GOP Chairman to Single Out Kerry, Clinton

[brooklynite]

WASHINGTON - The head of the Republican Party, launching a broad indictment of the Democratic Party six months before midterm elections, is expected to charge Friday that the opposition can't find an election-year slogan, let alone agree on a broad agenda.

In an address to the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Tennessee scheduled for Friday afternoon, Ken Mehlman will single out party leaders and two potential 2008 presidential candidates — Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry — for criticism on a range of issues, from national security to the economy to judicial nominees.

"Not only can they not settle on an agenda, they can't even agree on a slogan," Mehlman's remarks prepared for delivery said. He is expected to offer some suggestions, albeit critical ones.

...snip...

The speech comes amid growing concerns in the Republican ranks over Bush's diminishing standing with the American people and the GOP's fears about maintaining its majority control in the House and Senate this November.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060310/ap_on_go_ot/republi...

[cindyw]

1. How about, "Democrats, no slogans, just solutions"

nt

[Zenlitened]

9. Nice!

[Epiphany4z]

11. they do love

there bumper stickers!! It si like there party is one big ADHD group..if it doesn't fit on a bumper sticker it doesn't matter......... and I like that one.."Democrats, no slogans , just solutions!"

[BootinUp]

15. I think thats a winner.

Lets use it, maybe it'll gain some traction.

[quiet.american]

18. Like that! But you know....

....I do remain mystified as to why year after year after year, our party leaves itself wide open to this same criticism by seemingly outright REFUSING to come up with a pithy motto that could brand us into the minds of voters.

During the 2004 campaign season, there was a 20-something DU'er who worked for an advertising company (if I remember correctly) who came up with succinct, catchy, let's-go-with-it Democratic Party slogans.

If a "kid" could do it, why can't the Democratic Party grand pooh-bahs come up with something.

[wicket]

19. Send that to Dean!

[OKNancy]

21. Fantastic

best idea I've read in a long time.

[biscotti]

23. Perfect!

Plain and very effective.

[Norquist Nemesis]

26. OUTSTANDING!!!!!! n/t

[yurbud]

35. great user name. We should figure out something embarassing to use

"Norquist" as the name for the way Lewinsky came to mean oral sex (and less commonly, human humidor).

[Norquist Nemesis]

40. LOL! Something like this?

[blm]

28. Best one I've ever heard!!!!!

Put that up as a thread in GD-P. It's a GREAT suggestion and NEEDS to be seen by more eyeballs.

[wordpix2]

39. I like it and also, "Throw the Bums Out"

[JudyM]

56. Great! Or "No Slogans, No Spin, Just Solutions"

[GoddessOfGuinness]

57. Send that one to Dean...

It's perfect!

[MsUSA]

61. I love it cindyw......

gotta start sending that around, and just using it in conversation, and bumper stickers etc. It's great!!

[KittyWampus]

65. That is so freaking great, I nearly cheered outloud!

[LeftHander]

66. Isn't that a slogan....

::snark::

[JI7]

74. i love that one

will use it

[Tiggeroshii]

75. LOL

That's something we need to jump on!

[ProSense]

80. It's perfect! n/t

[redqueen]

2. Yes, he's right... because that's what Americans care about... slogans.

[babylonsister]

3. Ken, Ken, Ken, people who live in glass houses should be

very wary of throwing stones.

[bemildred]

4. Oh my goodness, a "partisan attack". nt

[Mz Pip]

5. So successful politics

must now be reduced to a slogan. That is pretty pathetic.

This administration is full of slogans. They have a slogan for everything. Too bad none of them reflect the reality of their policies.

'Bring 'em on' is not the way to fight terrorism.

'9/11 changed everything' turned our country into a bunch of Pavlovian salivating dogs. I suppose in that regard, it was successful in keeping people afraid and therefore unwilling to question BushCo. Doesn't mean the policies behind it were successful.

Mz Pip

[Drifter]

6. I would rather have leaders ...

that spend their time solving problems, rather than coming up with slogans.

Just more shallowness of the GOP on important issues.


Cheers
Drifter

[tenshi816]

7. Yeah, 'cause we know slogans

are the most important thing, don't we?

It's so sad that the steadfast refusal of Dems to speak in sound bites and trite slogans is seen as a bad thing.

[Pale_Rider]

42. How's about ...

"It's the corruption! Stupid!"

[tenshi816]

53. I like it!

Except that the Republicans would probably try to turn it around to accuse the Democrats of corruption, knowing that their base and some of the undecideds would swallow it without thinking about it. ("Thinkin'? We don't need no stinkin' thinkin'...")

I know, I know, I'm being too cynical.

[earthboundmisfit]

8. Jeez, Kenny!

Is that all you've got? The 'pukes are scraping the bottom of the barrel already, and it's only March!

[ginnyinWI]

69. it really is (all they got)

All they have left is to lamely attack Democrats or try to paint Dems as having the same faults and corruption as Repubs.

In the last election they had that plus national security creds. Oops--looks like those creds have gotten away, too! All they've got now is: "we are not Democrats".

[Cassandra]

10. GOP can't find an honest Republican...

even with both hands and an oil lamp!

[yellowcanine]

12. So to counter the crappy Bush numbers Melhman is going to trash Hillary

and Kerry? My inclination is to say that we should encourage this sort of thing by acting really outraged about it. Sounds as if it will work like gangbusters to drive the Bush polls down even further.

The Bush poll numbers and the Republican poll numbers are low because of what people think about Bush and the Republicans. Trashing Democrats isn't going to change that.

[underpants]

16. Joe Scmoe's first reaction-Are THEY the ones in power?

No

This is complete BS from the Republicans. Don't tell me that my boat needs a paint job when your is sinking.

[yurbud]

31. This is a NEW strategy? Haven't they been doing this since '92?

[wisteria]

13. What a joke, same old tired lies and misleads. It looks like they

are the ones without anything new to say. What weak attacks on Kerry. Obviously, Senator Kerry should continue to comment and point out the mismanagement style of this administration, apparently, it is getting to them.

[Wickerman]

14. Here's one: GOP, the marketing arm of Fascism n/t

[grytpype]

17. I'm surprised he could take the cock out of his mouth long enough to say

all that stuff.

There sure are a lot of closet queens in the RNC. Just sayin.

[Thor_MN]

89. What? Are you saying Ken "That isn't collagen in my lips" Mehlman

might have some hidden issues to deal with?

[Roland99]

20. Yeah, let's list ALL the things Kerry NAILED in the '04 debates

Port Security
Iraq
Social Security
Healthcare
Economy
etc.

[blm]

29. Looks like list of issues media was forbidden to discuss from 2001-2004.

Coincidence?

[OKNancy]

22. Sounds like Melhman is "brimming with anger"

Cool down Ken, folks don't like angry people

[Roland99]

27. It's all of his *closeted* angst.

[fishwax]

37. Yes, why is Ken so angry?

[Rose Siding]

24. Republicans are always so angry and negative!

[bluedog]

25. New Republican Slogans...

found this on yahoo a poster wrote:


New Republican Slogans...

"Together, we can wipe out our economy"

"Poor people. Who needs 'em?"

"Together, we can eradicate the Constitution!"

"Forget the Geneva Convention; Torture is cool!"

"The United Arab Emirates; your partners in the war on terrorism!"



Democrats Slogans........

Democrats clean up republican Shit mess they made of this country!!

[yurbud]

30. "Who my opponent sleeps with is more important than whether your

kids can go to the doctor."

[yurbud]

32. According to GOP, Hillary is a lesbian, witch, murderer and corrupt

How are they going to top that?

[PsN2Wind]

33. Get a chin, Ken!!!

NT

[yurbud]

34. Most ironic about GOP criticisms of Hill is they are opposite of DUers

They say Hillary is a shrill, far left ideologue.

DUers say she is too careful, triangulating, and business-friendly.

[leQ]

36. give that guy a cigar!

on edit: that was meant to go under Democrats, No Slogans, Just Solutions

[wordpix2]

38. "competent conservativism" right now the best GOP can come up with so

Mehlman's one to talk.

[Norquist Nemesis]

41. Too funny! The 'Party of Reform' now serving 'Competent Conservatism'

George W. Bush, the INCOMPETENT Conservative

[wordpix2]

67. seriously, slogan was discussed last night on Hardball re: GOP agenda

for big repuke powWow Matthews is going to report on today

[The_Casual_Observer]

43. Criticism is to be expected, no answers for all the problems they have

created.

[zbdent]

44. Netscape front page: Dems Indicted; Clinton, Kerry Targeted

Okay, to stave off confusion, here's the "headline" shot, before you drill down to get to the actual article:

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/us.jsp?floc=ns-tos-new...

and here's the article:

http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?idq=/ff/stor...

However, when you get to the article, you find:

"WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the Republican Party, launching a broad indictment of the Democratic Party six months before midterm elections, is expected to charge Friday that the opposition can't find an election-year slogan, let alone agree on a broad agenda."

<snip>

That's the only reference to an "indictment" in the article . . . that's the damn "liberal media" for ya . . .

Hey, Bush and Republicans could be "indicted" as mass murderers and pedophiles . . .

[rodeodance]

45. oh, how stupid!

[blm]

46. Someone wake me when we there really is a liberal media out there.

.

[DoYouEverWonder]

47. That is blatantly misleading

These jerks need to be called on it.

[Roland99]

48. Write them! Email them! Call them! We've made a difference before!

We've gotten AP headlines changed in a matter of hours, even minutes!

[bullimiami]

51. I see..."GOP Chairman to Single Out Kerry, Clinton" as the headline.

Has it already been changed?

[zbdent]

55. The link before you get the real story

is here: http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/us.jsp?floc=ns-tos-new...

[AnneD]

49. I thought...

it was a clever April Fools joke

[Warpy]

50. They've already changed it

[zbdent]

52. Actually, the headline is on the front page of Netscape, along with

when you click on that . . . it's only "corrected" when you actually drill down to the story . . .

But who really wants the general masses to read something to get the full story?

This smacks of "sweeps month" headlines - like if you hear of someone in a local govt. job posting "kiddie porn" in their cubical and getting away with it . . . until you find out that they had a baby a few months back and did the classic "baby on a bearskin rug" picture and put it on their bulletin board . . . all the people will really catch is the headline . . .

Now, the schlubs will remember that Clinton (which?) and Kerry were indicted on something!

[Skinner]

54. Um, What the heck? (I've got screenshots here)

Source: http://www.netscape.com



Source: http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/us.jsp?floc=ns-tos-new...

Actual Article:

GOP Chairman to Single Out Kerry, Clinton

[sabra]

58. some one needs to be fired for that one.

[Skinner]

64. Indeed.

What a disgrace.

[zbdent]

70. I've notified Media Matters, and tried to send off a msg to Netscape

of course, about the only way I found to notify them was thru the comments on the browser, so I hope it gets forwarded to the right place . . .

[ReadTomPaine]

78. Good catch...

That's a mole who's going to be a little harded to whack.

BTW, that Melman's got quite an odd looking head.



Gives Norm Coleman a run for his money.

[symbolman]

90. Looks like the doctor took his time

pulling Ken out of the womb as a breach birth..

It would explain the retardation, lack of oxygen to the brain for 3 or 4 hours while his body hung outside the birth canal.. maybe there was an emergency going on in the hospital while he was being born and they left him halfway out

Maybe his mom made him wear tube socks on his head for a hat as a kid in the winter, being poor, the town liars, and his tight tube sock kept sliding down over his whole head, and he couldn't pull it off all day, making it so enlongated.

Bet later some mean kids, since he's a dork, stuck his head in a vice in shop and the teacher didn't discover him until after the weekend.

Hmmm.. better yet, I believe that head shape is the very same shape of a colon, where he keeps it when he's not in the media

I've seen lots of people that look like this, but I've worked in two nuthouses.

[Pachamama]

93. And who says subliminal propaganda isn't alive & well in the MSM?

If anyone ever tells me the Mainstream Media isn't controlled and influenced by the corporate interests and Right-wing, I think I'll get violent....

[wordpix2]

68. what repukes are CEO and owner of Netscape?

[hootinholler]

79. Last I heard that would either be SUN or AOL

-Hoot

[Barrett808]

59. REMEMBER WHEN GOVERNMENT WORKED?

That's my contribution.

[raysr]

60. How about this: "Dems out RNC Chairman Mel-man as Gay!"

[iconoclastNYC]

63. Yeah it's odd.

That the party that hates the gays is addicted to thier talent.

[iconoclastNYC]

62. here they are.....

Here they are going to set media's narrative for 2006. Democrats are pathetic losers. Hey everyon -- yhey are going to lose so why even both go to the polls.

there should be a coordinated response from all the leftwing groups but it won't happen.

[Demeter]

71. Impeach Bush and Cheney! Send Them to the Hague!

Couple of crowd-pleasers, right there.

Slogans are all well and good, but if that's all one has, one ends up with Bush-Cheney. We would like to do better (and just about anyone could).

[CBHagman]

72. So the GOP is incompetent AND angry.

Nice. Way to be productive, Mehlman!

[leveymg]

73. Pressure's getting to them - they're making stupid mistakes.

One more piece if evidence that it's finally sinking in: It's the 4th quarter, and they're behind by 11 points.

BushCo and the GOP are toast.

[Tiggeroshii]

76. Quite weak. n/t

[gasperc]

77. GOP slogan"Corruption, no one does it better"

Kerry and Clinton should just slap them upside the head with well we're too busy coming up with slogans for your corrupt, bancrupt, dishonest party.

fuck you Melhman

[TankLV]

81. Republican = LIAR

How 'bout our Democratic Leaders start actually using the fucking word "LIAR" for a change?!?!?!

Nawwwwwww...

Can't do that - let's quibble over sound bites!

[TheModernTerrorist]

82. What Mehlman MEANT to say was....

"With all these republican scandals, the Dems can't focus on ONE to hit us hard with, let alone one of te many Repub criminals to go after"

I think that's as close to the truth as it can get.

[brentspeak]

83. Ken "Born Liar" Mehlman

I've seen this weasel on Wolf Blitzer. The very nanosecond Mehlman gets called on something untrue, he just switches to a different lie, maybe on a totally different subject, and with a total absence of shame.

[MurrayDelph]

84. If they want a slogan

how about "Democrats: Bringing back the Bill of Rights (The REAL Contract with America!)"

[hollowdweller]

85. Like the Republicans are all speaking with one voice now? Ha!

I think it's refreshing to see candidates reflecting the interests of their CONSTITUENTS not the rich corporate elite or their national party.

[Guaranteed]

86. SUBLIMINAL: DEMOCRATS ARE LIKE KERRY AND HILLARY.

That's the message they want.

[Jackpine Radical]

87. The Republican Mind:

Small enough to fit on a bumper sticker.

[Jackpine Radical]

88. Republicans aren't cheap.

Only millionaires can afford them.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

91. Here's a slogan

Paging Democrats - cleanup on aisle U.S.

[depakid]

92. Unfortunately, he's right

and the Dems' actions over the past 6 weeks have played right into the Republicans' and the media's hands. Don't really see much they can do about it at this point.

They have NOTHING at all to run with as a party on the national level. Zippo.

All they can say is "we're not Republicans" (even though some of our members routinely roll over and vote with them).

I doubt that's going to work any better this time than it has in the last 6 Congressional elections....

[rhett o rick]

94. Wonder if Kerry will respond? Hmmmm nt