McAuliffe on MTP says don't "alienate" Clinton voters

[madfloridian]

I did not watch MTP today, and maybe it is just as well I did not. I read at Huffington Post that McAuliffe mistakenly declared Russert's father as being in heaven looking down. Video included.

Russert corrected him: "Big Russ is in the Barcalounger still watching this," he said. "God bless him."

Glad I missed that. Then he as much as said that as long as she keeps on going we must not alienate her supporters.

From The Swamp:

McAuliffe: don't "alienate" Clinton voters

Some people have been looking for signs of a graceful exit from the Democratic presidential race by Hillary Clinton. But Terry McAuliffe, her campaign chairman, made it clear on the Sunday morning talk shows today that that isn't happening any time soon.

McAuliffe was in there swinging on both Face the Nation and Meet the Press, arguing that Clinton still has a chance to win the party nomination.

And if they're smart, he suggested, superdelegates will hold out and not do anything that might turn off the many people who have voted for her this primary season.

"Most of the superdelegates will wait til the end til everybody's voted," McAuliffe said. Clinton will be ahead in the popular vote, he predicted, and ahead in delegates.

"They understand we're in a fragile time in our party," he said. "Let's let the process finish. People need to be careful not to alienate" the Clinton supporters.

Terry was lucky when he was chairman. He got to stand up to Michigan just like the present chairman is having to do. But lucky for him people just thought it was following rules.

Nobody sued him, nobody harrassed him. It was just considered normal.

[Blarch]

1. fuck him

hillary left us ...we didn't leave her.

[K Gardner]

2. I'm so sick of their threats and fear tactics and "subtle" blackmail.. screw them.

[havocmom]

5. Yep. It's all too similar to bushco tactics

What IS Rove doing these days (besides avoiding servers). Got some deal with Hillary that if his tactics get her what she wants, he gets a pardon?

[WA98296]

9. I thought THREATS too, as well as thinly-veiled SUGGESTIONS about "something awful" happening.

It was a disgrace.

[K Gardner]

12. Yes, the "anything can happen" meme is becoming more pronounced.

[madfloridian]

21. It's a terrible thing for them to say. It is really a threat.

The first time I heard it said on TV, I thought I had not understood. But I got it right the first time.

[Joe Chi Minh]

28. Like chickens with their heads cut off. Pity poor McCauliffe. Running on empty.

[PoliticalAmazon]

43. It got old a long time ago. Obama's smart to be ignoring this anger-baiting and...

fear tactics.

[Overseas]

3. We shouldn't alienate the "hard working white" voters? //nt

[Joe Chi Minh]

30. The noise-machine at work, to camouflage vote theft. Working-class Americans

have got more sense in their little fingers than MacAwful has in his brain.

[still_one]

4. All I know is the Clinton's have already lost, even if they are somehow able to secure

the nomination, they have badly damaged and divided the Democratic party

Congratulations for nothing

[yourguide]

6. McAuliffe was a trainwreck this morning.

"They understand we're in a fragile time in our party," he said. "Let's let the process finish. People need to be careful not to alienate" the Clinton supporters.


- Considering that campaign has alienated a lot of Obama supporters I would suggest that perhaps pot should meet kettle?

[Warren Stupidity]

7. They should hold out so Clinton can continue to raise cash

and run for 2012 by actively working to sabatoge the 2008 election. Fuck both of them.

[Colobo]

8. Terry is desperate.

[Cha]

31. Do we want the

racist, scolding, pandering, boss?

Or do we want the man who gives us hope for a bright future?

[IsItJustMe]

10. It was a very couched veiled threat. He is a POS. Where do these people come from? Under rocks I

would assume.

I call it extortion, black mail, and fear mongering.

When this is all said and done, Hillary and Bill's reputation will be irreparably damaged. The mold has already set in.

If in doubt, watch the SNL skit. This is really bad for them to use such vile tactics. But hey, honestly, look at their entire campaign.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

11. Just like a 3-year-old, holding her breath until she gets what she wants

[havocmom]

13. HRC's base is maxed out on donations and Obama keeps gettin $$

from the grass roots. Evidently, McAuliffe has NEVER tried to pull up grass.

McAuliffe:

Fool
tool
often cruel
stinks like stool

Can't see we know
DLC ain't cool

[rocktivity]

18. Why do you think that rumor was floated that Obama might pay Hillary's campaign debts

out of his donors' funds? To get his supporters to get mad and stop donating, that's why! I first heard about it on MSNBC, but apparently nobody there could do a little simple research and find out that legally, he couldn't do that if he wanted to!


rocknation

[havocmom]

33. I asked if that were a possibility in a thread yesterday. Was shot down

with explanation that it was Russert of MSNBC that first mentioned it.

Yeah, like THAT proves it wasn't an HRC campaign tactic! Russert was the head Hillary cheerleader in MSM for over a year before reality sank in that there was an actual contested race going on. Russert has ALWAYS struck me as a DLC/status quo kinda tool.

Yeah, it would be illegal for Obama campaign to turn their money over to HRC, but most people won't know that and the meme out there is bound to have an impact on his donors. With HRC's latest excuse for poor performance being 'He OUTSPENT us!' it seems safe to consider that her campaign would be working on ways to slow his spending, which really means: slow the steady grass roots donations he gets from inspired and hopeful supporters.

No trick is too low. Nixon looks like an armature compared to the shit that has gone down as campaigning in recent years.

By the way, rocknation, damned good to see you. Our paths have not crossed often enough of late.

[BeyondGeography]

14. Because their feelings are so much more important than getting on with the business of winning

[babylonsister]

15. He still thinks she's the annointed one. Someone needs to give him a clue. nt

[BlooInBloo]

16. Ok, Glenn Close.

[nichomachus]

17. Yet, Bill the adulterer/perjurer can go out on the campaign trail and

tell people that Obama is mocking them.

Talk about your alienation.

[Faygo Kid]

19. Tired of the threats.

This was HIS chance to reach out to Hillary's supporters and urge them to support the nominee (even if he wanted to add, "whoever that may be").

But no. Instead he issues more thinly veiled threats that "people need to be careful not to alienate" Clinton supporters.

How about Clinton supporters agreeing to back the nominee, "whoever that may be?" If the situation was reversed, Clinton backers would INSIST on it. Instead, we're supposed to tiptoe around them.

I'm sick of it. This needs to end, and McAuliffe needs to quit harming our November campaign.

[BattyDem]

20. I am so sick of their demands and thinly veiled threats

Hillary Clinton's campaign was mismanaged from the very beginning. They blew it! She wasn't prepared for Obama because she viewed the primary process as a mere formality - a minor inconvenience on the way to her coronation. She had the name, the money, the machine and a media that promoted the "inevitability" of her nomination, but a funny thing happened on the way to the White House: people voted.

Your team lost, Terry. You lost because you were too arrogant to pay attention to the mood of the electorate. You lost because you ran a 90s-style campaign in the Internet Age. You lost because you competed in a Democratic primary, but played the game as Republicans. You lost because you viewed the nomination as something that should be given to your candidate, not as something she had to earn.

You warn us not to alienate Clinton voters, yet the Clinton campaign has no problem alienating every other voter. "Screw them if they didn't vote for me" is not a good campaign strategy and it's certainly not leadership - it's BushCo politics and we've had enough of that shit! It's over, Terry ... now go away.

[Tarheel_Dem]

36. What you said.........

[newmajority]

22. Terry's such a fucking idiot

He thought he would invoke the name of Timmywhore's daddy "Big Russ", probably because Obama did so when he was on the show. Problem is that Dumbass Terry said that Big Russ was with his own dad "up in Heaven drinking a scotch" and laughing at the primary soap opera.

Timmy replied "My dad's at home watching this in his Barka Lounger".

Once again, McUseless can't get his facts right.

[lumberjack_jeff]

23. He's absolutely right.

The nominee can't win without the other candidate's supporters.

The fact that this is controversial implies some unflattering things about the value of college math.

[madfloridian]

25. Meanwhile Clinton surrogates play the class and race cards

and we are supposed to suck it up.

[Jim Lane]

39. OK, here's my attempt to not alienate Clinton supporters

Hillary Clinton has crossed the commander-in-chief threshold.

Hillary Clinton is qualified to be President. In fact, she is far better qualified than John McCain.

If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee, she will probably win the November election. She is electable.

Most Clinton supporters are not elitist. Most Clinton supporters -- white, black, and other -- are hard-working people. Most Clinton supporters are not voting based on any form of bigotry. As with any large group, there are presumably a few bad apples, but on the whole they are decent people.

Now, maybe Terry McAuliffe and his colleagues could devote a little thought to not alienating Obama supporters.

[lumberjack_jeff]

41. It is, of course, a two way street.

I think that Obama is also electable and far better suited than McCain.

[madfloridian]

42. Good thought.

Works both ways.

[SoFlaJet]

24. I watched Baghdad Bob McCauliffe

on Press the Meat and Face The Nation and on both shows he gave the popular vote count (including Florida and Michigan of course) as 14.6 million to 14.7 million Obama-both shows and in that order both times. I don't know when somebody asks me a score i always say 5-3 Yankees not 3-5 Yankees

[Tippy]

26. How do we find out who is providing financial backing for all these lawsuits?

I have a hunch it is an organization that wants to replace the DNC...

[KaptBunnyPants]

27. Why didn't he tell the superdelegates not to support Hillary before the primaries started?

So, now that 4/5 of the primaries are done, it is disrespectful to democracy for them to come forward with their preference. But before the first vote was cast it was OK for 200+ of them to announce for Hillary. But I suppose it would be out of character for her campaign to adhere to the same ethical standard they hold others to.

[Cha]

29. Shut the fuck up, terry mcauliff...you

don't have any negotiating power..your girl over played her racist, pandering, hand.

[madfloridian]

32. The transcript...Terry should be ashamed.

And if the Clintons want unity, they have to show some party spirit instead of constantly pushing breaking the rules.

I have had new folks here at DU the last two days calling me all kinds of names. It shows that the closer she gets to having to drop out the more absurdities her surrogates spout.

It is wrong for the party, and it is getting out of control.

McAuliffe plays number games, using talking points, and is generally out of touch with reality.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24564374/page/2 /

"MR. McAULIFFE: First off, no one is the nominee. Everyone needs to be clear, until someone gets the magic number of the delegates, 2209, you are not the nominee of the Democratic Party. Right now, Tim, you have seen in these contests you've had 35 million people vote. If you take everyone who pushed a button for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, 16.6 million for Hillary Clinton, 16.7 million for Barack Obama. That is a difference of 100,000 votes out of 35 million."

"MR. McAULIFFE: Let's be clear. He was on the ballot, he took his name off to appease Iowa and New Hampshire. It was a political decision, I'm fine with that. But they voted, two and a half million people. And the Rules and Bylaws Committee will meet on the 31st to determine their status. But just remember. Who voted? A difference of 100,000 out of 35 million."

"MR. McAULIFFE: Has it become an avalanche today? No. Did it become an avalanche after Tuesday, when you and others were all on the air saying it was over? No. Which should make you say something. We are now coming up to West Virginia on Tuesday. The last poll had Hillary up 43 points. She's up 40 points in Kentucky. What does it say for the candidate that you say has won the nomination that he can't win two states that Bill Clinton carried in 1992 and 1996? We lost them in 2000 and 2004. This is our point: Hillary Clinton in the general election can beat John McCain. She beats him in Florida, she beats him in Ohio, she beats him in Missouri. This is about winning the election on November 4th in helping the down-ballot races. She has won those 20 congressional districts that are key to us winning to keep the House of Representatives.

MR. RUSSERT: The Clinton campaign says it's the media. What we did is add up the delegates..."

[cherokeeprogressive]

35. One of the Best Flip Flops of All Time

MR. RUSSERT: ...she's saying that white Americans are hardworking Americans. A lot of African-Americans took great offense at that.

MR. McAULIFFE: Yeah. Well, and that's not what she meant. And she was quoting the AP story and could--literally, nobody has worked harder, as you know, than President Clinton...

MR. RUSSERT: Well, the AP story did not say white Americans were hardworking Americans. Those were her, her words.

MR. McAULIFFE: Well, she was, she was paraphrasing the AP story.

McAuliff barely took a breath before switching from QUOTING to PARAPHRASING and Russert didn't call him on it. I waited... No Joy.

[Hansel]

34. We care about casting votes now, Terry? What about the 160 SDs that...

Clinton had before one vote was cast. The hypocrisy from these fools makes me sick.

[thatsrightimirish]

37. Longest swan song

EVER!

[Vinca]

38. This boils down to we must coddle Hillary, despite the fact

Grandpa is traveling the country in his wife's private jet playing president. Will there come a point when the opponent is McBush???

[Usrename]

40. McAuliffe admitted that she cannot catch him in pledged delegates.

Punkin'Head had to ask him about five times in a row, with him bobbing and weaving, but he did finally admit it.

[madfloridian]

44. I happened on this picture again today.

It is from when Dean was taking over as chairman. Happier days...sort of.