Every time the Republicans claim Obama is a socialist, simply point out that McCain is a hothead and may not have the temperament to lead the nation. Rove did the ground work for you in 2000. Why let that go to waste?
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[…] And there you have it, in all the glory it deserves- the Clinton way. Throw shit out there, and even if it doesn’t stick and you can’t even SPELL the name, you have weakened your opponent. Glorious, no? I fully expect the next few weeks will be full of this sort of crap, including more false charges of sexism and whatever other garbage they can drag up (the first time I heard of the similarities between Obama’s speeched and those of Patrick’s was in the comments here from a… Clinton supporter- would it surprise anyone if team Hillary is behind the latest attack on Obama in the press?). […]
Ravi
Not just hotheaded, but hotheaded with dictatorial streaks.
Downpuppy
Possibly a Whig with know-nothing tendencies. The Red Scare is over, already.
Scotty
He’s also Bush incarnate. Ever watch one of his stump speeches? Straight up Bush talking points and imagery. My favorite is when he attacks Democrats idea to reform health care/insurance by saying that he wants ‘families to decide, not the government’. I’m fairly certain family decision making will not help those who can’t afford or can’t obtain it based on previous health problems, but it sure does have a nice ring to it.
OxyCon
And now for more Obama news.
Here’s an Obama speech you are all going to love.
Except that isn’t Obama giving it. It’s Duval Patrick.
Who worked on Duval Patrick’s campaign you ask? The same guy pulling the strings for Obmama, David Axelrod.
You’re all being played for a bunch of suckers.
You see, someone with a message is authentic and original.
But Obama, he’s just a huckster reading from the same script that David Axelrod wrote for Deval Patrick.
You’re being played.
Axlerod has already “focus grouped” the “Hope” shpiel and he’s cynically using it on more suckers just like those 30 minute infomercials for weight loss pills.
BTW, I don’t keep track of Deval Patrick, but from what I can gather, it’s seems as though he’s been quite the disaster.
Patrick’s Approval Ratings Take A Nose Dive
by Jon Keller
BOSTON (WBZ) ― An exclusive WBZ Fast Track survey shows Governor Deval Patrick’s job approval rating has taken a major hit. It’s down 20 points in the past month.
Also, I think it should be noted that Obama clone (or is it the other way around?) Deval Patrick is so popular in his state of Massachusetts that Hillary trounced Obama in that Primary.
What do the people of Massachusetts know that the rest of the country hasn’t learned yet?
jake
Given McCane’s age he probably has a few bacon streaks as well.
Jim N
As Matt Welch has pointed out, this isn’t exactly something made up by Karl Rove.
Birdzilla
Like all demacrats BARACK OBAMA is preposing a world poverty tax which wont help the worlds poor but is just what all socialists want
rawshark
Why is socialist a bad word?
myiq2xu
Here’s the problem: When the GOPers say Obama is a socialist, it will get reported and repeated by the media without any attempt to contradict the statement.
When the Democrats respond by saying that McCain is a hothead, it will either not get reported or it will be refuted and become the basis for accusations that the Democrats are playing dirty.
Dennis - SGMM
That it was Obama on the Grassy Knoll?
That Obama put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp?
That you meant to post that at Talk Left?
Kirk Spencer
Oxycon – don’t you think people might, you know, READ the link? And see that Duval’s behaved a lot more like Giuliani than like Obama? And maybe, just maybe, the readers here might have a braincell to spare to realize that this, not their (alleged) mutual svengali, might be more likely cause of his plunge?
sheesh
Scotty
Because its a stepping stone to Communism. Remember, we can’t let the dominoes fall.
demimondian
Hey, OxyConMan…I don’t know if you noticed it when you were trying out the particular attack…but that story about approval ratings? It’s from May of 2007. There’s nothing unusual about an office-holder’s popularity plunging during his first few months in office.
Get back to me in a couple of years, OK?
demimondian
What does socialism have to do with the ongoing financial meltdown?
UnkyT
Jesus, are we only on Chapter 1 of How to Run a Republican Campain? I doubt there has been a single Dem in the last 20 years that has NOT been called a socialist. Surely there is some better name calling to come.
OxyCon
On that brother, I’m praying. On that, I’m praying ALOT.
demimondian
Haven’t you ever *read* the d?mned playbook? Jeebus.
Look, the playbook says “Remember, at the start of the campaign, you have as much money as you can spend. Try everything early on, and see what works. Measure that, and then play whatever wins as hard as you can until you run out of money.”
OxyCon
Can you find me a more recent poll, bud? That’s the only poll I come up with when I use the Google.
I don’t know if you noticed, but there was something of a more recent poll taken in Massachusetts, which I noted earlier. The people of Massachusetts, who once overwhelmingly voted for David Axelrod product Duval Patrick, thoroughly rejected David Axelrod product Barack Obama.
They had seen that act before and it wasn’t so hot the second time around.
And speaking of the “act”…anyone have any comments on Barack Obama’s authenticity, considering the fact that he’s merely reciting Duval Patrick’s speeches? Or are they David Axelrod’s speeches?
Dennis - SGMM
Saw McCain on ABC’s “This Week” a couple of hours ago. He says he’s gonna’ cut the AMT, corporate taxes, estate taxes, make Bush’s tax cuts permanent, etc., etc. etc. Stephanopolous was forbearing enough not to ask McCain what he’d do about budget deficits or how cutting revenues even more would affect them. McCain then went on to deliver a speech about the evils of pork-barrel projects and how he’d stop all of that. Again, the host didn’t buttonhole him about the explosive growth of earmarks in the Republican Congress. He also failed to point out that discretionary spending is a tiny part of the budget.Nothing about entitlements, waste and fraud in government contracting, etc. He allowed the Straight Talk Express to chug unchallenged into the station.
I’m not saying that this is a harbinger of press coverage in the general election but I wouldn’t bet against it.
demimondian
W00t! OxyInContinence pulls a Joke Line (“I have neither the time nor the inclination…”)
Yeah, like, get back to me when you have any evidence, OK?
Meanwhile, the rest of your “argument” is…well, I don’t think it would get far in a rhetoric class. You’ve basically said “Duvall Patrick might have flaws, and he shares a skin color and an advisor with Barack Obama, so Barack Obama would be a bad choice for Democratic nominee.” Even ignoring the racist subtext, which I do with some reluctance, that’s worthy of one thing, and one thing only: mockery.
All I can say is “You’ve come to the right place if you want to be mocked.”
Pug
Obama has certainly progressed from a liberal to a socialist in a hurry. And when did National Journal become the go-to source for who is a liberal? Funny they named John Kerry to that honor in 2004 and Obama in 2008, isn’t it? Anyway, Taylor Marsh, Jeralyn Merritt and Small Tent Democrat are on board with the Republican smear machine already. Bill Press is climbing aboard as well.
I have a feeling all this old-school stuff from the ’80’s isn’t going to be quite as effective as it used to be. People have seen too much of the Republicans for that.
Our 43rd president during the 2006 campaign: : “If the Democrats win, the terrorists win”. He and his party took a beating from the voters and about 30 of them promptly retired from Congress. I think the people are sick of them.
Pug
I’m a little suprised Obama is a socialist. I thought he was going to become a Muslim terrorist. I guess that’s for later. And I do think that’s coming for sure.
crw
Muslim Terrorist is for the whisper campaign.
The public stuff will be the usual socialist/Defeatocrat/empty suit (you know, the one that says Democrats never have a plan for the country) memes that the MSM gleefully repeats without commentary, criticism or fact checking.
Bryan
I have it on good authority that Obama is a Muslim socialist terrorist ACLU Code Pink madrassa liberal fascist lesbian vegan.
A forwarded email told me so!
Jay C
IIJM, or have Birdzilla’s semiliterate non-sequitur screeds lost a certain je ne sais quoi since he’s (apparently) learned to work the “Shift” Key?
demimondian
I don’t think it’s just you. In fact, earlier today, I started a post asking Bird directly if he was feeling off.
I think it’s a secret islamofascistlibrul plot.
srv
Anyone want to help me with the graphics for a Obama Che t-shirt? I think it will be all the rage.
Svensker
First thing you have to learn, Oxy, is that there is no such word as “ALOT”. Once you’ve got that down, there’s a whole big world of learning out there — we know you can do it! Get back to us when you have.
jcricket
Socialist countries are doing just terrible right now. We better run from socialism before we end up with worker protections that matter, healthcare that far exceeds the quality/coverage levels of our own and costs less, better and more universal primary education for our children, lower crime/incarceration rates and secured retirements for workers.
That sounds truly awful.
I think the idea of taxes itself is socialist. Everyone should be taxed at zero and the government disbanded. That Ron Paul has the right idea but just doesn’t go far enough for my tastes. Plus he’s not enough of a Jew hater, since they and their communist tendencies are what’s ruining this country.
GSD
Let’s see if we can bait McBush into vowing to invade Greece if they go Commie which appears they now have a 50/50 chance of doing:
“Demetris Christofias, 61, the Communist party leader, and Ioannis Kasoulides, 59, a former foreign minister and leader of the DISY party, will now face off for the presidency.”
-GSD
mark
Honest libertarian conservative Steve Chapman points out that Obama is emphatically not a socialist and has a much better grasp of the workings of free markets than does Clinton.
Dennis - SGMM
“Mister Christofias; tear down this Acropolis!”
Shygetz
OxyCon said:
Rather than accept your assertion that Duval Patrick = Barack Obama, why don’t we just ask the good people of Illinois what they think of Obama?
Obama–64%
Clinton–32%
Oooo, not looking good for you there, OxyCon. You should really test your slurs before you take them public.
TenguPhule
I wonder how long it will take until black babies start being talked about again.
Sometimes I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry when campaign season gets into full swing.
TenguPhule
Oxycon, Spoof or Spoofiest?
Enquiring minds want to know what those countertops look like.
Jay C
Heh – Obama as “socialist”? All this tells me that anyone making such a statement quite obviously
a) has no grasp of what “socialism” really means or signifies.
b) probably has no real intellectual grasp of any other social or political system, either.
It’s kind of a par with Jonah Goldberg inappropriately tossing the term “fascist” around to denote his political* rivals, i.e.: “anything I don’t like”.
* I was going to put “intellectual rivals”, but I realized that the term “intellectual” was inapplicable when discussing Jonah Goldberg.
Gus
Really, OxyCon, get that weak shit out of here. Better trolls, please.
Jay C
Yeah, there’s a rumor going around that Sen. Obama actually has TWO of them!
demimondian
Like I said, OxyCon — if you want to be mocked, you’re come to the right place
SPIIDERWEB™
rawshark is right, as is jcricket.
Socialism. Shudder, shudder.
The USSR just got it wrong.
jake
Huh?
Person A works for Person B. Person B is an unpopular governor. Person A also works for Person C. Person C is a very popular senator. But because Person A works for Person C, Person C is the same as Person B.
Uh. Yeah.
No wonder OxyCon has named himself after Limpbag’s drug of choice.
ThymeZone
I think our beloved BIRD has got a rock in his gizzard.
Something is up. He isn’t himself. I almost get the feeling that he has gone on a sabattical to study ornithology on an island in the Joinville Group, and is paying his dog walker to fill in for him.
He may have left some material behind for use while he is gone, but it just isn’t being delivered with the same verve.
cmoreNC
The lesbian part cannot be taken seriously, since as a guy, he’s disqualified from that category. Unless…
1) Obama’s secretly become a TRANSGENDERED LESBIAN. Or less radically, can transvestites qualify as lesbians? Or only as imitation lesbians. Which would still work as an attack, because if Obama’s only an “imitation” lesbian, that means he is inauthentic. An inauthentic transvestite lesbian. WOW McCain is a shoo-in if that sticks, ya never know!
cmoreNC
2) Obama’s really been a girl all along.
In that case, he’s a girlie-man, in the parlance of Ahhnold.
Roger the Rocket
What’s a vegan?
AnonE.Mouse
Senator McCain,why do you hate public highways and bridges,and public water and sewer systems,and public safety workers like police officers and firefighters and paramedics,and public schools and universities,and public libraries and museums,and public parks and subways,and public health departments,and why do you hate all the people who make their living providing us with these public services,and why especially do you hate Medicare?
Jen
Obama transcends the transgendered.
I have a new philosophy for dealing with OxyCon and myiq. Every time they come here and say some damn fool thing, I’m going back over to Obama’s website and giving him $5 more. It may not be sustainable and I may eventually have to switch it to $.50 depending on volume, but I will give him something. All other participants are welcome.
MG
See, this is why Democrats have such trouble: we can never stay on message, and always have to add our two cents. Mindless repetition just isn’t our forte.
tomjones
BHO is racist. cha-ching!
tomjones
Strike that. What I meant to say is, Obama transgends the transcended.
The Grand Panjandrum
You can say that again.
Xenos
That is NOT a joke most Greeks would find amusing.
Xenos
Ah! This was the pithy quote I was looking for.
It is a small miracle that, to this day, Americans are tolerated in Greece.
Cain
You know I’ve been looking at these national polls and it seems wierd that we still have 40% of the country still willing to vote Republican despite all the crap that has gone on for the past 8 years. (hell 12 years if you want to add the republican congress)
What would possibly vote >40% of the country to vote Republican? I mean it’s not like they have any kind of successful record to stand on. What exactly have they accomplished?
cain
tBone
Sounds like a good idea, but it’s only going to take a thread or two for you to hit the $2,300 donor limit, you know.
bootlegger
Why does anyone vote Republican? Easy:
1) Cut your taxes
2) Save your family
3) Save you from dangerous towel-heads
4) Protect you from socialism
5) Keep the g-man from telling you what to do
6) Keep you driving your mini-bus
What’s amazing is the 40% still believes these straw men.
Pb
Hey OxyCon, I hear Axelrod also wrote Obama’s books for him, as well as the screenplay to “Hope Floats”, not to mention lyrics for the Pointer Sisters. On the other hand, judging from that speech, Deval Patrick obviously wrote The Declaration of Independence. HTH!
wasabi gasp
Fear.
I haven’t run across any country/fear polls (similar to the happiness or contentment polls), but I would be surprised to find we weren’t number one.
Cain
I’ve only met a couple of people who are republican and still vote republican. Hell, I’ve even met a guy who still likes Bush. The wierd thing about that guy is that there is no policy that I’ve seen from Bush that actually helps better his life that I could discern. Blind faith to a party is dumb.
Every republican I”ve met is angry as all hell and is going to vote democratic from what I can tell. The few aren’t are just sort of voting because that’s all they know. There isn’t any particular reason other than the assumption that Democrats are worse. Haha. You’d think 8 years of bullshit would change their mind.
cain
Jen
I’ve got a husband and two kids. We’re good for at least six threads.
The Other Steve
OxyCon – You are aware that Obama is not Deval Patrick, right?
The Other Steve
So apparently McCain’s father-in-law Hensley was connected to the mob?
link to American Mafia article
He was connected to this man. Kemper Marley, who was suspected of ordering the slaying of a Arizona journalist in ’76.
Zifnab25
Maybe twenty years ago, when a politician screamed “Socialist! Socialist! Socialist!” we’d all think of North Korea or Cuba. Now, we all think of France and Sweden.
In the words of Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
The Grand Panjandrum
If Obama is the nominee then I recommend the following GOTV rallying cry:
Don’t forget to thank John McCain and George Bush for the Iraq War on November 4th!
I would make a great t-shirt or bumper sticker.
KG
OxyCon, a quick check of Patrick’s wikipedia page shows that he won with 55% of the vote.
Survey USA runs regular approval rating polls, like once a month. Here are the latest two on Patrick, in November he had an approval rating of 50%-42%; in December it was 48%-42%. I wouldn’t call those bad numbers.
And for comparison’s sake, Bush has a 25% approval rating in Massachusetts.
ladonne
Or maybe the happy Danes? If Michelle Malkin would lay off. Nice bit on 60 Minutes — Danes speaking near perfect English and telling Americans what for. Anyone ever hear one of Malkin’s followers telling the Danes ‘we’re with you’ in Danish?
Downpuppy
Patrick was a corporate lawyer who had a period of adaptation to dealing with The Great & General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. That’s over now.
Obama, being a Senator & all, will probably not have that issue with Congress.
empty
He would be the first socialist to have the backing of Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Here are his top ten contributers in order according to opensecrets.org:
Goldman Sachs, UBS, JP Morgan Chase, Exelon Corp, Kirkland & Ellis, U. of Chicago, Lehman Brothers, Sidley Austin LLP, National Amusements Inc, Citigroup.
I suppose it could be the socialists at the Univ. of Chicago.
Xenos
Re: Deval Patrick-
He is just the Governor of Massachusetts — the Commonwealth is pretty close to a parliamentary dictatorship. It is impossible for a popular candidate to not be a disappointment as governor.
The Other Steve
Tut tut. Bush will be judged by historians. It is entirely unfair to judge the decisions of such a wise and glorious leader on mere opinion polls.
Anne Laurie
… for the Masshole Rethuglicans, who were hoping that some of Patrick’s initial missteps (stupid but minor stuff, like paying more to redecorate his office than a professional politician would have considered prudent) would send his tenure down the toilet fast enough to discredit Obama by association.
Jon Keller, FYI, is a professional Democrat-demonizer; at least one of his grown kids is still getting paid by the New Hampshire Republican Party, the guys who are still under investigation for various phone-“polling” illegalities. John Ellis is George Bush’s cousin. Any assertions from these guys should be taken with a whole sackful of sodium chloride, because they’re not only Repub apologists, but they haven’t got the balls to own up to who’s paying for their “opinions”.
Bryan
Too late. They already have. Repeatedly.
Reverend Spooner
I work in a Walmart. I know quite a few die-hard Republicans who will never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, vote for a Democrat. It’s like a sports team thing for them, you root for your team no matter how shitty they are, or how much of an asshole the coach is. My team, love them or get the fuck out of the stadium.
I’ve also noticed that in all my political conversations with Republicans who plan on voting for McCain, they preface their remarks with some variation on these words: “You know, I don’t really follow the news very much, but…”
(I know several Republicans who say, in all sincerity, that the War in Iraq is going just fine, so I believe them on the not-following-the-news thing.)
Zifnab
Goldman Sachs sounds like a commie-jew-spiracy enclave to me. And Exelon Corp comes entirely to close to sounding like “Excelsior!” Just say’n.
jcricket
Did you not see the onion article I referenced in another thread? The GOP has run on fear for the last 30+ years. Look at how they frame every issue/message.
1) War on Christians (fear they will take your bible away)
2) War on Traditional Marriage (fear that the gays will force you to get gay married)
Evolution, sex ed, the estate tax, the last goes on. They have to sell people on the existential fear that Democrats will do HORRIBLE HORRIBLE things to you.
If people voted rationally, Democrats would win by large majorities every time. Perhaps there was a time when all the immigrant/gay bashing and fundie talk was a sideshow, but no longer. Now, a vote for Republicans is a vote for rich, white, evangelical-Christian only rule, with a side order of never-ending war. I can’t imagine a racial minority, woman, gay person or someone with an income under $100k voting Republican for rational reasons anymore.
jcricket
You know, I’m fine with the 28% crowd continuing to vote Republican until they die. Let them enjoy their time in the wilderness for the next 40+ years. But the remaining “12%” that’s still voting Republican and displays signs of rationality needs to switch side, and stay switched, until Republicans ditch their deal(s) with the devil(s) that made them a crappy party.
John Cole, Michael D and my brother-in-law I’m talking to you. It’s the log cabin Republicans, the cuban ex-pats, and poor whites in rural areas that need to wean themselves from the Republican meth teat and recognize who they’re voting for.
Reverend Spooner
They want to raise your taxes! And force your daughter to marry the family dog! And burn your church to the ground and force your children to swear allegiance to Joseph Stalin! Clearly, they’re the enemies of all human decency, and we must do everything in our power to stop them!
Yes, but that would involve opening a newspaper or turning to a non-Rupert Murdoch-owned television channel. So you can see the bind they’re in.
Well, to be fair, John Cole’s an Obama supporter. Michael D. is a self-loathing homosexual who comes from Canada anyway. I don’t know your brother-in-law, though.