************* OFFICIAL DEM RESPONSE THREAD #1 ***************

[Skinner]

(This is the thread formerly titled "Kaine on.")

[Nikki Stone 1]

1. He was a missionary?

Hmmm

[morffin]

133. and they say

we dont have a position!

[Jeanette in FL]

2. "Poor Choices and Bad Management"

[rodeodance]

108. Tim dissed how the Fed gov is screwing up--leaving a mess to our

kids and grandkids.

[HillDem]

3. Ugh...

Eyebrow....

[katamaran]

4. Yeah, he's a Saturday Night Live skit waiting to happen

[Tinksrival]

Rogue eyebrow

I'll have to listen without looking or I won't pay attention! Ha! Make it stop!

[krkaufman]

119. Yeah, that eyebrow is ridiculous. Makes him look silly. n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

89. Someone on DU was hilarious.

They said, "That eyebrow has its own agenda."

[hedda_foil]

5. He's an absolutely terrible speaker.

Horrible.

[Joe the Revelator]

9. Give the kid a break....

they rushed him into this.

[Pirate Smile]

10. I've liked it so far.

[Midlodemocrat]

163. He is spot on with all the points he is making.

I love Tim Kaine.

[d_b]

6. Is this Bush's younger brother?

Get this fucking tool off of my T.V.

[Coexist]

7. whats with the goofy half=smile?

[Roxy66]

23. This is not a time to have a smirk on your face....these are serious times

[Jeanette in FL]

8. I'm Sorry, this is weak

Tell me why I am wrong.

[Joe the Revelator]

14. If nothing else its good press for warner nt

[TornadoTN]

21. I hate this, and I really like Kaine

Not the type of face you want out there after the SOTU.

Kaine has a great message, but this is forced and very stale. Definately not what Kaine does best. This is what happens when someone else writes your speech that doesn't have a clue about the speaker.

[proud patriot]

11. Well so far so good

:shrug:

[frankly_fedup2]

12. Best managed state (yes, our budget is balanced), we are fiscally

responsible, and we pay our bills. Want to know how we in Virginia do it.

They tax the FU** out of us.

[kevinbgoode]

177. and you burn your gay residents for fuel.

n/t

[jsamuel]

13. nothing against the guy, but he is talking as fast as Bush...

:boring:

[upi402]

15. better than the Pelosi mummy one. put the eyebrow down man

[NRaleighLiberal]

16. Seems like a nice guy. In this climate, nice guys finish last. Can't

we learn anything? Rove must be rolling in his sty

[Pithy Cherub]

17. Is his eyebrow the only thing that's animated?

He's a total sleep aide! :boring:

[Tinksrival]

28. Make it stop!

All I hear is Blah Blah Blah Blah and Blah

[rodeodance]

44. Xena did the eyebrow thing also. any fans out there?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

175. Xena had other ass etts that nade her

Much more interesting than this snooze. No wonder Dems keep loosing.

[Nikki Stone 1]

18. Why this guy?

Is Virginia being spotlighted because of Mark Warner?

[otohara]

25. DLC'er - My Guess

keeps talking about Republican and Democrat's workin together -

[frankly_fedup2]

57. No. It's because we are the only state in the country who has a

balanced budget, we are not in debt, plus we are fiscally responsible.(thanks to Mark Warner one-term Governor like he promised). Tim Kaine was the Lt. Governor under Warner (who is going to run in 08).

Mostly VA government is a mixed bunch of Dems and Republicans working together to get something done.

Mostly though, we get along.

[soothsayer]

91. ALL politicians should be limited to one term. I love that about

my commonwealth.

[wordpix2]

157. I agree: strict term limits. Or we get gov of the incumbents, by the in-

cumbents, for the incumbents

[librechik]

148. Tim is a new face, thus no partisan baggage to target him with

how could the dems use a presidential hopeful (Warner, Hillary) without the speech being automatically dissed? I wish they had used Murtha, instead of hiding their heads in the sand like good little boys and girls.

Feh. we are so screwed.

[Midlodemocrat]

164. Why not this guy?

[otohara]

19. Good Eyebrow Action

going on!

[carolinalady]

24. LMAO nt

[Vulture]

168. I think he has a live weasel stapled to his forehead...

Seriously, that eyebrow action was... disconcerting.

[upi402]

Please, bring out Gore as a closer

[calmblueocean]

20. I think Kaine is doing good!

I can definitely see the moderate conservative members of my family connecting with what he says.

[mzmolly]

110. You nailed it! He *politely* laid out Bush's failures on taxes, the

environment, Iraq etc.

Kaine will not be painted as an "angry liberal."

[Pirate Smile]

22. Geez, some of you guys are hostile.

[jsamuel]

27. I don't have anything against him, but I could hear everyone in my neighbo

rhood simultaneously change the channel

[Pirate Smile]

56. Well, that happens every time with a response. Frankly, these

always suck so by that standard I think he is doing fine.

[frankly_fedup2]

87. Isn't that the truth. They don't even know anything about Tim Kaine or

Mark Warner and are basing their judgements on his eyebrow. He is not going to run for president (for a while anyway).

Wow, on CSPAN a neocon said Kaine was bashing everything Bush said.

No one listens to anything.

[Virginian]

139. Kaine ran the cleanest campaign I have seen lately, and he WON!

His neo-con rival tried to pull all the usual republican dirty tricks and the GOP got national help to try to get their base stirred up. It didn't work against Kaine. He just good-guyed his way to a victory.

We aren't evil like the Republicans and we can't out-mean the meanest guys in town.

[Catchawave]

26. Kaine's doing well....go Timmy !

[Clark2008]

86. I love Tim, Catch, but... this was boring.

I am both a Tennessean and a Virginian... and, while I danced at his election, I have to say this was BORING.

[Catchawave]

105. CNN's giving him high marks.

DU's a tough room :hi:

[Clark2008]

112. CNN is giving him high marks?

Well, guess I was accurate, then.

CNN sucks.

;)

[wordpix2]

158. msnbc with Tweety Bird says he was boring, not hard hitting

I liked him but he was staring at the monitor to the side, the teleprompter should have been straight ahead and not to the side.

Just my opinion

[NRaleighLiberal]

29. We severely overestimate the attention span and intelligence of

those we need to reach. Too many messages, too many words. I would have rather seen someone from our side come out succinctly, on a few messages - and swinging!

[carolinalady]

35. agree- one of my favorite soap boxes! n/t

[NRaleighLiberal]

36. He is doing a Mr. Rogers....we need more of a Mr. T for this stuff.

[sandnsea]

124. He's very succinct

Nice rational indictment with nice rational solutions. Not everybody is ready to burn Washington down you know.

[loudsue]

178. You mean like Howard Dean, Wes Clark, Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, et al

I think we've got some REALLY good guys on our side, they just never get on TeeVee for the good parts -- they're always edited out to make them sound too boring or too "elitist".

:kick::kick::kick:

[jonas_stradlater]

30. I can't get over his looks

It's shallow but jesus, put down that eyebrow and wipe that fucking smirk off your face, Kaine. Plus, where is the outrage? I wanna see someone angry and forceful. Kaine's probably a good guy but this is LAME.

[Joe the Revelator]

34. He's nailing them on Iraq...

what more do you want from him?

[jonas_stradlater]

103. Maybe I'm just still pissed from the speech

But my first impression was that he was trying to sell me a used car.

[Liberal_Art]

138. Nailing them with what?

He is saying the SAME stuff that we have been saying for the last 3 years. No one is paying attention to it anymore. We don't need the same Blah, Blah, Blah, We need a plan.

[calmblueocean]

37. Everyone who can be outraged already is

You have to connect with the people who WON'T get outraged, but can still be brought over to your side

[Roxy66]

51. Can I wake up yet!!!! OMFG>>>>This is fucking WEAK!!!!!

[Nevernose]

54. A little more passion couldn't hurt

[Midlodemocrat]

166. Get over it, dude.

Kaine is awesome. He is laying out the Bush plan as the crap it is. Who gives a fuck what he looks like?

[patricia92243]

31. Seems o.k. to me. nt

[messiah]

32. another stiff uncharismatic response

[greyl]

39. It looks like patient pleading and rational info to me. nt

[bagimin]

33. he's partially surprised!

[Tinksrival]

45. HHHHAAAA HHHAAA !!!!

[tgnyc]

38. zzzzzzz..........

[JusticeForAll]

40. ugh...We can do better?

Then why didn't we find someone better to deliver this damn response?

I am getting so sick

[nickinSTL]

185. agreed...

if they wanted a moderate, why not someone with speaking ability like Obama?

Of course, if they actually wanted to answer, there are lots of possibilities, Gore, Kennedy, etc.

[DemonGoddess]

41. They shoulda picked

Gore to do this.

[Midlodemocrat]

167. I love Al Gore, but he LOST.

Tim Kaine WON. Big difference. He is doing great.

[Nevernose]

42. He's better on what he knows better; and a crappy teleprompter

His intro was terrible, more confidence on education.

His visual cues -- the look down, the eyebrow thing -- not very good, they were scripted, and SEEMED that way.

The teleprompter, IMO, is causing some jerkiness.

Not very emphatic where he needs to be, like on "there's a better way."

I like what he says, just not how he says it. I still have hope for the guy, though -- give him a few more years, and this Kaine (sp?) guy may be a force to reckon with.

[NRaleighLiberal]

43. Should be a simple retort. The Pugs are corrupt. They lied, and continue

to lie. Chimp and his policies do not serve most of you well. Rinse and repeat. Over and Over.

[rodeodance]

58. says dems of leading the way----well,,, if they shout loud enough!

[Wordie]

46. FYI...site with media tools for fighting SOTU spin, here:

Media Center SWAT Team

We give you all the tools and resources you need at our Media Swat Team Center to send a letter-to-the-editor directly to your local newspaper, receive call-in numbers for national radio shows, email one of the pundits on the cable news channels and call into the Democrats line at C-SPAN. Only have a minute, click on the links to the online polls that are available to vote on the President's performance. Fight back against Republican Spin Machine Now!

http://www.dccc.org/rubberstampcongress/howrubberstampshurtyou.html

[Sydnie]

47. this should be Gore or Rangel or Boxer or Kerry

this guy is not known all across the country. Not compelling to listen to.

[hjash]

48. Scarrrrrry....

His eyebrow is scary. . .

this is the best the dems could do?

sad. :(

[Lexingtonian]

49. There's no response in this "response".

Somebody needs to get fired over this.

[carolinalady]

65. He stipulated that he writes his own material but he did have

some help. However, Shrub did not provide a lot to rebut. War on terra...be afraid.....

[Nikki Stone 1]

50. He sounds nice and unthreatening to middle of the road voters

This is the beginning of the 2006 campaign.

[FogerRox]

71. Randi Rhodes should have done it

[Nevernose]

MOTR voters want someone who BELIEVES

That's why so many of them voted for Shrub. A little more emotion couldn't have helped.

[CornField]

78. I agree -- he was calm and reasonable

If (and that's a big if) there were any centrists still listening, they'll like what they heard.

[yourout]

52. This is lame and uninspiring......we can do better than this.

Just does not grab you.

[rusty charly]

75. *

"We Can Do Better"

[qanda]

53. He is BORING!

He is stumbling and stuttering. This is pitiful!

[NRaleighLiberal]

55. Folks....sorry, but we are in DEEP SHIT. This approach DOES NOT WORK

[JFN1]

126. Damn right!

"Talk softly and carry a big stick."

But don't fucking forget you're carrying a big stick!!

Milktoast just doesn't cut it...

[calmblueocean]

59. WTF do you folks want?

Geez, anyone remember the trainwreck that was Pelosi's response?

I can't believe DU sometimes. Kaine is doing great work here, explaining our positions extremely well in a way that doesn't alienate people. If you can't see that, you're not looking.

And the eyebrow keeps people watching. ;)

[Joe the Revelator]

64. Why don't we let Cindy Sheehan give the response!

That will bring people to our side!!!1:eyes:

[rusty charly]

83. cindy's been arrested

wore the wrong t-shirt

[Virginian]

135. Cindy was arrested by the fashion police for wearing wrong shirt. n/t

[rodeodance]

66. He is Ok--rather quiet in tone is my problem.

[qanda]

74. He should have practiced this speech

And spoke from his heart. I'm looking for some inspiration and that was terrible. I was hoping that he would do well and I'm sorry that he didn't.

[erinlough]

84. You're right, I don't know what they should do anymore.........

but I do know I don't want more of the same, praying "earnestly" for bi-partisanship...hasn't got us anywhere so far. We will, I'm afraid, have to wait a while longer for something else to come around and turn the tide. I don't think this will do it.

[Pirate Smile]

122. LOL. I hadn't thought about that.

I think he did fine.

People not sold on the Dems but unhappy with Bush sometimes think that the Dems just attack Bush. Kaine's response was trying to make the sale to them, I think.

[JFN1]

131. How about passion?

Our response should elicit a response from someone other than SNL. Seriously, who are they afraid they're going to piss off - Republicans? Puh-lease...

[fooj]

149. A passionate response would have been quite effective!

Welcome to DU!

Peace.

[Idioteque]

60. Culture of partisanship any cronyism?

What happened to "culture of *corruption* and cronyism?"

[Nevernose]

61. Bill Clinton he is not....

n/t

[Joe the Revelator]

Did you see Clintons Keynote Address at the 88 convention? nt

[Ovett]

62. And so we pray.

pray for a new speaker... we can do better than Tim Kaine.

[NRaleighLiberal]

63. First Kaine Bingo Word...SERVICE. helllllppppp!!!!!!!!!!!

[mb7588a]

67. jon meacham on msnbc says

"This is a good bit of what's wrong with the Dems"

bleh.

[54anickel]

68. Sounds pretty good if the intended audience is Repubs. But gads,

I just went into the other room to get a glimpse - terrible! The eyebrow, the fake smile, looks like a used car salesman (no offense meant to anyone in that profession).

[Sydnie]

69. Frist and Obama on with Brian Williams

Frist was taking notes on blivet's** speech tonight.

[FlaGranny]

70. Oh boy!

What else can I say? He's not bad if you don't look at him. His eyebrow is driving me crazy, that along with that continuous smile and soft, sweet voice. He doesn't project a very commanding presence.

[Tinksrival]

72. OH Yes

God Bless America!

[Roxy66]

73. WE NEEDED OBAMA!!! I am so sick of this weak shit!!!

[Roxy66]

79. We needed him for our response!!

[Pillager]

81. Second that

Kaine was a bit dull.

[rodeodance]

82. Dems who have been Presidents have been centrist (host)

[PegDAC]

98. Dem Response

They should have had Wes Clark give it again this year. Check out his Real State of the union message at www.securingamerica.com!
:patriot: A true American Patriot!

[Tinksrival]

123. I'll second that!

Wes had true fire for the America I know and love and miss. Vision and Leadership, and true solutions for all of the blivets messes!

edit to add: And Passion! Wes has a true passion for whats right!

[frankly_fedup2]

101. The Democratic leadership has been pushing Obama to the front

ever since he was elected. They are going to burn him out with everyone if they don't stop pushing him all the time.

[wordpix2]

162. they didn't put him out front tonight, they should have

[Turn CO Blue]

116. Please. Have you really disected Obama's speeches?

He is a Centrist all the way. That is his philosophy. It is what he ran on, and his mission in life -- to pull everyone to the middle.

[PVK]

132. Or the Tedster. Or, better yet, KERRY. n/t

[wordpix2]

161. agree. Obama is the best orator, put him out there and let's hear him

[jsamuel]

76. CBS: Kaine is a VEEERY conservative Dem, he made some religious references

OMG... :banghead:

[Pirate Smile]

111. Yes, because we can't cede all voters of faith to the Republicans.

We can't or we won't win.

A lot of them are not RW'ers so why would we not try to speak to them? Please, stop taking it as an act of hostility against your views just becase a Democrat mentions it.

[jsamuel]

136. did you read my post?

CBS said that.

I was highlighting the stupidity of CBS. A man makes a few religious references and all of a sudden he is a "VEEEEERY conservative Dem."

I wasn't criticizing Kaine. Don't be so sensitive.

[Pirate Smile]

142. Sorry. I thought it was your opinion. I've seen a lot of people get

upset about those things in the past.

Yeah, CBS, his opposition to the Death Penalty would make him a real RW'er.

[Pillager]

77. Wonder if that eyebrow hurts?

It was better than the onesided yelling match I had with King George during the SOTUA.

[Tristan]

80. They let dems get pushed around

Speeches like that wont make change...Im sorry...thats a weak ass speech..

[rodeodance]

85. Feinstein gives him a B--msnbc now.

[rodeodance]

90. says Jr did lttle for health care in this speech--a concern for many.

[rusty charly]

I give him an F-

[Sydnie]

88. Frist talking about obstruction - Obama up now

Williams asking what he didn't hear

2/3rds of country think we are moving in the wrong direction

fuel, education ... no bold approach asking us to meet this challenge together.

Can't we do better?

"dems rose in sarcastic applause" <-- Brian Williams

[rodeodance]

95. saying needs to get warrant . Period!

[rodeodance]

99. cindy wore T-shirt with # of dead on her T-shirt. Diane said that will

stand on its own.

[rodeodance]

102. it was kinda cute--Diane did not want to diss Cindy.

[wordpix2]

165. My impression was that DiFi was laughing at the thought of Cindy running

against her.

Kind of arrogant, I thought.

[54anickel]

107. Was that the brew-ha during SOTU? Dems sarcastic applause?

I wasn't watching, only listening. Have the TV on in the other room...learned it's expensive for me to watch Bush on TV :blush:

[SPKrazy]

92. "There is a better way"

Spoken with no emotion, and bad inflection.

This guy said little, sounded trite, and looked goofy with the rogue eyebrow.

Is there no one that the Dems could have gotten that would have been better?

[Sydnie]

93. Russert says the one thing that will get done this year - lobbying reform.

otherwise, we will all just keep bickering!

[Tatiana]

94. If we were targeting moderates, we should have gone with Obama.

We could have used a bit more charisma and forcefulness in our response. No offense to Kaine; I think he's done the best that he could given the circumstances.

[Catchawave]

96. Boy, speak about working a tough room....LOL

Kaine did just fine.

[Sydnie]

100. Gergen agrees with you

Begala does too. hummmm .....

[BootinUp]

97. amazing

Maybe you all that have such a prob with the Governor should start planning your future attacks so you can have him replaced, with a Republican.

As for me, I like his record already, and the speech was fine. A hell of a lot better than the competition.

[Tristan]

104. Speech Problem

I think whoever wrote the speech did a bad job, thats all, it didnt make me go "YES! Thats it! Give it to bush!", I have nothing against kaine, he did the best he could with what he had.

[carolinalady]

109. Kaine wrote it-condition of his prior to agreeing to doing the

response.

[Tarc]

I felt the complete opposite

It was a well-written speech, but the delivery left a lot to be desired. Then again, our last great president (Clinton, of course) was the absolute master at public discourse, so maybe we're just unconsciously setting te bar a bit too high.

[Neshanic]

106. The DLC anger management seminars are obviously working.

[SaveElmer]

113. Kaine did an excellent job...

Hit the right notes, pointed out the areas (there are so many) where Bush has failed, and in contrast to * looked and spoke like an adult.

[Turn CO Blue]

114. Totally agree with you - and I disagree with 90% posts on this thread

[mzmolly]

117. I agree. While I feel like I'm ready to explode, we need someone who

"appears" calm and resolute. Kaine politely nailed Bush's failures in many areas.

I would liked to have seen a bit more hutzpa, but on the other hand, I think we needed a different approach.

[sandnsea]

127. Good for the audience

I honestly think some people need to travel or something as they seem to only know people who appreciate screaming at the top of their lungs. The only reason the media was able to run with the Dean scream is because most people don't like that sort of behavior from their elected officials. It's fine if you do, but you can't expect everybody to be like that. Kaine hit his target audience, security moms and senior citizens.

[Midlodemocrat]

171. Totally and completely agree with you.

Tim Kaine did an incredible job refuting what the Resident said. I thought he was awesome.

And, to boot, he is my state's new gov!!!

woot!!!!

[karlrschneider]

115. Nice guy probably. Horrible spokesman.

Not sure if he's on our side.

[Virginian]

151. Trust me, he grows on you.

I thought he was kind of goofy at first, but during his debates, he showed everyone that he is the adult. Maybe he doesn't always make a good first impression, but he is a leader. I am proud to call him my Governor. You don't find too many public servants in politics anymore. I'm sorry so many of you can't see past his eyebrow.

[Virginian]

155. I also think Kaine and Mark Warner paved the way for the BIG success

in Virginia today.

In a special election (two weeks of campaigning) a Democrat has walked away with a state Senate seat from a traditionaly red, Loudon county, Virginia.

Two weeks does not give the candidate very long to get known, so a lot of the votes came from people voting for the party, not the man. A red county, Loudon, went for the Democratic candidate, Mark Herring with an amazing 60% of the vote!

[Penndems]

173. Agree, and it's ridiculous

Outrage and indignation over Cindy Sheehan's tee shirt. Adolescent ridicule and sarcasm over Tim Kaine's eyebrow. Just flippin' unbelievable.

I expected to see a more rational, serious and mature discussion of the Democratic response to the SOTU than this. :(

[Midlodemocrat]

174. Oh, he is.

He is truly a dem. maybe not the Clinton in terms of public speaking, but who is?

The guy was only inaugurated a couple of weeks (?) ago. I like him. Not as liberal as me, but a helluva lot better than the alternative.

[Kni7es]

118. Needs some practice with his speeches

Poor Kaine looked scared to death up there, and I don't blame him.

[renate]

120. what I saw looked fine

The eyebrow was maybe a little distracting, sure, but from reading the comments here anybody who hadn't seen him would think he was mugging like Jack Nicholson.

I also think a fire-and-brimstone response wouldn't have worked. If viewers believed *'s platitudes about being bipartisan (I didn't/couldn't watch the SOTU itself but I listened to the commentary afterwards), we would have looked immature and obstructionist if Kaine had been too angry. Also, anger would have been out of place after he started off with the religious stuff--any gains that might have been made with people who are genuinely religious and not just goose-stepping would have gone poof. I think his approach--"why isn't your government taking care of you like you have a right to expect"--is more appealing to people who are starting to catch on to the fact that they have been left behind.

Although * isn't popular right now, I don't think the majority of Americans are as angry as we are, so it's good for us to look calm and in control, not stamping our feet.

[Blue_Tires]

121. he's Walt Disney, and we needed Keyser Soze

obviously this was supposed to be a non-threatening appeal to that 'great middle' out there in the red states...hope it actually pays off with some real votes this time

[flashdebadge]

125. I was disappointed in the choice of Kaine.

Why not Kerry or Pelosi? I'm sure Kaine has done some good things in his state but I wasn't impressed with his presentation. His facts were correct but the presentation was not polished. I kept waiting for him to break in to a aluminum siding and gutters sales pitch. Sorry but he just didn't seem confident to me. Not like Kerry would have.

[Joe the Revelator]

129. People who didn't vote for Kerry 2 years ago...

wouldn't be swayed by having Kerry speak now.


FRESH BLOOD people FRESH BLOOD

[xTNliberalx]

128. He did as well as he could. I think the dems are trying to avoid seeming

"shrill" and giving the wingnuts any reason to attack him in that respect. That being said, he needs to give the peoples eyebrow back to The Rock. I have to admit it was freaking me out a little.

[ColonelTom]

130. Through hellfire and brimstone, it's Kaine! And he's BORING.

I don't know about y'all, but I zoned out about 5 minutes into Kaine's speech. The Democrats are so afraid of "anointing" a 2008 candidate now that they're pulling from the B- or even C-squad for perhaps their most widely viewed national speech of an election year. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

[flashdebadge]

134. Passion is important and it was hard to detect in his response.

I believe Kaine was chosen to put a more moderate face on then DNC response. Moderate by someones standards. But in the attempt to be "moderate" we sounded rather tame as though the fiery passion has dissolved. A sudden change comes off as canned.

[Neshanic]

137. Hard to detect. He had the passion of a wet noodle.

[wordpix2]

170. I would have liked to hear Feingold. Why not hear people who aren't well

known? It was nice seeing a new face and hearing what he had to say. Although I wish Kaine had hit harder.

[PBass]

I like tough Dems, and if it had been me I would have been yelling

because I'm so frustrated.

However I doubt if that would be as productive as a calm and thorough explanation, in this context. And we NEED "productive". I think he did a pretty good job.

Tough doesn't necessarily mean "shrill" and I think he made some good points, while avoiding the stereotype of the angry liberal who just hates Bush, but has no actual ideas of his own.

My 2 cents... Tough crowd here, though!

[Pirate Smile]

143. How about next year Sen. Paul Hackett delivers the response?

I could handle that.

[Midlodemocrat]

169. Well, if laying out the truth is boring to you.

Good night sir.

Tim Kaine did a great job.

[ColonelTom]

183. Politics is theater, and that was high-school, not Broadway.

Hell, you or I could have given a speech "laying out the truth" too, and NO ONE WOULD HAVE LISTENED. The messenger is at least as important as the message. And if you don't get that, then "good night sir" to you, and enjoy waking up on November 8 with a solidly Republican House and Senate again.

[Cugel the Clever]

140. Kaine exceeded my expectations

I thought it was a successful response- certainly Centrist, but that is what it takes to win. 2006 is going to find America desperate to achieve "bipartisanship". Even lifelong Republicans are seeing that one-party rule is not what is best for this country.

I also took Bush's central theme to be saying "Let's work together". Of course, he is lying, as usual.

As a Virginian, I am proud of Tim Kaine's response. He seemed straight-forward and easy to comprehend. Perhaps the fools who continue to support BushCo were hypnotized by his arched brow and actually listened. A Dem firebrand would never have a chance of communicating with that herd.

[mdmc]

141. I sure did like that response!

I thought, "thats not gonna play well with the nader hater crowd at du."

[balzac]

144. We need better leaders.

Someone who chooses the right words and delivers them with authority. I see the cowardly logic of the establishment Democrats. They just don't want to give Bush anything to seize hold of as he descends into the abyss.

My impulse would be to push his head under with a boot, rather than wait for him to submerge.

The Democrats are all about timidity and the absence of leadership. The Republicans are boldly and openly satanic, baby-killing, heartless, christian-taliban terrorists.

[balzac]

145. Really, it should have been Cindy Sheehan.

[balzac]

147. Even Michael Moore would have been fine.

[Singular73]

146. Aweful response. Put Gore up there.

[fooj]

150. After this week, what do we get? Howdy fricking Doody!

Peace.

[flashdebadge]

156. i needed a laugh about now. Thanks

[INdemo]

153. About the time we think the Democratic Leadership is starting to

get a grasp on the issues they pull some stupid maneuver like this and have Kaine give the response. What is wrong with these people?

[flashdebadge]

172. You say we need "better leaders". Better than who? Who do you suggest?

[MadisonProgressive]

152. Kaine didn't thrill me

but then again, I don't think he intended to make points with me. This is an opportunity to talk to a huge audience and preaching to the choir would have been disasterous. We would have loved it, but to what benefit other than our egos? No, this speech is not meant for us. I think it may have been very useful to helping us reach our goals, which should be winning the hearts and minds of the fence sitters.

[Virginian]

186. If you can keep your head while all around you are losing theirs...

This man was attacked for his religious beliefs by his Republican opponent. That was almost too hard to believe.

His opponent was loud and sputtering the GOP talking points in the debates. Tim Russert (debate moderator) caught the opponent on a flip-flop and the opponent didn't even appear to be aware of it. Tim Kaine didn't attack, he just smiled and raised BOTH eyebrows.

He ran the cleanest campaign I have seen in a long time. He kept telling people who he is and what he plans to do for us as our Governor. His opponent tried to smear him with every trick in Karl Roves book. Nothing stuck. It is really a pity that the Dems, here, are trying to do what Rove couldn't. We shouldn't eat our own.

[JusticeForAll]

154. lol Bill Clinton should have been dragged back

and he should have stared into the camera and delivered a speech that admonished the American public for allowing the Republican party and this corrupted Administration ruin all of the good works and peace and prosperity that his own had brought in. Remember when times were good? Remember when the COmmander in Chief had yolur best interests in mind?

The message should have included a reminder to remember those feelings in November 2006 - it is the American public's last chance to make a change.

[flashdebadge]

160. well he would have to have been "dragged back" as you put it b/c

he is to busy hanging out with Daddy Bush for some crazy reason. What is with that? How will that play when Hillary starts her bid for the white house?

[WLKjr]

159. And the Question Is:

What are we going to do about it? Sit down and start to have a unified party leadership and start getting local, or are we all just going to become pacifists?

[LibDemAlways]

176. The DLCers still think that what

sells is a non-threatening guy who talks about making nice with the repukes and ends with a big "God Bless America." We need someone who can get on there and sound passionate about the reasons why the Bush Crime Family is bad for America and changing direction this November is vital. Kaine was not up to it.

[ColonelTom]

184. Yep. "Republican Lite" again. Now with 75% less charisma! nt

[Nothing Without Hope]

179. Ariana Huffington on Dem response to SOTU: "MY WORST FEARS REALIZED"

And it's really about the DLC position as Bush enablers, not just the mealy-mouthed response to the SOTU. Kaine is touted as a Conservative Dem, a "strong Christian," who has agreed with Bush about "cut and run" being a "horrible message" re Iraq.

And Pelosi and Reid chose HIM as the Dem spokesman for the SOTU.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x291553
thread title (2-1-06 GD): Ariana Huffington on Dem response to SOTU: "MY WORST FEARS REALIZED"

[bklyncowgirl]

180. The theme wasn't bad--delivery sucked

It was sort of like a speech penned by Howard Dean delivered by Mr. Rogers.

Couldn't they have gotten someone a little more animated--Brian Schweitzer comes to mind as a good spokesman who's not a North-eastern liberal.

[Imalittleteapot]

181. Instead of "We can do better." how about

"We WILL do better"?

[stray cat]

182. We can do better ! I think it was a good move

Get someone outside of the partisan senate who can show that if a state like VA can do it right - so can a democratic led country.