HotlineTV wonders whether it’s time for Barack Obama as his numbers keep falling vs. Hillary Clinton. Their suggested strategy: “Take Edwards out.”
Sound bite: “Well, Oprah Winfrey and screaming girls aren’t enough.”
Archive for September, 2007
The candidates all occasionally put up videos of their hard-working volunteers. This one from Biden’s camp shows his boosters building signs for the Harkin steak fry (cute idea out of the decoration committee: a giant billboard using corn to stack up the relative “ears” of experience of the leading candidates). This silliness is utterly uninformative, of course. But it does show us the kind of work/play people go to when they join up with campaigns. And it looks so high-school: politics as the pep rally.
Unions may be shrinking in size and influence in other quarters of society, but not in the Democratic primaries. Every other day, John Edwards is putting up another union lovefest on YouTube and then the other candidates try to prove their love.
Here is Bill Richardson, amazingly, calling for a tax incentive to be given to companies that unionize.
And it’s Friday, so it must be time for another Edwards union endorsement, this one from the Carpenters Union.
Sound bite: “I want to be the president who walks out onto the White House lawn and proudly — proudly — says the word ‘union’.”
He also talks about universal health care and says that “access to health care” and “affordable health care” are “weasel words.”
Everybody’s got a healthcare plan and that includes Jackie Broyles and Dunlap. “Nobody knows sick like a sick old man,” says Dunlap, who claims that chicken noodle soup and chewable aspirin are the solution to most health problems.
Asked about the Republican frontrunner in a recent interview, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack notes that Rudy Giuliani has “got a very interesting past.”
Sound Bite: “I can’t even get into the number of marriages . . . and the relationship he has with his children . . “
A Clinton supporter introducing marital behavior as an issue? Hmmm. Probably not the road you want to go down.
Senator Clinton looks and sounds medicated as she explains why her health plan “will ensure all Americans receive quality, affordable health care.”
Sound Bite: “My plan does not create a single new government department, agency or bureaucracy. It is not a government takeover of healthcare. It is a public-private partnership that provides more choices.”
The Gallup folks take a trip down polling’s Memory Lane to see how Democratic frontrunners have fared over the last 30 years. In September 1991 undeclared candidate Mario Cuomo led Democratic rivals with 31%, followed by Jesse Jackson, Jerry Brown, Tom Harkin, Douglas Wilder and Bob Kerrey. Eventual nominee Bill Clinton trailed the pack with 3%.
In October 1975 Hubert Humphrey led Democratic candidates with 23%, followed by George Wallace with 19% and “Scoop” Jackson with 11%. Jimmy Carter, still unknown nationally (“Hi, I’m Jimmy Carter and I’m running for President”) tallied 1%.
In Gallup’s latest poll (September 14-16) of likely Democratic voters, Senator Clinton at 47% has a commanding lead over Barack Obama (25%) and John Edwards (11%). So, will she stumble? Possible but not very likely, says Gallup.
The very tall and lovely Elizabeth Kucinich talks about her husband’s candidacy. The very short and lucky Dennis Kucinich smiles and nods.
Dennis “The World is One” Kucinich talks about peace, justice and compassion at a Lebanese Festival in LA. Ethereal Elizabeth stands by her man.
In a 30-minute webcast, Senator Clinton takes email questions from voters about her new healthcare plan. She emphasizes that “this plan is all about choice . . . it’s not government-run, there’s no new bureaucracy.”
Sound Bite: “I think there are a lot of Republicans who are going to be open to a sensible, workable, practical plan like the one that I’ve outlined.”
Folksy Fred Thompson’s still driving around Central Florida, but he found time for a little backseat shtick about Hillary Clinton’s healthcare plan.
Sound Bite: “But to some Democrats, you know, choice to them is like a cross is to a vampire.”
Mitt Romney’s ads continue to target the party’s conservative base. Here the candidate goes through a litany of the bad things that happen when “Republicans act like Democrats.”
Sound Bite: “We can’t have ethical standards that are a punchline for Jay Leno.”
We’ve made fun of Rudy Giuliani for having a private MySpace page, so now we are honor-bound to let you know that Rudy’s page is finally public. So now we get to see Rudy’s snapshots. Who says he’s grumpy? The man can’t stop smiling:
And we learn that he likes The Godfather and the Sopranos.
So worth the wait.
Chris Dodd uses YouTube to plug the bill he cosponsored to restore habeas corpus. Before YouTube, how could a candidate or a politician get such a spiel before the public: a press release? a press conference? a struggle to get on a Sunday-morning show? Now, they can just turn on the camera and send it to YouTube, which may be just about as effective as PR.
By the way, somebody should buy the guy a microphone.
Sam Brownback, who hadn’t put up a video in a month, floods the zone today with seven videos, each recorded in a nattily casual V-neck. Here, he tries to outdo Mitt Romney defending traditional marriage and families and God.
Sound bite: “Pray for us. We need your prayers, too. God bless you all.”
And here — read his lips — he vows not to raise taxes and proposes a voluntary flat-tax.
Mitt Romney put out a radio commercial in Iowa declaring himself traditional and defending traditional marriage from those darned judges who don’t understand tradition.
Sound bite: “One man, one woman.”
One vote?
