8 Years Later, Donna Brazile Redeems Herself
Since she botched Al Gore’s run against Bush in 2000 Donna Brazile has been on my shit list. Well she just got off it.
“What would Democrats gain by taking this debate any further, especially when the party is now engaged in the kind of polarizing politics that we once denounced the GOP for using for partisan gain. What can be won by tainting the process, arguing the rules are now unfair, or worse, the Republican rule of winner-takes-all should have guided the Democrats as well? All this fuss is simply about saving face and waiting to see whether some awful thing tarnishes the presumptive nominee. It’s shameful, short-sighted, mean-spirited and morally unacceptable. Now, I said it.
To my longstanding friends in the feminist community who have called out the media as being culturally sexist and misogynistic, it is time to help educate the American public about the corrosive impact of sexism in politics and elsewhere. But we can have this dialogue without using divisive language and political tactics that further threaten to divide our country and party. If another woman comes up to me in an airport and suggests Obama should wait his turn, I might scream, “Stop it!” This is not about who should be first, it’s about who has the most delegates and who might make the best president of the United States.
The most tragic thing I have heard is this need to link the Obama camp to pundits inside the media who have used the “math” historically used to call an election with attempts to push Hillary out of the race. After all, when the senator held a lead in every national poll in 2007, the media described her groundbreaking campaign as being inevitable. No one called that sexist.”
-Via Kos.
Our esteemed host wrote:
Why would you blame Miss Brazile? Seems to me that the person you ought to be blaming is the candidate himself.
Lord knows Gore didn’t do himself any favors hiring Brazile and running away from Bill Clinton.
Gore’s campaign was a real mess — veering from one poll tested this to another poll tested thing never really capitalizing on the real strengths of Gore himself. A campaign pointed at a million different interest groups and not to the country. An old school Dem Presidential campaign at a time when 1000 Points of Interests was rapidly losing its old magic. But the fact that Gore sanctioned all of that crap does make him very culpable. The current public Al Gore is fantastic and I held out hope until mid-January (when I had to turn in my absentee ballot) that he would jump in the race.
As for Donna — this may be the smartest thing she has publicly done in her career.
Calling out the media as being misogynist is a worthy thing and she should have been doing that from Day 1. Expect on Day 1 she was the inevitable frontrunner and there was no percentage in it. Once she was running behind, the sexism argument became a thing to hide behind and a thing to rally the old school feminists with. Confronting David Shuster and MSNBC over his comments re: Chelsea Clinton should have been SOP all along. She was in a position to make that argument quite forcefully heard and really should have.
Last point — in my RL I have noticed a remarkable intersection between the women who are in their Hillary or Bust mode and the women who, a decade or so back, were vehemently dismissive of HRC saying that they could never respect a woman who could stay with a philandering husband. To be very clear to our coterie of low information voters — this is not a criticism of Bill or Hill (I used to be one of their biggest defenders on this score), but an observation on the political consistency of some of HRC’s supporters.
Sorry, but Donna Brazile lost all credibility when she essentially told HRC supporters that the Dem party has changed and they really don’t need us anymore. When she speaks, I hear Charlie Brown’s teacher’s voice.
Getting away from Bill Clinton almost won the race for Gore. Look at the old poll numbers. Link him to Clinton and he sinks. Bush was a great candidate. He had the right message and is someone people can relate to. Bush won, Gore didn’t lose. In fact, Gore was about the only candidate who stood an even chance to beat President Bush in 2004. He, Clark, and Lieberman were the only ones the GOP worried about.
Look Gore caved on Florida and Kerry that wimp caved on the swift boaters makes you think after seeing Kerry’s reaction that i hate to say this but maybe there was a grain of truth behind their charges
And what do we dem’s do put that fuck up Dean in charge of the DNC
And look where that got us the voters choice in Florida get their delegates cut in half while the Super delegates ( Make that party hacks ) get 100%
And what do we dem’s do put that fuck up Dean in charge of the DNC
and the fuck up Dean is credited with an increase in Dem registration in a lot of states
I think it’s more realistic to thank Bush for increased Dem registration in a lot of states.
Dean’s 50 state strategy is a success…..The old school plan of campaigning in the swing states ONLY has just been proven to be passe…..there are Dem offices & Dem staffers in all states…..a national campaign is ready to go….but even better, the down ticket effect will be huge….Clinton could not deliver the down-ticket candidates to office (Bill didn’t either) & the Supers know this….this election is about more than the presidency, it’s about a Dem revival in both chambers…..the 50 state strategy is in place to do that.
Wow. When you guys pick a hero, you really stick by him – fuck reality, it’s all about standing by your man. You’re good for a giggle, I’ll give you that.
Dean and the DNC totally screwed the pooch with this election. 50 states my ass. Anyone who can look at the state of the party and hip, hip, hooray the DNC chair is simply delusional.
The party is completely divided because of the MI & FL debacle. If they had proceeded as they should have, the race would be completely different. Instead, the party is going to nominate the weakest candidate…again. Same shit, different race (before you attack, I mean ‘electoral process’).
But go ahead, guys, carry both Dean and Obama on your shoulders all the way till November. I would expect nothing less.
“Fuck reality” -Dom
YOUR version of reality.
Think about it….you are “fighting” the election war of 2004….the country is more blue now, many red states are purple…the western mountain states are trending Dem (hence the convention in CO)….to run a national campaign based on swing states (Clinton strategy) will not be affective….there are large swaths of people ready to swing, even in red states (Kansas for 1)….for the DNC to have a network & an office & locals who KNOW about the area, in place in ALL states is brilliant.
When this all started I didn’t care who the Dem nominee was….I liked everybody….I was so proud of the Dems for fielding such a diverse & intelligent group of candidates….
I just want to beat the living CRAP out of the REPUBS this year!!! In every election possible at every level possible!!!! That is all I want…..
Why have WE lost sight of that???
….oh please don’t answer me….