MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has become increasingly frustrated with the way Democratic congressional candidates have run their campaigns ahead of the November midterm elections. When she appeared Thursday on Late Night with Seth Meyers, she admitted that liberals may “deserve” to lose the Senate, as most polling models are forecasting.
“If your opponent loses the thing that they’ve been using as a crutch for six years and you just let them walk away from it like it never existed, maybe you don’t deserve to win,” Maddow told Seth Meyers. “They just don’t have the killer instinct it takes to make their opponents pay for a big mistake and I don’t understand why the Democrats are doing that.”
While I cannot bring myself to agree that Democrats deserve to lose in this 2014 election, I have to say that I am in almost total agreement with everything else that Rachel said here.
And you all know I have been saying something similar to this for some time now.
Democrats have won this health care debate, and they absolutely do NOT know what to do with the victory.
If the Republicans had won a similar victory they would be rubbing it in our faces on a daily basis.
Democrats rescued the economy.
Democrats ended the war.
Democrats got rid of Don't Ask Don't tell in the military.
Democrats helped to dramatically increase the number of people covered by health care in this country.
So why are we not yelling all of this from the mountain tops?
Because if we don't do it now, the Republicans might actually take the Senate and spend the next two years attempting to undo all of the good that Democrats have accomplished.
Democrats ARE yelling it - but the US media NEVER reports any democrat news nor anything positive about PBO. Rachel should look to her colleagues to find out WHY the good news is suppressed.
ReplyDeleteTRUTH
DeleteAlison Grimes is a perfect example and I blame her and not Chuck Todd for tanking her own campaign with her cowardice.
ReplyDeleteI don't fault her for playing the game she thinks she needs to play to win. Clearly in her part of the country, her advisors think it's important to lean conservative with an independent streak.
DeleteWhether that's a meaningful perspective or just the kind of typical "inside the political bubble" calculating that will turn out to be completely detached from reality (like Mitt's "landslide") remains to be seen.
I blame Chuck Todd one hundred fold and hopefully, he'll lose his job on MTP!
DeleteSince when are Americans suppose to declare how they cast their vote? The ballot is private and has always been! So, suck it up Americans! Grimes was not wrong!
Since when are Americans "suppose" to declare how they cast their vote?
DeleteWHEN THEY ARE FUCKING RUNNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE AND ARE ASKED THE QUESTION DURING THE COURSE OF THEIR CAMPAIGN.
Political candidates are asked all kinds of awkward, potentially damaging, questions. How they handle such questions is one of the measures by which the electorate learns of what they are made.
Grimes fumbled the question badly. It was, undoubtedly, meant as a "gotcha" question. But she could have easily defused it by giving a simple and straightforward answer. Instead, her fear of providing her opponent with an inconvenient sound byte totally backfired. Grimes' cravenness made her a double loser.
And you can try to pin Grimes' fumble on Chuck Todd all you wish, but this is not really ABOUT Chuck Todd.
What are you talking about? Grimes is kicking ass. If ya all don't like the fact that she did not answer a moronic question than tuff shit. It is personal and she has a right to privacy. It does not matter how she voted 6 yrs ago. She may be embarrassed that she voted for mcnut and loony sarah. Who would admit that besides McConnell the fossil? I would not admit casting a vote for that insane ticket nor the magic underwaring mittens and ryan munster.
Deletechucky blew his gig......he is not a good pick for Meet the press......I expect he will head to fox no news soon. He looks desperate.
DeleteYou tell 'em, Rachel. We know the Democrats are known for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I am so sick of that.
ReplyDeleteThe Democrats have accomplished so much, they ought to be shouting it from the rooftops, and the mountain tops.
But one thing I don't agree with Rachel about is, that the Democrats deserve to lose. I strongly don't agree with that.
I'm pretty sure she meant that sardonically, in the sense that if they can't figure out how to capitalize on their wins, then it's their own fault if they lose, and maybe they deserve to if they're that lame, so the next batch will learn from their mistakes.
DeleteI'm sure she doesn't WANT them to lose, but if they're going to screw up an easy one, then it's hard to have sympathy for them.
Well, she shouldn't say it if she doesn't mean it. Saying the Democrats deserve to lose should NEVER be uttered in jest.
DeleteTo Boscoe: You cannot be the one to say what Rachel meant or did not mean in her statement. She said it, so she must have mean it.
DeleteAnd I strongly disagree with her in that sentence.
Dems are running away from President Obama and all the good things he has done since he first took the oath. The Republicans have been obstructing and tearing him down since the minute he took office the first time!
ReplyDeleteMany uninformed, uneducated and racist Americans are the ones that are called for the poll questions that show President Obama currently down in them. I know I've never been called and I live in the northwest, am educated, am not racist and am registered to vote as 'non partisan'!
Independents and Dems need to get the vote out for November and hopefully the Republicans asses will be kicked in the House and Senate of the U.S. Congress and throughout the country!
Remember how the Republicans thought Mitt Romney was going to win - according to their polls - and he lost substantially to President Obama!
The Republicans have a history of being wrong. Just look at McCain, Palin, McConnell, Romney, etc.
How exactly do they shout it from the mountains tops? Do they buy more airtime? They are being outspent by the GOP PACs and dark money. Just last week you said you would not donate to democrats.
ReplyDeleteSo Democrats don't donate, they don't vote and they blame their leaders.
I've tossed an entire tree's worth of snail mail this last two weeks, both from Dan Sullivan and Mark Begich without even reading any of it. Also, face it, those with TiVOs never, ever, ever watch a commercial. Hello, that's why we have it. Most of us vote from the heart and ignore snail mail and commercials on TV. Being an undeclared AK voter I usually vote Democrat by not always. Early voting begins Monday or Tuesday and I'm voting Begich and the Unity Ticket and am done. It's going to be so nice to cast my vote and have this election over with and now go onto total "ignore" for the end of this extremely ugly election season!
DeleteAfter six years of unabated vitriolic Hate for even continuing to breathe, it might be ingrained in Democrats by now. But if they don't fight now they won't fight in office.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, now you know why the GOPOOPers are so thrilled about the ebola virus. Many of them refer to it as the Benghazi of epidemics.
ReplyDeleteEven Democrats have to admit that it's EXTREMELY suspicious that we elect a Kenyan-born president one day and all of the sudden we have an African virus running rampant across country (infecting fewer than 10 people).
Can you name any WHITE president in the last 35 years who had a virulent AFRICAN virus infect several hundred thousand Americans during his 2 terms in office? No? I didnt think so! (Dutch)
Nobody is saying Obama is spreading this disease deliberately (...5, 4, 3, 2, 1....) but you have to admit it's more than likely that Obama is spreading this disease deliberately. Why? Obviously, he hates white people (the two Texas nurses infected are not white)
In conclusion, Obama is easily the worst American president since Genghis Khan. Thank Jeebus we can spend the next two years watching douchebags like Yertle The Turtle and John Boner working diligently - to the exclusion of any other agenda - to impeach him
And if certain embattled Democratic candidates are unwilling to declare whether or not they voted for Barack Obama for president, I'm proud to say I did, twice.
Those GOPOOPers should be reassured to realize that every one of the white people who has caught ebola so far was dedicated to helping the less fortunate. So Republicans have nothing to worry about.
Delete"maybe you don’t deserve to win"
ReplyDeleteI strongly disagree with Dr. Maddow's use of the word 'deserve.'
Do Democrat's deserve to win based on issues, policy, and competence? Absolutely!
Will they win based on campaign strategies? Possibly not.
And is it so easy to assign blame? Are Dems just cowards or are they facing an impossible situation created by political pundits, journalists, and the media?
Are those few Democrats who are campaigning proudly based on their record and issues getting the same type and amount of media coverage as given to GOP nonsense and outrage? Without a doubt...NO.
I've seen a lot of strong, positive information coming from the White House. But then what? All you have to do is look at Pres. Obama's poll numbers to realize there's a serious disconnect between reality and the public's opinion.
And when have you ever heard the conservative media criticize GOP candidates a la Maddow's frustration with Democrats?
Yes. I'm frustrated with Democratic candidates. The one running for Congress in my district seems to be MIA. But the media? Holy crap!
[Disconnected rant over]
Me too, 3:19 PM and am damned proud for having done so!
ReplyDeleteUh....you are proud to say you voted for Obama twice and yet you say he is easily the worse American president since Genghis Khan? Very strange comment.
ReplyDeletePat Padrnos
Pat, I know Beldar. Beldar is a friend of mine, And you're no Beldar. But I'm sure your heart's in the right place.
DeleteBeldar has a firm, non-negotiable policy of NEVER explaining jokes, mostly because his jokes are pretty bad. But he has asked me to assure you that he's an unshakable Obama supporter and his jokes are never at President's Obama's expense.
Don't tell Beldar I told you, here's the deal: see, Genghis Khan was never an American president so only a bloviating conserva-douchebag would stupidly say that "Obama was the worst president since Genghis Khan". Get it? It's nonsense. It's a non sequitur. It's a knock on the ceaseless, stupid, over-the-top, jabs at Obama of the crazy right wingers who attack him no matter what he does.
See? When a joke like this is explained, it's no longer 'strange'...
or even remotely funny.
You are correct - not even remotely funny.
DeletePat Padrnos
Well, I for one have learned something here. I didn't know it was possible to have one's funny bone surgically removed.
DeleteLong live Supreme Court Justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kagan, and Sotomayor,
ReplyDeleteThis topic is so frustrating and depressing.
ReplyDeleteSo here's a little OT to unwind for a moment:
It's Saturday, Oct. 18. Will a certain someone turning 24 years old today celebrate in her customary manner or will she be under house restraint?
I'd say the American people that worked their butts off to get Obama elected, the poor and homeless, the citizens that have helped create jobs and better the economy (I know but there are a few), the good guys in the senate and congress (ditto the above) and last, President Obama don't deserve to lose.
ReplyDeleteBut we need to get people more involved in making changes for the better, helping to register those needing help. And we really need to become ONE nation again and realize that it will take all of us to demand better from our government and our media. We need to be loud and strong.
Mildred
Democrats rescued the economy. (we're not out yet and that is a natural thing, unaffected by people)
ReplyDeleteDemocrats ended the war. (uhhhhh...??)
Democrats helped to dramatically increase the number of
people covered by health care in this country. (I DOUBT this. I don't have insurance, nor does my husband. Our kids do but they always have. We cannot afford $800 monthly under OBAMACARE. This is a common statement Ive been reading)
If you make enough to have to pay 800/month for insurance then you should have no trouble affording $800/month. For a married couple to have to pay that much for subsidized insurance you would have to make over $85,000 annually. If your kids have always had insurance and you haven't then they must be on some sort of subsidized state plan based on need, which is odd because you make so much money. I'd be interested to hear how you get your children insured without being insured yourself, as I said, I don't know any companies that do that but low income people here in Alaska can enroll their kids in Denali Kid Care, a state funded child welfare. Your two statements simply do not mesh.
DeleteAs far as the economy goes, I'm not sure if you are in the market, but holy crap, has it been a ride since Obama was elected in 2008! I've personally never seen overall job growth and economic recovery in my lifetime to equal what has happened these last 6 years, not just the market. You must not be very widely read on this subject because all of the publications that report on this have reported favorably on President Obama's economic recovery policies. And the stock market, record highs, lots of money being made.
The war, well, I"ll give ya that one, sure he honored Bush's treaty with Iraq and got our troops out, same with Afghanistan, but these days it seems like we're always going to be at war with one of these oil producing countries, it's the new way of things until we're weaned from oil, which is going to happen.
Sounds like anon@408p, if he/she is telling the truth, is older, with young adult kids who I'll betcha saved money big time with the roll-out of Obamacare. (My young adult son sure did: he's got a good job but in a field that likes to hire people on contract, no bennies.) And, yeah, if you make enough to not get a subsidy, then, sorry, you make enough to afford insurance. It's a matter of priorities: are you going to take care of yourself like a good little Republican, or are you going to inflict yourself on the rest of us as an uninsured patient, if you get sick or hurt, like a good little leech? Your call.
DeletePoint of information: Democrats have not “ended the war." But this administration has stopped the losing of it.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats criticize other Democrats almost as much as the GOP do. They think it's cool. They are more scared of be called biased than they are of losing on the issues they care about. You never see Republicans do that.
ReplyDeleteTrouble is, the day the Democrats fight fire with fire and get down into the gutter and take the wingnuts on hand-to-hand, America will soon become a Third World country governed by only bullets because the wingnuts simply don't have a brake on their evil.
DeleteIt's been frustrating as hell and this next election should be THE REASON Democratic candidates, especially in red areas, talk about what WAS accomplished during Obama's Administration. You don't let a chance like this slip, you need to work out a strategy to blow your own horn.
ReplyDeleteNot to worry......According to certain pee puddlers, if the Senate is lost, that marxist commie will declare Muslin Sharia law and everyone in opposition shipped off to bunkers built especially for it, the only one that can save us is $arah the second coming prophet from God, please $arah come save us, bible passages, psalms, and prayer beads all around that she will hear her calling from they who only hear the voice unlike the rest of us. Run, $arah, run. LOL
ReplyDeleteYou took the words right out of my mouth- all of 'em, any of 'em.
DeleteOf course the senate will be won. The American People will not allow the republicans to obstruct and destruct another building. It is very clear who stands for America and Americans.
ReplyDeletePersonally? I'm tired of Dr. Maddow. She's so redundant, takes so long to get to the point of a story. I find fer cocktail segments, "best new thing in the world," and her new Friday night game show "news dump" very embarrassing. She's 40, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd what's happened to Lawrence O'Donnell? They're making him the Charlie Rose of MSNBC with all his ridiculous celeb interviews,
Is it too much to ask for a true "liberal" channel to be on cable somewhere? Because it's not Phil Griffin's network.
Completely agree. So tired of the whining about Democrats by liberals when they do nothing to help the situation. Rachel Maddow should start with criticizing her own network for their token liberalism. They all Kowtow to their corporate overlords - Maddow included.
DeleteAnd what do you two wingnut trolls want with a liberal channel?
DeleteEejits. Go back to Sarah Palin's fan club where you belong.
Why I quit watching any of them. I'm of the Cronkite Huntley/Brinkley era when journalism was "nail you to the wall" investigative. Now, just blah blah blah. Give me Stewart, Colbert, and Maher any day. At least they speak their mind on how ridiculous it's become.
DeleteFor crying out loud, 8:32, since when does voicing criticism of Maddow's take on issues with Democratic campaign strategy or the direction MSNBC is taking in regard to their programming decisions make someone a "wingnut troll" who "belongs on Sarah Palin's fan club"?
DeleteIt is c4p that allows no dissent or criticism. Maybe it is you who belongs there.
Agreed. I've never found her or her stories very compelling.
Delete8:32 - do you even watch the MSNBC programming? It's filled with Republicans & clips of FOX News. Rachel is not a Democrat, either. She's an Independent. Look it up. And just maybe you're unable to process legitimate feedback from an fault perspective?
ReplyDelete9:33 here - that should be "from another perspective."
DeleteAnyone who has been listening to and been a fan of Rachel for a long time knows this already. I've been listening to her since 2004 when she was on Air America.
DeleteShe has always said that she is a policy liberal, not a partisan. The Democrats and Republicans are a political party. Liberals and Conservatives are ideological and more focused on policies.
Know the difference!
When are the Dems going to grow some balls? When are the progressives (and that includes YOU x Generation) going to realize that you can not just sit back and not vote in the mid-terms?
ReplyDeleteHow can anyone vote Republican???
ReplyDeleteConsider this partial list of their "accomplishments" for the past few years:
* Shut down the federal government for 17 days at a cost to taxpayers of $24 billion
* Voted to default on the national debt (which not only would have ruined the credit of the United States but was also a violation of the Constitution they swore to uphold)
* They've passed more laws restricting abortion in the last three years than in the entire past decade
* In 22 states they've passed laws which make it harder to vote
* The House has tried (and failed) to repeal Obamacare OVER 50 TIMES
* They started a coordinated strategy of constant, unending obstructionism against Obama on the night of his first inauguration, and have subsequently filibustered about 500 pieces of legislation -- even when it's meant suddenly opposing bills THEY introduced because Obama was in favor of them
* They cut more than $600 million from the budgets of federal health agencies, especially the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) AND they've prevented the U.S. from having a Surgeon General by stonewalling Obama's nominees and now? Ebola!
* Their sequester cuts forced the Secret Service to cut staff by 550
* Despite harping about how we're still not recovered from the Recession, they cut food stamps by $39 billion
* They cut the budgets of the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and the FDA resulting in a steep rise in outbreaks of foodborne illness in the past few years
* They cut the budgets to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) despite the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill
* Minimum wage hike? Nope.
* Immigration reform? Huh-uh.
* Equal pay for women? No way!
* Gay marriage? R u kidding???
* Sensible gun laws? Oh, stop ...
I mean ... HOW CAN ANYONE VOTE REPUBLICAN???
Wouldn't you think this would be enough to run over republicans? make them unelectable? But down here in the south we have the dreaded blue dog democrats , afraid to vote, or have anything to do with the president . in fact and they vote against the democrats.
DeleteDemocrats have won this health care debate, and they absolutely do NOT know what to do with the victory.
ReplyDeleteIf the Republicans had won a similar victory they would be rubbing it in our faces on a daily basis.
Democrats rescued the economy.
Democrats ended the war.
Democrats got rid of Don't Ask Don't tell in the military.
Democrats helped to dramatically increase the number of people covered by health care in this country.
So why are we not yelling all of this from the mountain tops?
Because if we don't do it now, the Republicans might actually take the Senate and spend the next two years attempting to undo all of the good that Democrats have accomplished.
----- On the flip side -----
How can anyone vote Republican???
Consider this partial list of their "accomplishments" for the past few years:
* Shut down the federal government for 17 days at a cost to taxpayers of $24 billion
* Voted to default on the national debt (which not only would have ruined the credit of the United States but was also a violation of the Constitution they swore to uphold)
* They've passed more laws restricting abortion in the last three years than in the entire past decade
* In 22 states they've passed laws which make it harder to vote
* The House has tried (and failed) to repeal Obamacare OVER 50 TIMES
* They started a coordinated strategy of constant, unending obstructionism against Obama on the night of his first inauguration, and have subsequently filibustered about 500 pieces of legislation -- even when it's meant suddenly opposing bills THEY introduced because Obama was in favor of them
* They cut more than $600 million from the budgets of federal health agencies, especially the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) AND they've prevented the U.S. from having a Surgeon General by stonewalling Obama's nominees and now? Ebola!
* Their sequester cuts forced the Secret Service to cut staff by 550
* Despite harping about how we're still not recovered from the Recession, they cut food stamps by $39 billion
* They cut the budgets of the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and the FDA resulting in a steep rise in outbreaks of foodborne illness in the past few years
* They cut the budgets to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) despite the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill
* Minimum wage hike? Nope.
* Immigration reform? Huh-uh.
* Equal pay for women? No way!
* Gay marriage? R u kidding???
* Sensible gun laws? Oh, stop ...
I mean ... HOW CAN ANYONE VOTE REPUBLICAN???