Dukakis hits changed McCain/Democrat calls Palin choice 'pretty pathetic'...

[Indi Guy]

Source: The Washington Times

..."His selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate was, I thought, pretty pathetic. I made a lot of mistakes in 1988, but one of the things I did right was to select Lloyd Bentsen as my running mate," Mr. Dukakis said. "The first and most important criterion for that selection was whether or not my running mate was ready to be president if, God forbid, something happened to me. Joe Biden clearly meets that test. Palin does not."

...He (Dukakis) said his biggest mistakes were not responding to Republican attacks and failing to put together a general election operation to organize and turn out voters.

"Fortunately, Obama understands that, too, and he has put together one of the best grass-roots operations we have ever seen in nearly two dozen battleground states. In fact, if there is anything that has given him momentum, in addition to his own performance on the campaign trail, it has been his field organization, and I believe it will be decisive on November 4. McCain, by contrast, has virtually no field operation, and it shows," he said.

..."I don't know if it is because he is getting older and this is his last shot at the presidency, but I don't think the John McCain of old would have hired a Karl Rove protege to run his campaign," he said.



Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/18/dukakis-hits-changed-mccain/

[Kalifornia.Kid]

1. Payback's a bitch ...

[last1standing]

2. Everywhere you turn someone is alluding to the 50 state strategy.

Grass roots operations on the ground talking to people, giving support to Democrats and turning out the vote.

Once again, thank you Gov. Dean.

[BobTheSubgenius]

5. Couldn't agree more.

Dean is owed WAY more than he's being given. Mad respect for Gov. Dean!

[Indi Guy]

6. Indeed...

I can't imagine how Barack could have the ground game he has were it not for Dean's work. ...But also give it up for Obama for all that he built on that foundation.

[zonkers]

14. Yup, through al this, I keep thinking of Dean and how he must take pride in seeing

his own strategy implemented to perfection. Grass roots. Internets. As I understand it, though, Obama's organization did not replace the local original organizers a Dean's did. A good thing.

[Purveyor]

3. Sorry to the Dukakis fans, but the last person Obama needs active support from is...Dukakis

Just saying...

[davepc]

8. There are good lessons to be learned from defeat.

Dukakis is the kind of smart, self reflective man who can identify where he failed and learn for it, and pass on the knowledge.

Clinton watched and learned and built his winning campaign on the ashes of Dukakis's

[VoodooGuru]

13. Agree. Mike Dukakis has gracefully accepted his place in history

Namely, that of cautionary tale. I wish it could have been different for him, he was - he IS - a good and decent man who would have made a fine president. But he was blindsided by some spectacularly ugly political moves, and a good man running a good and decent campaign fell to those who followed their worst instincts.

[davepc]

18. I think his biggest problem was his lack of campaigning during the summer.

He basically went back to MA after the convention.

Also, Al Gore was the 1st one to bring up the Willie Horton stuff during the primary debates, and Dukakis and his team never game planned a response.

I really think Dukakis did more to hurt himself in the end. He just wasn't prepared.

[Divine Discontent]

9. screw that

he is 1000x the person that freak from Wasilla is... He doesn't need disparaged in any way on this site. He was too much of a good person and didn't believe in slimy attacks. I'll take that anyday over palsaroundwithterrorists Palin!

[Zuiderelle]

16. Agreed!

I was proud to vote for Dukakis and crushed when he lost.

[Indi Guy]

19. Agreed, and thanks for staying on topic...

Biden is also far superior to Sarah Screech.

If I were Biden I'd have been tempted to say in his debate, "I served with Dan Quayle; I knew Dan Quayle. Dan Quayle was a friend of mine. Governor -- you're so Dan Quayle."

[LeftishBrit]

20. Agreed

I really admired him. Pity that just because he was a decent man, he wasn't able to anticipate and respond to the disgusting attacks of slimy Lee Atwater.

I was never a Bentsen fan (too right-wing for my taste); but certainly a much more substantial and reasonable VP candidate than Sarah Palin. Actually, two short planks would be a more substantial and reasonable VP candidate than Sarah Palin. That would be a talking point for Biden: "I have known two short planks. I have observed the uses to which two short planks can be put in building. Governor Palin, I am afraid you are no two short planks!"

[JoFerret]

11. The last thing democrats need

is to be influenced by ignorant, arrogant, divisive, backward-looking opinions like yours.

Just saying.

[LTR]

15. Sure, Dukakis was a weenie...

...but he did get more votes than Carter and Mondale in the two previous elections.

Nonetheless, I doubt he stood a chance to win. I wasn't all that enthused about casting that vote. Now, voting for Clinton in 92, on the other hand, gave me an ear-to-ear grin.

[Laelth]

4. I am still interested in what Michael Dukakis has to say.

I voted for Jesse Jackson in the primary. My second choice would have been Paul Simon, but the Duke would have been much better than Bush I.

-Laelth

[DavidG]

7. Palin? Pathetic!

That Palin would be selected knowing that there is a fairly good chance that she will sit in the Oval Office shows clearly that America is scraping the bottom of the barrel politically speaking (and economically too).

Why not visit the Playboy set and choose one of the silicon-padded gals there?

[AndyTiedye]

10. No, It Shows that the REPUBLICAN PARTY is Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel…

[machI]

12. Kick

[ryanmuegge]

17. Palin is seen negatively by the public, I get the feeling, but I don't know how to react to that

whether to have faith in the American public for seeing that she is dangerously unqualified and incompetent, or to be frightened by the fact that, after the RNC speech, 52% of the country were ready to hand over the presidency to her simply because she could read a teleprompter.