First Up, Donna Brazile

This is the first in a series of posts reflecting the views of people responsible for pushing me from the Democratic party, in their own words, with links.

Donna Brazile

From her website, May 2, 2001:

Last year, following the Supreme Court intervention in the 2000 presidential campaign, I called my friend and Bush chief strategist Karl Rove to wish him well.”

New York Times, Feb. 21, 2003:

”I call Republicans because I can talk outside the box with them,” she said. ”I can talk with Democrats, but when I talk with Republicans, I learn a lot more.”

March 19, 2004 SF Gate article about Howard Dean’s Democracy For America:

“Howard Dean has the power to empower a new generation of activists, to bring more people into the political process and to turn more people on,” Brazile said. “Some voters were very uncomfortable with Howard Dean as a candidate. But I think they will rally to him as a cheerleader for democracy.”

SFGate, July, 2004:

I live to be on Bill Clinton’s coattails.” She said she envisioned bookstore appearances with “the first black president (as Clinton has been metaphorically called) … and his little sister right there on the side.”

Slate Magazine, November 5, 2004:

This is a new moment to identify and recruit better messengers. Perhaps it’s time to tap into the “Obama” factor: Scour statehouses for young, energetic, inspiring, and emerging leaders with the ability to connect the head and heart. Too many of the old Democratic guard have stayed in Washington, D.C., too long to fully recognize how most Americans live their lives.

From The Christian Science Monitor, 2005:

On Thursday night President Bush spoke to the nation from my city. I am not a Republican. I did not vote for George W. Bush – in fact, I worked pretty hard against him in 2000 and 2004. But on Thursday night, after watching him speak from the heart, I could not have been prouder of the president and the plan he outlined to empower those who lost everything and to rebuild the Gulf Coast.

Washington Post, Sept. 1, 2007:

As we begin to contemplate the calendar for 2012, and the rules that will govern that process, both major parties must craft a system that makes sense for voters and candidates. We can begin by setting a reasonable starting date — I suggest the time when the snow gives way to tulips and daffodils. We can make sure the nominating schedule does not unfairly favor the rock stars of politics. And we must make sure the campaign finance laws allow more than just the candidates with deep pockets and ties to big donors to be competitive.

Jan. 9, 2008, from Newsbusters, re: Bill Clinton:

I can understand his frustration at this moment, but, look, he shouldn’t take out all his pain on Barack Obama. It’s time that they regroup, figure out what Hillary needs to do to get her campaign back on track. It sounds like sour grapes coming from the former Commander-in-Chief, someone that many Democrats hold in high esteem. For him to go after Obama using “fairy tale,” calling him a “kid,” as he did last week, it’s an insult. And I tell you, as an African-American, I find his words and his tone to be very depressing.

Feb. 2008:

“If 795 of my colleagues decide this election, I will quit the Democratic Party. I feel very strongly about this,” Donna Brazile told CNN this week.

March 5, 2008,

“Despite Obama’s impressive victories in February, Clinton’s comeback is based on sowing political seeds of doubt,” said Donna Brazile, a Democratic strategist and one of nearly 800 party leaders known as superdelegates for their ability to determine the nomination. “In order to clinch the nomination, he must anticipate the worst attacks ever.”…

edit

“If these attacks are contrasts based on policy differences, there is no need to stop the race or halt the debate,” Brazile said. “But, if this is more division, more diversion from the issues and more of the same politics of personal destruction, chairman Dean and other should be on standby.”

New York Observer, March 21, 2008:

“He is culturally both black and white,” she told me. “Why is it that everyone has all of a sudden made Barack Obama the blackest black man on the planet? Malcolm X would be jealous of Obama at this point.”

From No Quarter, April 5, 2008:

“Thanks for the joyful email. Like most of the other pro Clinton emails, I have now put them in a special folder called ‘tales from the gutter.

Stay positive and remember if she wins, you will need Obama supporters and donors. So please stop throwing stones. Give her the support now and stop sending frivolous emails.”

April 6, 2008, Talk Left, e-mail:

Do you know how many undeclared supers are now just turned off by people like you? Do you understand you’re hurting her and not promoting Hillary? Perhaps that explains why a candidate like Obama has raised $40 million in one month. You don’t have to e-mail me again.

And also:

I just sent Hillary a private e-mail telling her that supporters like you are destroying her candidacy.

April 10, 2008, Taylor Marsh:

Blacks have been deeply wounded by the duplicity of the Clintons . Now, you may not like it or agree. But as a black person who helped saved the Clinton presidency, please just respect what I am saying. [emphasis added] Again, you disagree. But, I honestly believe the wounds will not heal. It’s personal and the Clintons have shown their darker demons. [emphasis added] Now, I will end it here. I was Al Gore’s Campaign Manager. Let the buck stop here. If I make a decision to go with Obama, people read it as Al Gore hates the Clintons. So, I stay above the bull and do not take bull from the Clintons or the Obamas or the McCains. I don’t owe anybody a dime. And if I counted who has helped me since 2000, it’s Republican men and not Democrats.

Talk Left, May 6, 2008:

Well, Lou, I have worked on a lot of Democratic campaigns, and I respect Paul. But, Paul, you’re looking at the old coalition. A new Democratic coalition is younger. It is more urban, as well as suburban, and we don’t have to just rely on white blue-collar voters and Hispanics. We need to look at the Democratic Party, expand the party, expand the base and not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Democrat.org, May 8, 2008:

Honestly, this is the 9th email today, so I believe you’re ready to not only
destroy Roe versus Wade, voting rights, civil liberties and civil rights.
Perhaps adding trillions more to the deficits through non stop tax cuts to
the wealthy and 100 more years in Iraq.

Yes, please join Rush and McCain asap. The train has left. Catch it.

Please don’t send these emails to working people like myself. Notice you
sent it to my campus address. I am a working class person. Can you find
someone who drinks latte?

Message to the base: stay home.

May 8, 2008, Little Isis, e-mail:

Thanks Natalie,

As of today, I am not going to respond to any more anti American, Anti Democratic emails. Have a nice day.

I am sorry because you are sincere, but the Hillary forces are uncivil, repugnant and vile. When you come up for air and would like to email a person who cares about America and not just a personality, I will respond.

Thanks for your time and your interest.

Donna

May 31, 2008:

“My momma taught me to play by the rules and respect those rules. My mother taught me, and I’m sure your mother taught you, that when you decide to change the rules, middle of the game, end of the game, that is referred to as cheatin.’” — Donna Brazile to former Michigan Gov. Jim Blanchard, who was making the case for the Clinton campaign to get 73 delegates out of Michigan with 55 for uncommitted.

June 8, PUMA Pac:

“What’s clear is much of this so called rage is being stirred not by Hillary, but those pretending to be her supporters. Stop the hate. You have totally disrespected the Senator with your emails. Stop the hate. Not sure if you know, but we are keeping copies of all these emails in the archives. Yes, you are not going to get away with pretending to be for Hillary. She is a leader of the Dem party.”

PUMA

Just Say No Deal

What’s Next?

It seems that many pro-Hillary bloggers are in the process of re-evaluating.  What do we do now?  Many of us are not at all interested in promoting Obama, he has more than enough cheerleaders as it is.  As far as exposing him goes, Lord knows we’ve tried that.  However, it’s obvious that those who support him do so enthusiastically and are not likely to heed any criticism, no matter how well-deserved, so, why bother?  That being said, I will continue to maintain this blog for my own amusement, commenting on that which interests me, political or not.  Before I get into the new season of Dancing With The Stars, though, I’m going to do a series of posts highlighting quotes from people who helped shape my disdain for, and push me from, the Democratic party.  As of now, I celebrate my political Independence and welcome anyone who shares the sense of freedom with me.  Hey, I’m even willing to listen to alternate points of view, but no sales pitches, please.  My decision has been made, my mind’s made up.  I no longer give a fuck.  (Excuse my language, for once, I had to get it out.)

Party Unity My Ass

Just Say, Whatever

Don’t Blame Barack

Bothways Barry is not getting away with his blame-shifting tendencies anymore.  At least, not with Politico.  They brutally illustrate the numerous instances when he deflected well earned and deserved criticisms away from himself by pointing fingers at his staff.

Just hours after his campaign issued a first statement yesterday ripping the addition of Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket, Barack Obama backed away from that statement — or at least its tone — and said that his own campaign had misrepresented him.

Obama often speaks of how important his staffers are to his bid and would be to his administration, and he’s praised them for covering for each others’ mistakes. But in the heat of the campaign, he’s publicly called them out for everything from missing an event to misrepresenting his policy positions to using his office to aid a donor.

Nooooo!  Say it ain’t so!  Sure sounds like him, though.

“I think that, uh, you know, campaigns start getting these, uh, hair triggers and, uh, the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments,” he said.

Unbelievable!  It couldn’t be that finally, somebody is calling His High and Mighty out on one of the many things us “mythical” PUMAs have been complaining about for months, could it?

The latest disavowal of his staff’s comments on his behalf or in his name continues a tactic Obama employed repeatedly during his contentious battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

They go into the “D-Punjab” memo circulated in June of 2007, implying Clinton’s relationships with Indian-Americans were improper, and the famous “race memo” that Camp “O” released before South Carolina, claiming the entire Clinton campaign was racially insensitive.  Both times, Obie blamed staff for being overzealous.  Yeah, right.   Democratic Underground published an article about the race memo explaining the genesis, evolution and consequences of this extremely damaging campaign tactic months ago; it’s worth a look.  It was never a secret,  in an earlier article, Politico reported on it, and in this story points out that Tim Russert called Obama out on it.

And when the late Tim Russert asked Obama at a Las Vegas debate about his campaign’s efforts to push the storyline that Team Clinton was stoking racial tensions, Obama said “our supporters, our staff, get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say.”

Why should he say them when he can pay other people to and then pretend it’s their fault?  The article goes into a few other examples of this passive-agressive, juvenile behavior Obama is so fond of.  “I didn’t do it, he did it!” is not presidential; in fact, when you think about it, that kind of attitude is downright scary when it comes to a potential Commander-In-Chief.  Some people might even say it’s pretty wimpy; I won’t, but I could.  And then I could blame…you.

PUMA

Just Say, Whatever

Stephanie Tubbs Jones: A Tribute

(September 10, 1949 – August 20, 2008)

OBiden On Gustav? Hope, Pray

Barack Obama and Joe Biden, the Democratic standard bearers, have weighed in on Hurricane Gustav and the impending disaster facing New Orleans: y’all better hope and pray.  According to the AP, they offered the still suffering people of the city devastated by Hurricane Katrina 3 years ago…not much.

Barack Obama expressed hope Saturday that the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina three years ago would help to protect the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Gustav this time. His running mate, Joe Biden, urged people to pray that the levees in New Orleans hold.

That’s it.  No helpful suggestions for contingency plans, no promises that if elected they would use the full resources available to them to assist with rebuilding, no assurances that they would make certain that the efforts to update the levee system would be accelerated in an Obama-Biden administration, just directions to hope and pray.  Well, that’s not quite true.  In Youngstown, Ohio today, they did tell New Orleans residents that their best bet was to get the hell out of town.

Obama and Biden visited a diner in this Youngstown suburb, an area that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton carried during her failed presidential bid. Trying to connect with those who are economically struggling, the Democratic candidates and their wives chatted with diners and told reporters that a properly orchestrated evacuation would be key to protecting the Gulf Coast.

“It wasn’t last time, and hopefully we’ve learned from that tragedy,” Obama told reporters as he left the diner, heading to a memorial service for the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress. She died Aug. 20 from a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm.

Way to squeeze in a funeral between campaign stops, guys.

Biden said the Gulf Coast appears better prepared for a major hurricane this time than it was for Katrina, which left New Orleans and surrounding areas submerged. He said it appeared officials had learned from Katrina, and he praised moves to make major highways one-way routes out of the storm-targeted areas.

“It looks like they’re incredibly well prepared, much better than they had before,” Biden said. “Just pray to God that those levees hold.”

I wonder if it ever dawned on these two that it might be nice to offer the anxious residents of New Orleans their prayers.  Especially since it seems the Obiden team doesn’t have much in the way of practical advice to offer.  But, hey, what else is new?

PUMA

Just Say, Whatever