #2 choice at this point, has gone on record as being above this kind of thing and avoided it. Good for him. But, thus far, he doesn't seem to have been rewarded by an upswing in polls, more's the pity.

eileen from OH

[Moderator]

6. Locking...

1. If you start a thread in the General Discussion forum, you must present your opinion in a manner that is not inflammatory, which respects differences in opinion, and which is likely to lead to respectful discussion rather than flaming. Some examples of things which should generally be avoided are: unnecessarily hot rhetoric, nicknames for prominent Democrats or their supporters, broad-brush statements about groups of people, single-sentence "drive-by" thread topics, etc.


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