Why does it always take a Bill Mahr or someone to point out the other candidates' wacky pasts?

[Honeycombe8]

I mean...how IS it, exactly, that no one saw past footage of O'Donnell's appearances, to dig up her witchcraft and wacky past?

How is that no Democratic Party leader did the homework to find this crap out? That is a big story that should've been pointed out to the voters.

[grilled onions]

1. Like You Said Doesn't ANYONE DO Their Homework?

With the internet at ones fingertips as well as oodles of other resources today why are their so many stories,quotes,interviews,skeletons that are never revealed except by the very few that remembered it,saw it,saved it on footage or in print? At a time when every ounce of political ammo is needed right now we cannot afford to be so lazy as to take their comments,bios,and speeches at face value. We know better. One doesn't even have to trip them up. The facts are there on the cutting room floor. All one has to do is put them together. Alarms should be sailing thru every dems office when a webiste mysteriously goes down or when someone back pedals and refuses to be part of a mini interview--especially on FAUX! If they aren't even willing to speek to their own choir there are bigger stories lurking under the surface. Shame on you Dems who are waiting for the big stories,waiting for the stump speeches,waiting for the votes to be tabulated. Get out there now before it's too late!!!

[Bitwit1234]

2. BECAUSE and I am quoting CNN

Isn't it unfair to point out O'Donnells past. I mean they are so busy pointing out something the Democrats did when they were teens they don't have time to dig into important issues of a republicans immediate present and past.

[Warpy]

3. In any totalitarian country, only the comedians are permitted

to tell the truth. This was as true in old monarchies that sported court fools as it is now when the best political interviewers are David Letterman and Jon Stewart, both comedians.

Why do you think I turned the news off for the last time in 2004? They're not permitted to tell us anything. You want to find out what's going on in this country, watch comedians, watch cartoons, watch just about anything but the news.

That's why it took Bill Maher to point out that O'Donnell is crazy.

[DCKit]

4. I'm just happy he's not on hiatus right now.

The (R)s, NeoCons, Teabaggers, et. al., always seem to be at their wackiest when Stewart, Colbert and Mahr are on break.

[notesdev]

5. Three reasons

1) This is going to help her cred with the evangelicals, not hurt it
2) It looks really petty to be going after something she did as a kid and has made no effort to hide
3) It just makes her look like a normal person, not some managed-for-TV personality.

Consider how many people here could withstand this level of scrutiny without having something you have posted, texted, put on Facebook, tweeted about, etc. getting blown out of proportion and painting you as a crazy person? The old politics of personal destruction are tired and failing; if you want to win, do it on the issues, everything else that is tried against this woman is going to backfire.

[COLGATE4]

6. I'm afraid you're right. The Fundies will accept her word that

she has 'repented' from her 'teen-age experiment' with witchcraft and has now found Jeebus. Problem solved. And since we're not adult enough to accept her sincere repentance, WE'RE the petty persons here. Let Bill Mahr do it as far as he can, but we shouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

[Honeycombe8]

9. I don't mean make it the MAJOR thing against her....

but a sly crack every now and then, pointing to her dabbling in witchcraft in the past, perhaps in response to a particular question, would've served her opposition well, and would maybe serve the Dem candidate well. Then when people ask, is it fair to bring up someone's far away past that way?, the candidate can just say, look...it was a humorous retort in response to a question, you're the one making it a big deal. Etc., etc.

I had a good ol' time when I was a teen and a few years beyond. But I never dabbled in witchcraft, or knew anyone that did. That is really BIZARRE. That is NOT what average teens do when they experiment. A past of trying out a few drugs? Millions have that. Millions have traffic tickets, maybe a teen shoplifting experience, etc. But witchcraft? That is TRULY BIZARRE.

The average person does not dabble in witchcraft. If anyone had suggested to me to dabble in witchcraft, or anyone I knew for that matter, we would've viewed it the same as asking us to dabble in the white supremacist movement. That's how BIZARRE that is. (remember...this was decades before the "goth" movement.)

Yes, it's fair game to point out someone BIZARRE past. It shows a mindset. How important it is, that is to be determined by each voter. But NOT to point out something that is that bizarre is not doing one's duty to voter to inform.

[LoZoccolo]

7. Republican leaders don't take that as their job either. n/t

[HughBeaumont]

8. Possibly the same reason "no one sees" 300-500,000 people protesting war in D.C.

It's because the corptocracy learned their lessons from the 60s. They have to work overtime to derail and correct what happened in 2008, in terms of their ability to preserve the massive wealth advantage they have over everyone else now. If O'Donnell was a Democrat, you could count on such footage being sampled over and over again, a la "The Dean Scream".

Never underestimate the power of One Big TV Eye on a population that shares the same brain.

[chillspike]

10. Because it happened on HIS SHOW

Of course, he is going to know better than anyone who was on his own show. I can't remember who was on The Daily Show 2 days ago. Never mind years ago.