Let's hope no one watches Mark Warner's keynote capitulation address tonight

[geek tragedy]

http://news.yahoo.com/story//ap/20080826/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_warner

Former Gov. Mark Warner plans to offer a lesson in Virginia-style bipartisanship to thousands of hardcore Democrats in his convention keynote speech Tuesday night.

"There may be parts of the speech that aren't going to get a lot of applause," Warner said Monday, "but I've got to say what I believe will get our country back on the right path."

Some Democrats were already complaining, saying that Warner's job is to put a dent in Republican John McCain's image.

"This isn't the Richmond Chamber of Commerce," said Democratic consultant Paul Begala.

For Mark Warner, who is seeking the Senate seat of retiring Republican John Warner, a red-meat speech that would bring the party's most passionate warriors to their feet in Denver would undermine a carefully cultivated image at home that has given him a strong lead in statewide polls and a lopsided fundraising advantage.

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Jackpine Radical]

1. I guess it's a big tent. And, as Lyndon would have said,

"It's better to have him inside pissing out than outside pissing in.

[geek tragedy]

4. He's a terrible choice as a keynote speaker.

More wussy Lieberdemism from this convention. Sack up and get ready for a fight, Obama campaign!

[wyldwolf]

6. I've seen him speak and I think he's great.

That "wussy Lieberdemism" is so far ahead in VA it isn't even a race.

[geek tragedy]

17. He's not running against John McCain in a national election.

He's not being featured in that spot to help him get elected.

[wyldwolf]

21. and if he was, he'd whup his ass, too.

[geek tragedy]

29. Well, Obama isn't a white guy from Virginia.

So, we have to make do with the political environment as we have it.

[wyldwolf]

36. ha ha! Ya noticed?

[JohnnyBoots]

11. Feingold would have been a much better choice, but I

see that they may be trying to turn VA blue and Warner could rope in any Right leaning Virginians who tune into watch him. I disagree, but can see their reasoning.

[goddess40]

18. Feingold supports McCain

Feingold would be a poor choice as he supports McCain.

[Jackpine Radical]

32. WHAT?

Hey, kid--I love ya, but that's nonsense! I just saw Russ with Obama on Sunday, and if you think Russ is doing anything less than supporting Obama 100%, you're wrong. It was like tuning in on the annual meeting of a two-person mutual admiration society between those two.

[goddess40]

69. This was HelenWheels but there is some truth to what she says

Feingold has said that McCain is a great guy and probably will be the next president. I'm sure Feingold and Obama do get along as they seem to share many ideals but all I can say is Feingold must feel that this election will be stolen either by republican scheming or voter stupidity.
Is Russ hedging his bets? if he is he's fooling himself like only we democrats can do - If McCain wins he will be at the beck and call of the powers that be in the republican party and Feingold will be viewed as the enemy.


http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=781576
If Republican John McCain needs someone to vouch for his independence, he could easily do worse than Senate colleague Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, a liberal Democrat from a key battleground state.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) chats with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) during a 2006 hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee on Capitol Hill.
More Coverage
"I think the guy calls 'em as he sees 'em, and as president would call 'em as he sees 'em, and would make people mad all over the place because it wouldn't fit anybody's playbook," said Feingold, who teamed up with McCain to rewrite federal campaign laws.
"He would be very original," Feingold said.


http://www.weau.com/elections/headlines/20388544.html
Sen. Russ Feingold has been predicting for some time that Republican John McCain will be the next president.
Feingold now thinks Democrat Barack Obama has a decent chance of beating McCain but says it won't be easy.
The Wisconsin Democrat is a longtime friend of McCain, and the two worked together on the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law.
Feingold says people are excited about Obama's candidacy and the climate has become more favorable for a Democratic win than it was. But he says he's not convinced his original prediction was wrong.


We share a computer and sometimes we respond without switching accounts.

[Overseas]

57. He said McCain was a nice guy. That's all. Had to pass a bill together.

The McCain Feingold bill on campaign finance reform.
He complimented McCain and that makes people forget all his accomplishments and pretend he supports him.

[Forkboy]

66. Yeah....ok.

[TwilightGardener]

26. Feingold would stand up and say how swell McCain is, how suited

for the Oval Office he is, what a great relationship they have. Feingold's standing as a principled liberal warrior is pretty much gone, with his repeated sucking of McCain's dick. He's just a vain, self-absorbed, calculating pol, just like the rest of 'em.

[Jackpine Radical]

33. Where are you people getting this nonsense? I call BULLSHIT!

(Ahem. Pardon me.) FEINGOLD ENDORSED OBAMA IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE WISCONSIN PRIMARY, AND HAS NEVER SUPPORTED McCAIN'S CANDIDACY! (Thank you.)

[geek tragedy]

37. He said McCain would be a good President.

Last week.

[Jackpine Radical]

46. Not exactly.

"I'd rather have Obama for many, many reasons," Feingold said, citing his deep differences with McCain over foreign policy, health care and civil liberties, and his belief that Obama could be an inspirational president.

[geek tragedy]

51. Feingold's quote about McCain:

SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: I'm for Barack Obama for president. And I think he has a perfect temperament to be president of the United States. But even though I feel strongly about that, I can't sit here and say that John McCain doesn't have the temperament to be the president of the United States. I frankly think he does. And I think he'd be a good president....

KING (voice-over): Maverick was the label more and more attached to McCain. And he liked it.

FEINGOLD: I think he's essentially an Independent who wants to call them as he sees them. I think modus operandi is to say here's a problem, what can we do to fix it?

Yeah, other than calling McCain a Straight Talk Pragmatic Maverick who's Not Really a Republican, and who would make a Good Presiden, he's doing a great job.

[Overseas]

58. I agree that comment is taking senate camaraderie too far. McBombBomb doesn't have

the temperament to be Commander in Chief.

[elocs]

44. I agree, it's BULLSHIT. Somebody is going on my ignore list right now.

Their name isn't worth mentioning to me.

[Joe the Revelator]

22. You have no idea what you're talking about, Warner is great

[geek tragedy]

30. He's great at positive politics.

Positive politics don't work in Presidential elections.

[Labors of Hercules]

14. good quote, as long as they don't turn around...

while in mid-piss. :rofl:

[MrsT]

2. When McCain talks about bipartisanship, do you call it "capitulation?"

Just curious.

[Doctor_J]

5. I don't remember McDepends talking about bipartisanship

and you can bet he won't at the RNC.

[MrsT]

12. "I don't remember"

Funny! Google is your friend.

[Cha]

27. If mccain talks it about it's a fucking lie..

so why bother "googling" it?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

7. I call it the Democratic Leadership Council. That's worse than capitulation.

That's Repuke-lite.

[wyldwolf]

10. why do you have an Obama avatar?

Read my sig line. That's what Obama thinks about what you call capitulation.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

16. Do you know what the DLC is? The father of the DLC is in your avatar.

Tell me what the DLC is. You have no license to insult me because I don't support the DLC, which is Republican-lite. Period.

[wyldwolf]

20. LOL! Of course I do. And Obama has borrowed so much rhetoric and policy from them...

... he could write a book on it. Oh yeah, he DID!

Insult you? Ah, yes, "progressive" speak for "disagree with."

[TornadoTN]

23. I don't disagree with your point, but Warner is as good as they come in the DLC circles

Plus, like it or not, we're going to need them this time as much as they need us to stay viable. Their message also plays well in certain demographics and in states like VA and NC, which we need to turn blue this time.

Warner isn't extreme DLC and overall his message squares with our ideals. Maybe he isn't the best keynote and maybe he will suck to high heaven, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

[geek tragedy]

15. Partisanship is our #1 advantage because people hate Republicans.

Warner is the wrong guy to give the message of this campaign, i.e. REPUBLICANS SUCK.

[LisaM]

78. I personally don't want a purple America

I want a BLUE America. Why do we have to exercise bipartisanship? The Republicans never have. And our finest hour (IMO), the New Deal, was not exactly a bipartisan effort.

[wyldwolf]

3. Let's hope everyone watches it to see how a Democrat wins in a red state and...

...why he was pursued as the VP pick.

:bounce:

[geek tragedy]

19. His job is to help Obama get elected.

Talking about what good guys the Republicans are ain't the way to do it.

[wyldwolf]

24. which is why he's the keynote speaker - to show that Democrats aren't radical nut cases

[geek tragedy]

28. When will voters learn that McCain is a Bush-style Republican?

Because, if voters think that McCain is a legitimate break from Bush Republicanism, we're fucked.

[wyldwolf]

34. I heard that repeated often last night. And how do you know Warner won't repeat it?

[geek tragedy]

38. Did you read the portion I quoted?

You can't advocate bipartisanship and be a partisan attack dog at the same time.

They chose Warner back when they were ahead in the polls.

Now, they're in a dogfight, and he's going to be doing what's good for Mark Warner, not Barack Obama.

[wyldwolf]

41. yeah... so?

You can't advocate bipartisanship and be a partisan attack dog at the same time.

Why does Obama advocate bipartisanship? And the attack dog role is for Biden.

[geek tragedy]

47. Because Obama misjudged what voters respond to.

The Republicans feel that bipartisanship is like date rape. What does that make Democrats who advocate it?

[wyldwolf]

50. oh, so now you know more than Obama! LOL! LOL!

[geek tragedy]

52. I disagree with him.

I've never believed in the new politics, hope, change stuff. I'm a deeply cynical person who believes you step on your opponent's throat when he's down. And right now, the Republicans are down with their brand being the worst it's ever been.

But, you won't hear a word about why the Republicans are bad for America at this convention. Heaven forbid the Democratic party act like a bunch of partisan Democrats.

[wyldwolf]

53. Of course you do.

[geek tragedy]

54. Ironically, I agree with Carville and Begala. n/t

[BurtWorm]

8. That's what I was afraid of.

What a sucky idea for a keynote address to a bruised party.

[TwilightGardener]

9. Eh, let him say what he needs to say to win over GOPers and Indies in VA, and

then Hillary better fucking be a junkyard dog on McLoon's ass.

[TornadoTN]

13. I'm not concerned by this, Warner is a great speaker and his message is a good one

Warner is one of the good guys, so I'm not going to get upset by this. He's also in an election of his own in Virginia - and we could very well see Warner as a Presidential candidate in 2016. I'm no fan of the DLC, but we're going to need everyone to win this time and there are a lot of people out there whose views align with some of the DLC principles - Warner is a good compromise.

As long as he doesn't go full-Lieberman, I think it will be a great keynote as it will appeal across the spectrum.

[RaleighNCDUer]

49. Your first mistake is in thinking the DLC HAS any principles. nt

[TornadoTN]

59. Probably true, but I still like Warner

I've met Warner a few times - several times in 2006 during the Ford campaign here in TN and several more times in 07/08 in both TN and VA. He's a likable guy and knows how to present his issues. He's forceful when he needs to be and willing to work within the parties to effect change that palatable and useful to the broad population. Much like Obama in that sense.

The DLC may be a negative force on our side (I believe it is), but I refuse to believe that Warner is one of the bad guys. It's going to take all of us to get this done.

[RaleighNCDUer]

65. Possibly. This is politics, after all, and many politicians will use an

existing power structure without being co-opted by that power structure. Some, like Gore, started out being DLC but came to understand how poisonously Machivellian it is and walked away from it.

I don't really know much about Warner - where he might stand in regards to the DLC, other than that he is a member.

[TornadoTN]

68. Here's to hoping the same applies to Warner

I see some similarities between a young Gore and the Mark Warner of today. Hopefully he will grow beyond the constraints of the DLC (which I believe he is getting very close to doing) and make other plans.

I can't say enough good things about Mark Warner and he's been one of Obama's most vocal supporters (he was the first to appear with him the day Obama clinched the nomination). While he may not be as forceful as some would want in the sense of attacking McCain, his speech should be something that we can all be proud of.

[Renew Deal]

25. Warner is a really bright guy

I'm willing to give him a chance.

[cbc5g]

31. I don't think we should attack a (D) with close to a 30 point lead in the Senate race in VA

of all places. We can learn some things about how to win in red states from Mark Warner.

[Thrill]

35. He can do a great speech by showing what the Democrats vision for America is

[JaneQPublic]

39. Let's hope Warner is countered with a Red-Meat speech from Hillary (nt)

[sourmilk]

40. If the Dems did not need Va. so damn badly, no one would know who he was.

[geek tragedy]

43. We don't need Virginia, but would love to have it.

If we need Virginia, we're in DEEP trouble.

[wyldwolf]

45. yes they would

A former very successful and popular VA governor who is now running away with the Senate race there. :shrug:

[beachmom]

60. Exactly. He singlehandedly re-branded the Dem party in Virginia.

Dems get things done. He cleaned up the fiscal mess in Virginia, and left office with 70% approval rating.

BUT, I hope we have some hatchet men/women who are going to give it to McCain, though.

Actually, I hope that's what Hillary does tomorrow. A few smackdowns of McCain would be most welcome from the junior Senator from NY.

[TornadoTN]

63. He's a good example of a determined and successful Democrat

He's more moderate than most, but on the core issues he's right on the money.

Warner is a shining example of what we need to win the Red States, no matter which way you want to spin it.

Take a look at Bredesen in Tennessee, Sebelius in Kansas, Schweitzer in Montana, and Kaine in Virginia. Same type of "bipartisan" approach from all of them but they are still Democrats - they have to be in their states. Warner and Bredesen both cleaned up horrible economic disasters in both of their states by standing firm on core precepts but working on the smaller aspects together.

It may not sound great in other places, but its the reality of the situation and its what we need in states that we are attempting to establish ourselves further in.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

72. BINGO

[demnan]

42. I will watch it proudly

Warner is a smart guy, and he's going to help us, God knows we have a lot of work to do.

[washingdem]

48. He's also going to add another Democratic vote to the Senate. A valuable one.

Appreciate it.

[Arnold Judas Rimmer]

55. Today's schedule looks like a giant snoozefest, with a few notable exceptions

And Warner's not one of them :boring: :boring: :boring:

[Occam Bandage]

56. Y'know what? Never mind. I like Warner.

[geek tragedy]

61. I like him too, but he's a BAD choice for a convention that

needs to focus on beating up on the Republicans and John McCain.

[wyldwolf]

62. I'm sorry you were passed over as event organizer and agenda setter

Maybe in 2012?

[geek tragedy]

64. Well, the high road let to Obama's support cratering

over the summer.

By all means, let's continue down that path.

[VolcanoJen]

67. Damn, how I miss Ann Richards.

We've never needed her more than we do right now. :-(

[BeyondGeography]

73. Great speech, but we got our asses kicked extra hard anyway that year

[VolcanoJen]

76. Willie Horton and Snoopy-in-a-Tank

Straight out of the Atwater-Rove playbook. The players haven't changed this year, and neither have their tactics.

Hold on to your hats, everyone.

[BeyondGeography]

77. More important, the voters haven't changed either

Even as their economic futures go down the tubes. Is fuckedcountry.com still available?

[VolcanoJen]

80. As a matter of fact...

... fuckedcountry.com points to TruthOut.org!!!!!

[BeyondGeography]

82. LOL...smart

Looks like fuckedmurkans.com is still available. Something to think about for after the election.

[williesgirl]

70. I live in VA and respect and like Mark Warner. We need more like him. He was a good Gov and will

be a great Senator. Why should we act like Repukes - all hateful etc - when we're proud not to be. Let HRC make amends for the clips they're using in Repuke ads by going for McSame's throat - not Warner.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

71. this sucks

[DefenseLawyer]

74. Chairman Mao was unavailable? n/t

[Blue_Tires]

75. warner would have been better in a non-election year

but i understand his need to be practical in the commonwealth...

[SanchoPanza]

79. Keynote Addresses sure can be barn burners.

Anyone remember the one in 2004 by some nobody from Chicago? He all but referred to Republicans as seal-clubbing child rapists. No intonations of unity there.

But it certainly didn't compare to the fire and brimstone spewed toward the GOP by Harold Ford in 2000. And that Evan Bayh sure let the Republicans have it in 1996, so much more than Barbara Jordan in 1992 (but at least she called Dan Quayle a "child of Satan").

[PM7nj]

81. You probably said the same about Obama's 2004 keynote speech.

[GoesTo11]

83. The upbeat Dem convention followed by rabid dog Rep convention worked well last time

Everyone thought the Democrats were the party that had the nation's best interests at heart, and could be trusted to run the government.
The Republican's nastiness was viewed as a faked temper tantrum at best and scary at worst. Don't worry, the American people can no longer be manipulated.

Last night was completely positive. Hopefully tonight will be too. Then having 7 senators speak on Wednesday night, well, I think we'll set a new standard for bipartisan comity, and there will be a lot of Republicans and independents coming aboard once they know it's safe.