2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumChris Matthews just set Biden up to fail tonight...
And also has laid the foundation for the narrative. He said Biden needs a clear victory ... not just a victory ... but a clear one or this is a big loss for Obama.
Clear victories happen, but they're rare. Again, the media has set the bar so low for the Republicans that all they have to do is not trip over it to win. That's essentially telling Biden the only way he can 'win' this thing is by hurdling the Empire State Building.
What ridiculous expectations ... and of course, Michael Steele agrees smugly with Matthews. While I have no doubt Chris is pushing for an Obama win, his actions these past two weeks have been devastating to the campaign. Someone should tape his mouth shut.
Yeesh.
DURHAM D
(33,054 posts)the whole election is now on Joe.
TroyD
(4,551 posts)Mutiny In Heaven
(550 posts)If the consensus is that he is beaten badly tonight, I think it's essentially over; there's only so much momentum you can push back against.
I fear - and suspect - that Ryan will pull out an "Apple Pie" of a performance, all fluttering eyes and earnest words in order to woo the media and by extension, the tens of millions who think what they're told to by these people.
Maraya1969
(23,497 posts)Edit - if someone give me his tweet address I'll send him something. My twitter account does not work in search mode.
Whisp
(24,096 posts)it's a game to them. I'm sure their salaries are above average of the regular schmuck who has a lot running on this election - they'll probably keep their jobs no matter who wins.
fuck em all.
for today, and maybe until election day FUCK THEM ALL. in caps.
Mr.Bill
(24,906 posts)but he's gone full idiot since the last debate.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)nc4bo
(17,651 posts)I don't know what it is about Chris Matthews - just ugh........
JI7
(93,616 posts)WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)idea of reportinig on election nights--'ooh, it's just so exciting' and doesn't give enough analysis. Tweety and Ed get too wacked out if things don't go their way and give up too easily.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)FrenchieCat
(68,868 posts)Cause Tweety ain't the one that is gonna decide my future.....
I didn't vote for him, nor elected him for any office,
and therefore, I just can't give a FUCK of what he says, PERIOD!
babylonsister
(172,759 posts)have their minds made up, I think. I don't think anyone takes what Matthews says as gospel; he's been wrong and way over-dramatic a lot.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)It was even lampooned on SNL. He sums up the liberal freak out that settled in over the last few days after the debate. I fear he's setting up for another freak out moment.
Why set expectations so high so that they can never be met?
The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)If he's being lampooned it means that the lampooners aren't taking him seriously. I sure don't, especially when he's having one of his hissy fits. He's just as stupid when he predicts Götterdämmerung for the Democrats as he was when Bush gave him a boner for wearing a flight suit on an aircraft carrier.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)As they did a week ago. Then it becomes much deeper of the ideology.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)and start thinking for themselves instead of letting some overinflated talking head whip them into an entirely unwarranted frenzy of despair. I get really sick of these overpaid gasbags making themselves the story instead of objectively reporting, and I get equally sick of seeing people take them so seriously.
Opinions are like assholes; everybody's got one.
Also, did you know that "pundit" is a Sanskrit word meaning "wise man"? The hell...
2on2u
(1,843 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)We need to find the Sanskrit word for "overpaid gasbag."
patrice
(47,992 posts)echoes with some help from certain harvesters in the ethersphere that include quite a bit more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ than the authentic Left can pony up.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)The initial reaction during the debate was that Romney was winning, but Obama was holding his own. Some people were angry, and yes, some were saying Obama is getting his butt kicked ... but on the whole, the tone was all right. Then the debate ended and Matthews, Maddow and Schultz went into freak out mode, slamming Obama, saying how awful he was ... attacking him left and right and that's when I noticed an uptick in the freak out here.
They do drive the message. People do watch these shows and formulate an opinion based on their reaction.
adigal
(7,581 posts)Obama was doing great, more people were talking about Romney's rude behavior and lies. Until MSNBC folks freaked - then I had to get off this site, it was nuts.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Are you trying to alienate the left? And if you arent the left, who are you? On what issues do you disagree with the left?
patrice
(47,992 posts)be given resonance if you have the money to "ride the gain".
patrice
(47,992 posts)babylonsister
(172,759 posts)this on FB. So maybe I'm wrong; I can only speak for myself. Matthews' opinion won't be swaying me though I also wish he'd dial it down several notches.
To Ed Schultz and Chris Matthews:
I think you and Ed Schultz did terrible harm to President Obama during the debate. He didn't have a good night, but Romney spent the entire time lying and blustering. DId you report that? No, the two of you chastised the President, and made the entire matter worse. People get their opinions from pundits, as the masses don't bother to think for themselves. You two helped Romney, and should be ashamed to call yourself progressives. The only one I still respect, who took the time to defend what President Obama DID, as opposed to what Romney didn't do and lied was Al Sharpton. I hope this time you two support the President, by supporting Joe Biden, and not be a surrogate for Fox News. Otherwise, what is the point of progressives watching MSNBC???
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)The left set the narrative quick that Romney got a game-changer and that Obama did awful and how he royally fucked up. No discussion on Romney's lies ... no nothing.
I also watched CNN after the debate and they were pretty clear Romney won, but it was far more calm and they played it up that while Romney won, it wasn't necessarily a decisive blow. Then James Carville, who can be very sobering about Obama, said, "You know, the President didn't have a great night ... but he did okay..." or something like that.
But people on the left started freaking out ... as was MSNBC ... and it kind of snowballed from there. Initial reaction to the debate wasn't that Obama did awful, it was just that Romney was stronger than expected. But as the dust settled, and guys like Schultz and Matthews hit and hit and hit, more and more people, it seems, started saying it was a devastating debate.
babylonsister
(172,759 posts)Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)I'll even watch MSNBC to see if Matthews is having another freak out.
babylonsister
(172,759 posts)faith VP Biden will do just fine. Enjoy!
rogrot
(57 posts)There's so much at stake in this election and no excuse that the POTUS checked out for the first debate. Clinton would not have done that, Teddy didn't do that. And you guys are blaming Matthews and other MSNBC talking heads. He stood up there beside Romney and let Romney push him around, could barely look him in the eye. No excuse. It was almost like he was on weed.
Why blame Matthews and criticize him for being emotional? It makes me sick how apologetic the left is.
I bet $10K Biden doesn't do that with Ryan. We'll soon see.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)But thanks for telling me. It's always interesting that so many new posters have popped up telling us how awful Obama was...
rogrot
(57 posts)renate
(13,776 posts)I was pretty upset too. I thought the same thing you did--that it was almost like Obama was on weed. He's such a whip-smart guy and it was just weird that he didn't say "Wait. Stop. Back up just a minute. It isn't true about taxes/preexisting conditions/anything. Tell the American people the truth."
But he was sandbagged, I think--who could have expected Massachusetts Mitt to make an appearance after having been gone for the past four or five years? He wasn't prepared for somebody to just flat out lie. Not spin, lie.
Welcome to DU!
Indpndnt
(2,391 posts)Exactly this.
graham4anything
(11,464 posts)should have happened last week
any and all need to stay 100% positive.
Matthews is exploiting himself, is being exploited and unfortunately, Matthews is the nationwide MSNBC Obama fan(whether he is or isn't matters little).
so if Matthews says it, people nationwide believe Obama lost last week Biden this week, Obama next week.
Me, I think Obama won.
treestar
(82,383 posts)We never catch Rush doing that so we don't get to gloat that way.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)Joe will kick ass tonight. Chris Matthews needs to remember who's team he is on, if he is on our team.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)Everybody knows Tweety is prone to bouts of hysteria, symptoms of which are, in him, much more spectacular than buboes on a plague victim. He's not capable of "devastating" the campaign - he's just another talking head, and an erratic one at that. I just can't imagine Plouffe or Axelrod or Obama going "OH NOES!! Matthews is ruining everything!!!" What I can imagine is that they don't pay much attention at all to various pundits' entirely predictable fits of the vapors.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)But Matthews freak out last week after the debate got national play and kind of summed up the liberal angst we saw post-debate.
It's just not needed, you know?
The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)Other fools, that's who. The pundits have made themselves the story; they are just reporting on each other and what each other is thinking, so it's turned into nothing but a big media circle jerk.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)DU was calm in the initial reaction to the debate. Some people were disappointed ... others felt it was a draw and some even believed Obama won. Then Matthews gets on and just absolutely freaks out and it was as if he opened the flood gates here on DU because everyone here started freaking out ... and then liberals on twitter started freaking out and it really snowballed from there.
Had MSNBC taken a calculated approach in the moments after the debate, said that Romney won, but didn't get the game-changer, talked up Romney's lies, fact checked everyone ... then I think it would've trickled down to all of us and the panic wouldn't have been near severe. But because it was, the narrative set in across the political landscape that Obama not only lost ... he lost badly. And all they had to do was point to the freak out we were seeing from Democrats.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)Matthews and the other gasbags told us Obama went down in flames AND WE FUCKING BELIEVED THEM! I thought Obama's performance was not especially strong - I know he's capable of better - but I couldn't figure out where the OH NOES WE'RE DOOMED OBAMA SCREWED THE POOCH THAT WAS JUST HORRIBLE JUST KILL ME NOW crap on DU was coming from until I realized it was straight from the mouths of our "friends" on MSNBC (whom I had not been watching, either during the debate or after).
My point is, just because Tweety has pissed himself on national television is no reason for us to do likewise. Don't watch the pundits. Watch the debates on CSPAN or some other commentator-free source. Bed-wetting should not be a contagious disease; let Tweety wash his own damn sheets.
flamingdem
(40,891 posts)as in "Oh look at them fight amongst themselves, this proves they are incompetent and flakey".
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)At most, one out of 250, or .4%. Big whoop.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)he was going to run for the senate. I stopped watching him after his meltdown.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Everyone going around saying Rmoney "won" because of Tweety, Rachel and Ed plus CNN and FAUX, and then it started getting repeated and before we know it, it becomes a "fact."
We already knew Rush, Hannity, and the others, much more numerous, were going to say our candidate lost. Why we need so called liberal pundits to agree with that I'll never know. Rush would never agree that Mitt lost no matter what. We don't have anyone like that. And if they influence others at all, we need some too.
AlinPA
(15,071 posts)elleng
(141,926 posts)Idiot.
Learning about 'brains' on PBS.
DemzRock
(1,016 posts)MSMITH33156
(879 posts)Regardless of what happens, declare a clear, resounding victory. And then have everyone repeat it. That's what drives the narrative. The major fallout of the first debate was as much do to the Democratic gloom as the actual debate itself. This goes for the other 3 debates. Whatever happens, act like our guy won handily, and then you won't even see poll movement. Status quo = another term for Obama.
valerief
(53,235 posts)patrice
(47,992 posts)about self-aggrandizement I-predicted-____________________ , just like you see from certain factions around here sometimes.
rogrot
(57 posts)Chill, DI! Biden is a seasoned politician and a very, very likable, down-to-earth guy. He won't put up with RW BS. He will be engaged and invested. I have an inkling that Ryan's record in the house and on the budget committee, including his idiotic budget proposal will come up a lot tonight. I'm really looking forward to it!
Obama by a landslide in the popular vote!!
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)behind so many times.
gkhouston
(21,642 posts)flamingdem
(40,891 posts)and to manipulate the narrative.
A repuke pundit would NEVER go there.
His mandate is to pump conflict, negativity and himself at our expense.
chille1
(73 posts)He is the Rethugicans October Surprise. We where waiting for something from Mittwitt or Fixed news ,But what we got was Chris Mathews ,Ed Shultz ,Racheal Maddow , I advise all to boycott M.S.N.B.C ,From now until the election ,and advise any undecideds you might come across to avoid these shills at all cost!!!!!!!!!!! they where saying the same BS leading up to the Presidential debate ,Thay are Mittwitts silent partners ,Mark my words according to these three and of course Steve dipsmit the freindly Rethug for M.S,N.B.C .No matter what V.P Biden does they will spin it in Mittwitts Favor we must stay Focused now,We must have faith in us not in them We must report the the truth Social Media ,Door to Door ,any chance you get let somone know the truth its up to us !!!!!!!!!!!!!
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)Liberalynn
(7,549 posts)I watch Current
global1
(26,507 posts)then anything or anyone. They both need to be muzzled. They are aiding and abetting Rmoney/Ryan.
Blue Idaho
(5,500 posts)So is Big Ego, Andrea Mitchell, and even Maddow is day to day.
I am so sick and tired of the carefully choreographed M$M narrative they have been developing since the first debate I have lost all interest in feeding their media monster.
Shame, too. I enjoy their coverage when they're nor running around like Chicken Littles. But I turned them off for good now. They're dead to me. They need a Keith Olberman to show them how to stand strong.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)The ONLY reason they are on the tube is to generate ad revenue for their bosses.
Blue Idaho
(5,500 posts)The M$M is not there to bring programming to an audience, it is there to bring and audience to advertisers.
Tweety, Big Ego, Rachel, and the rest only care about putting asses in seats - nothing more, nothing less.
flamingdem
(40,891 posts)They've gotten too full of themselves
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)fugop
(1,828 posts)They tried their damnedest to declare Palin the winner four years ago, but voters weren't buying it. Let's hope Joe gives it to 'em straight tonight and takes Ryan (along with the media blabberers) to the woodshed.
budkin
(6,849 posts)Then again Obama probably had the worst debate performance in modern history. Joe will be fine.
Again with the "worst debate ever" bs. If you think Obama was worse than dubya's bumbling stumbling performance vs. Kerry, you must be completely new to politics.
And you're part of the problem!
budkin
(6,849 posts)Dubya sucked in the first debate but it didn't have anywhere near the impact that this debate did. Obama had basically put the race away before that debate. Anyway, he'll still win, but he needs to fight the next two debates. Not sit there, stare at the podium and let Romney lie his ass off.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(130,533 posts)After a week of ranting by the "liberal" media we have been told to think it was the equivalent of the loser in a middle school debate competition among kids who flunked 7th grade. But it wasn't. Obama was not prepared for Mitt's unprecedented onslaught of lies, and he probably should have been, but he didn't lose his temper, forget his facts or vomit on his shoes. That would be terrible. What we saw was fair; we think it totally sucked only because we were told it totally sucked by hysterical buffoons like Tweety.
flamingdem
(40,891 posts)If they had held the line at all by pointing out Lehrer's weakness and Romney's uber lying there would have been a more measured reaction among the other pundits.
Once they created that narrative, with so much emotion behind it (tweety and ed) it spread like wildfire.
WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN EVER AGAIN
smorkingapple
(827 posts)A tie is not good enough. We need a clear win.
You'll be satisfied with just a tie after last week? You don't want Biden to smash Ryan tonight? Seriously?
flamingdem
(40,891 posts)just as easily as Joe.
We need to push back and support our own for what they can do and what they mean to us.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)There is a difference between a tie, a victory and a clear victory. Rarely do candidates get a clear victory ... especially in VP debates.
And this isn't about not wanting Biden to smash Ryan ... but the narrative Matthews set is clear ... if Biden doesn't get a knockout, he loses.
I disagree. I think Biden just needs to win ... no huge, monumental ... historic victory. That's asking WAY too much.
smorkingapple
(827 posts)that's all im saying. A tie or something Republicans can spin as a victory doesn't blunt the momentum they have.
polichick
(37,626 posts)Skraxx
(3,178 posts)Call it a hunch.
ancianita
(43,307 posts)He turned on Obama so hard after the first debate. Al Sharpton shook the whole lot of them out of their blubbering stupor and made Matthews look like a peevish whiner. Matthews is doing the journalistically expedient thing. No wonder Obama doesn't watch MSNBC.
desertduck
(213 posts)absolutely ABSURD. but with all the ryan lies, it shouldn't be that hard to nail the punk to his lies. seriously. take a deep breath. the american psyche only has a 30second attention span. this is only good for a few days, anyways...untl be prep for the next debate. honestly...such melodrama....
Pirate Smile
(27,617 posts)fucking enemies. He learned NOTHING this week.
Fitterjack74
(3 posts)I'm not going to go on a long narrative about this, I'm simply going to say its true about Chris Mathews. It seems like ever since the first debate he's been riding Romney' coat tail. What I don't get is why? I'm sure he's on the side of Obama, it's just that I'm not hearing it lately.
fugop
(1,828 posts)Remember his fawning over Bush in the flightsuit?
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)I'm serious about this. I hate spin. And I typically watch everything on C-SPAN anyway so that I don't have to deal with all the "shaping of public opinion" that goes on in the so-called punditry.
I'm sure that I'm in the minority on this, but I believe that turning off the talking heads would do so much for our collective blood pressure and sanity.
cheezmaka
(785 posts)He's been like that since the 2000 election. When Al Gore conceded the election to Bush on television, Chris Matthews looked like he was about "to cry"...
Summer Hathaway
(2,770 posts)is as relevant to me as the opinions of all the other squawking MSM politicos - meaning not relevant at all.
I'm sure the 'media narrative' for tonight's debate has already been etched in stone - just like the narrative following the Obama/Romney debate was decided upon long before the debate ever started.
Media whores will say anything they perceive as being a potential boost to their ratings.
The fact that people actually take them the least bit seriously is mind-boggling.
treestar
(82,383 posts)If the horse race is not close enough, he's going to say Biden did not get a clear victory. So even if Biden "wins" it may be by not enough.
If he's decided the horse race is close enough, he will use this to set up saying Biden had a clear victory and so now the race is closer - the polls showed Rmoney ahead 2 points, so maybe they need to back off this time and go the other way.
Deep13
(39,157 posts)1. the fact that no one really cares who the VP is and 2. Obama's lack-luster performance in the previous debate.
JudyM
(29,785 posts)for Biden... can't look like an a**hole or he'll turn people further off.
IMO he should treat Ryan like the punk he is and smear him with foreign policy know-how.
otohara
(24,135 posts)I don't care what movie it is, as long as it's not the pundits and their invited "experts".
How Steve what's his name, who picked Sarah Palin and now works for MSNBC - is considered an expert on anything is a mystery.
You know who lives in a bubble?
Those who work for in radio, TV, print.
I speak from experience.
Dyedinthewoolliberal
(16,211 posts)any of them. I'm not sure he has as much influence on things as you might think. Most of the time, when I did watch, I thought Chris was kind of a big windbag anyhow. Who cares what he says?
courseofhistory
(801 posts)ALL the loudmouth pundits who make their livings off of creating controversy would STFU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GeorgeGist
(25,570 posts)to believe he can push the " horserace ($$$)" meme and Obama will still win.
Nonetheless, it's mostly about the size of his paycheck.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)Except for political junkies, which all of us that post here are.
In 1988 Dan Quayle was a disaster in the VP debates, yet Bush beat the stuffings out of Dukakias. Duke started the campaign with a huge lead and by election had blown it.
I decided then that the VP debates were mere entertainment. I still watch them, but I don't get excited about them.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)The media is a completely different animal. In '88, CNN was the only cable news network and they were actually about hard hitting news ... not this sensationalist bullshit we see today. So, with cable news, blogging, twittering, facebooking driving the narrative ... the debates seem to have a bigger impact than we would like to think.
trayfoot
(1,568 posts)He needs to get a grip on his mouth!
DonCoquixote
(13,961 posts)Ed, Tweety, to a lesser extent, Micke Moore, all want a sort of democrat, the mythical working class white person that talks blunt and loud, because people like that. They even worked very, very hard to turn Hillary into that, despite the fact that even her Hubby coull not pur enough sauce over that to make it palatable. Of course, they ignore the fact that if they ran, they would get creamed.
Current= Former Governor Jennifer Granholm
MsNBC=Inside the beltway reporters and shock jocks..
morningfog
(18,115 posts)debate performance. All a total crock of shit, of course. I am sick of hearing it, nonetheless. Hopefully, Ryan will gaffe or get called out in a blatant lie and/or Biden will let rip some of his turns of phrases that will have everyone talking.
tnvoter
(257 posts)Rowdyboy
(22,057 posts)Joe Biden is rocking the house.