Conventions

[celeste17]

Can someone tell me why we need to have the Republican and Democratic Conventions? What is the purpose? Why do the wanna be politicians go out and campaign for the office?

Forgive me if I am being stupid as I don’t really care for how long they run for the office of President and how much money they spend running for this office.

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[kootchman]

Because gladiators and lions are illegal?

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[metrognome]

“We” as in We The People” probably don’t need the conventions since at best we play a small role in who gets the official nomination for ‘our’ party … and an increasing number aren’t affiliated with a party or at least with one of the two majority parties.

The reality is it is no longer about the grassroots activist who works hard in local politics and is rewarded by being sent to the convention and helping approve the platform and vote for their state’s nominee. It’s about big money lobbyists and corporations and unions and special interest groups spending a fortune to buy politicians and their minions for the next 4 years or more. The delegates probably spend more time in suites being lavished with free booze and food and swag and taking special ‘sightseeing’ trips (can you say ‘strip club’, I mean ‘gentlemen’s entertainment center’ boys and girls?) than they do on the convention floor. Please note that I did not aim these comments just at the R’s.

Speaking of which, here is the approved Republican Platform … which plank will you be walking off … no funding for abortions, no rape or incest exceptions … no gay marriage … changing Medicare to a private insurance option (for those under 55) … having your groundwater contaminated by fracking … Of course, Mitt’s flipped so many times, this’ll probably be a flop.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2019011686_conventionplatform29.html

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[kootchman]

Wow… Christie just gave the best key note address in 50 years.

Metrognome you missed a roaring tide. This is a Ronald Reagan/Jimmy Carter election now.

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[Trick]

This is was probably one of the weirdest conventions I’ve seen.

Christie gave his acceptance speech for himself in 2016. He didn’t mention Romney until much later in his speech after his accomplishments, and “respect” over “love”. No word on the wars, or unemployment.

Contrary to Ann’s preface “I want to talk about love”…

It was really entertaining to see Mitt just motionless.

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[redblack]

This is a Ronald Reagan/Jimmy Carter election now.

you may be right, kootch.

i commented to the wife that christie’s speech sounded like he was trying to get jimmy carter elected – in light of all of the debt and government-wrecking that republicans have wrought in the last 30 years.

celeste: despite what the more cynical among us may say, the conventions are bottom-up: each state sends delegates to the convention based on local elections and caucuses.

yeah, it’s largely pomp and circumstance, but that’s how the parties do things, and it’s the american democratic (small d) tradition.

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[metrognome]

saw a little bit of Christie’s speech — looked like an angry white guy aka a typical Republican. Didn’t mention Mittens for about 2/3 of his speech then said something very unRepublican, “We all need to share the burden.”

I thought Dubya’s speech was a real barn burner, tho.

Don’t matter much if you get the zealots fired up; you need the undecided and Chrispie didn’t even get them warm.

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[kootchman]

Yep… and I am sure the peeing of the pants extended to the White House too. The debate was reframed… as Christie said.. it matters not a whit how we got here… we are here. You can sing the Reagan tax cuts song, I can whistle the Democratic congress tune… but we are trillions in deficits and cannot repeat CANNOT continue this spending trajectory. Jobs and deficits… now we have a campaign. Who is more likely to solve the problem…? Increased taxes isn’t enough to solve the problem. I just watched a special on Greece…imagine, diabetics aren’t even getting meds? There are NO public benefits.. none… they spent themselves into oblivion. Metro… ya aren’t watching the polls… even in the best of his blue states… Obama is losing supporters. Even Michigan is in play. Obama made his run based on a speech… heads the largest economy in the world and never even ran a lemonade stand..!!??!! Well we have two men with two records to compare. All the other issues are marginal… except to the party faithful… jobs, deficits….. before there is nothing left to fight for. want four more years of this?

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[Smitty]

Anne won the night, but Christie was very good.

You can tell you guys all watched MSDNC to get your talking points. They were the only channel curious why he didn’t mention Mitt’s name until 2/3 of the way into his speech. Here is a hint; Mitt was in the room and on tv the entire time.

I watch MSDNC too so I can get a different perspective. I suggest you Fox-bashing critics do the same.

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[JoB]

kootch..

” This is a Ronald Reagan/Jimmy Carter election now.”

if so, someone should have given Mitt acting lessons… Ronnie knew how to charm a room.

“The debate was reframed… as Christie said.. it matters not a whit how we got here… we are here.”

I can see whyt he Republicans would like to have the debate reframed.. but it does matter how we got here.

if you hire a bad contractor who drags the work on for years ..

and the guy you hire to fix his mistakes has more trouble than he expected because he can’t get suppliers to cooperate..

you might want to think twice before taking the guy who created the problem back on.

sure.. you’ll get supplies… but if they aren’t used properly, you still don’t get results.

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[JoB]

Smitty..

i didn’t watch MSNBC..

i read transcripts.

it makes it a lot easier not to get caught up in all the enthusiasm over the liberal application of buzzwords.

Today on facebook i re-posted one of those iconic Martin Luther King quotes reminding us that failing to speak out when you see injustice contributes to the problem…

and i was reminded how lucky i was to have orators like Martin Luther King and JFK in my formative years.. men who spoke to our consciences and our hearts…

the current crowd speaks to our fears.

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[kootchman]

I watched them it in split screen .. it was funny as hell…. Pat Caudell said it.. “WOW”…. and Ann nailed it.. in over 46 years… he has never failed, and he will not fail you. Do you all remember Obama when he refused to wear the American flag lapel? remember Michelle saying ” it’s “just” a damn flag? You can’t go wrong when you tell the American people to stop being afraid… you can do this.. we can do this, and we have a President who actually believes it… and is willing to lead that way.

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[kootchman]

You like the Obama national remodel? Only 32% agree he has done a good job… 68% don’t like the job. They like him.. not the job he has done…although he IS losing his popularity too… when does Romney get the money from his donors? Friday morning? Obama is in deep shit.. the Democrats haven’t even raised enough to pay for their convention yet… far cry from 2008 when Denver was awash in ATT, Wall Street, money. He had five battleground states.. now he has 11 to defend.

Ann Romney:

“This man will not fail. This man will not let us down.”

Obama has no defense to that.. he has failed, he has let us down.

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[JoB]

kootch..

the problem is see is that too many people have begun to think that patriotism begins and ends with a flag.

patriotism means loving this country and what it stands for enough to stand up for it and it’s people.

it’s that last part that too many ignore..

the people.

without them, America is nothing.

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[JoB]

ah.. the elephant in the room..

kootch says

“when does Romney get the money from his donors? Friday morning?”

Folks, if this election is just about the money we need to rename the place the United Corporations of America .. because they are placing the winning bid.

is our nation like our sports stadiums and concert venues.. up for the highest bid?

something to think about as this circus plays out.

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[kootchman]

“This man will not fail. This man will not let us down

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[kootchman]

JoB…… who was the first presidential candidate since Watergate to break the matching funds restrictions of the FEC?

The Boston Globe 2008

Barack Obama rejected public funding for the fall presidential campaign yesterday, a dramatic blow to 1970s good-government reform that has been overwhelmed by an explosion of private money.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/06/20/in_a_shift_obama_rejects_public_funding/?page=full

Democrats lit the match… now they are out of firewood … and damn they want to outlaw campfires now!! awwww .. so sad. Republicans just out did them at their own game. Now we have hand wringing about buying elections… sorta like a slumlords using the building codes to prevent a homeless tent city… it has a hollow sound.

Got a comment on that? You bet Citizens United was a great thing… now the ground game is at parity, YOUR man made it a special interest festival.

If there is an elephant in the room.. they followed the jackass in.

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[JoB]

kootch..

” who was the first presidential candidate since Watergate to break the matching funds restrictions of the FEC? “

WAIT!

if you want to post things like this at least you should be accurate.

He didn’t violate the matching funds restrictions of the FEC.

He did opt out of public financing of the Presidential election.

But the public funding door was already open and creating a huge draft.

Don’t you think Karl Rove’s crossroads America among other super PACs had started and fueled that fire long before the Democratic convention elected Obama as a nominee?

Yes, there is an elephant in the room.. an elephant that proved so useful that the GOP pursued it all of the way to the supreme court and won on the grounds of free speech..

imagine that.

i guess money does talk, doesn’t it?

if nothing else, i truly hope that America learns that lesson in this election.

because when money talks it’s not speaking for JohnQ

when money talks, it expects return for it’s investment.

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[TanDL]

So easy to whip up the base into a frenzy with a few speeches… sigh. You sound postively giddy, Kootchman. Romney is just a man and to pin all your hopes and dreams on one man, is simplistic dreaming. I would think you’d have learned that from all your disappointment in the last guy you voted for. The Presidency is a complex office and it’s holder has a complex job. He (she, maybe someday) can’t fix everything all at once and alone. Not possible with the way the system works and especially today with the power we’ve allowed the media to have over us. That being said, I actually enjoyed the Christie speech because he’s a good speaker, although he blew his own horn a lot about his successes in New Jersey. Funny he didn’t mention that the NJ unemployment rate that he took credit for when it fell, has now risen back up to 9.8%. The other speeches I thought were white toast – very white, toast from people who I don’t believe really understand just how privileged they are.

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[TanDL]

http://thegrio.com/2012/08/29/rnc-black-cnn-camera-operator-allegedly-pelted-with-peanuts-told-this-is-how-we-feed-animals/

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[kootchman]

TanDL

The Boston Globe 2008

Barack Obama rejected public funding for the fall presidential campaign yesterday, a dramatic blow to 1970s good-government reform that has been overwhelmed by an explosion of private money.

Using your rationale then.. money talks.. Obama essentially bought the 08 elections? Sour grapes?

Hmmm and Obama looked two years into the future when American Crossroads was yet to be formed and made this monumental decisions? Quite the visionary.

“”I don’t remember this angst when Americans Coming Together (ACT) funded by George Soros and five of his pals were beating up [George W.] Bush,” he said. ACT, a liberal group, was later dinged by the Federal Election Commission for violating campaign finance laws during the 2004 presidential election.”

or

“Rove also said he didn’t remember “anybody writing a frantic editorial in the pages of the New York Times” when the NAACP National Voter Fund announced an anonymous $14 million contribution, and then ran an ad attacking President Bush on race. “

JoB??? … American Crossroads was forned in 2010 …. two years after Obama broke the arrow on his way to spending almost a billion with a host of surrogates … it got serious and wrong only when conservatives decided to do the same. Like I said the jackass walked through the door first.. who knew they would be holding the door open for the guest of honor .. American Crossroads….

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[JV]

TanDL

If it seemed “very white” to you, it’s probably because MSDNC didn’t cover much of the non-white speakers.

I predict they won’t cover Marco Rubio tonight, then that Maddow dude will go on about the lack of Hispanic speakers at the convention.

Also, meet Mia Love…they don’t cover the non-white Republicans because it keeps their followers on the Democrat plantation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Cbvewaa7g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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[kootchman]

The other speeches I thought were white toast – very white, toast from people who I don’t believe really understand just how privileged they are.

Yep.. that’s the 2012 Democrat theme.. we got that already.

Meanwhile… our theme is centered on this….

Sixty-four percent (64%) now say today’s children will not be better off. That compares to 47% who felt that way in January 2009. Nineteen percent (19%) more are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

For the second week in a row, 29% of Likely U.S. Voters say the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports

And we cannot let that happen… while your candidate has to have it happen.. it’s his plan.. it’s the “new” Democratic Party. The Party that has no idea how to stop the train … as Christie said.. perfectly willing to take us off the cliff…as long as they are driving the bus … Amen.

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[JanS]

seen in Tampa:

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/08/29/romneys-very-big-yacht-shows-up-in-tampa-flying-the-flag-of-the-cayman-islands/

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[waynster]

Yes this a first in elections the teapublicans are trying to buy its first ever election that’s all I can give them credit for….. other then that its still the old white guy party putting 19th century ideas on the party platform……

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2012/election_2012_presidential_election/august_2012/53_think_obama_will_win_33_predict_romney

on the lighter side….

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/showbiz/2012/08/29/conan-seriously-lousy-campaign-slogan.teamcoco

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