Discuss: Reagan's death sucked the air out of the Democrats' momentum...

[wyldwolf]

...at least according to the right. Will the media blitz that will follow Bill Clinton's book release inject it right back in?

[nostamj]

1. Kerry was UP in the gallup

with or without Nader.

and most of the country want them to bury the box and 'move on'

[Walt Starr]

4. Yup, by six points, outside the margin for error

If this keeps up, by Friday we could be looking at landslide territory because of Gipper Fatigue over the GOP Reagasm.

[damnraddem]

21. We're sick of all-Reagan-all-the-time.

By Friday, the entire country is going to be sick of ARATT.

Meanwhile, we're all hearing about how the WH lawyers think presidents are above laws against torture. Remember 'no one, even the president, is above the law'? This torture stuff is not going to help Dubya.

[theboss]

2. Possibly

To be completely honest, none of these swings in momentum mean anything at this point. It's still June. The race begins on Labor Day. As long as both candidates avoid the "Dead Girl/Live Boy" trap until then, most of this won't matter.

[lancdem]

5. I agree

Much better to have Reagan pass on now than in October, or the eve of the Dem or Repuke conventions.

[efhmc]

3. It'll pass. Americans need "heroes" even if they are scum. Bill's

book is too juicy to be denied.

[aquart]

6. We have no momentum. THEY have freefall.

RR's death is like getting caught on a branch on the way down. The sheer weight of their crimes is going to pull that branch right out of the clff wall, and they will continue hurtling to hell.

Especially as Republicans recall the corrupt Reagan administration with a gauzy filter on the lens, and compare it to the horrendous and humiliating BushCo.

[Beetwasher]

8. I Agree, Kerry Has Not Even Started Gaining Momentum Yet

Honestly, I don't think he's even tried to. Reagan is a blip, nothing more, that stops the admin's free fall momentarily through diversion, while Kerry is still waiting to make his big move (wisely IMO).

[Maeve]

12. One of the biggest blunders in politics is peaking too soon

Isn't the first time folks thought Kerry was yesterday's story...and been wrong about it.
:hi: O washer of beets!

[Beetwasher]

14. Indeed!

:hi: Darlin'!

[DakotaDemocrat]

10. YOU ARE RIGHT!

We have done nothing (righfully so) and essentially stepped out of the way of a speeding car who lost its brakes...

Wait until the crash completes, save those who you can (the American people) by showing simple solutions to our problems. UN intervention, open government, going after bin Laden, middle esast conflict and creating sound ecomonic growth.

[Jacobin]

7. Not on your life

24/7 Raygun just highlights exactly how Smirky is NOT like their saint in any form or fashion. Raygun was an excellent commninicator (regardless of whether you liked what he said) and did not get the U.S. into any major quagmires. Raygun also RAISED taxes when his tax cuts didn't work. A LOT.

It'll remind the independents how fucking awful Chimpy is.

[keithyboy]

9. Death only sucks the air out of the person who died...last time I heard.

Wall-to-wall news coverage of the Reagan's death is turning many, many people off and I believe that there will be some social blowback. Dems don't have to worry. This will pass beginning Friday night. No matter how hard the Republicans try they won't be able to just talk about Ronnie until November and after a respectful grovelling by the press, someone will, in prime time, begin to examine the truth about the Reagan years...there is plenty info out there. When your dead, you're gone!

[WI_DEM]

11. if there is any boost for Bush it will be temporary

and Kerry will regain it once the focus is back on Iraq and when he chooses his VP.

[evil_orange_cat]

13. what momentum?

Bush has been going down and down in the polls, but the Dems are not seeing support rise as much as Bush's support is dropping. If anything, Reagan's death will stop Bush's numbers from dropping for a few weeks.

This is less significant than Saddam being caught... and the support Bush got from that subsided.

[qazplm]

17. well my thought was that

Bush had a little momentum up til Reagan died and was poised to make a small move.

Now I think, contrary to conventional wisdom, that this may very well have killed Bush's small momentum completely.

Then again, it could turn out a week from now that Bush gains from this but initially I suspect no.

[DinahMoeHum]

22. Agreed. Happened too soon.

:evilgrin:

[Sapphocrat]

15. Not in the least.

All due respect to the dead and all that aside, look at the two really, really, really good things to come out of Reagan's death:

1. He died ahead of schedule. The timing would have been more in our favor had he died last year, say about April, when everybody was too glued to Iraq coverage -- and when Bush* was as close to the top of his game as he would ever get, and we on the Left were really in the dumps. But still, he died ahead of the Repuke convention, more than two months away. Which is good. If the people aren't already sick of this ghoulish love-fest by the end of this week, they certainly will be by September. For the GOP to resurrect his corpse in order to exploit his memory, they must do it verrrrrrry carefully. And, knowing those bozos, they'll muck it up, and it will be obvious to all but the completely brain-dead how shamelessly they are trying to politicize Reagan's passing... especially in light of their deliberate attempt to exploit 9-11 for political gain.

2. I don't see the air being sucked out of anybody's momentum -- except the Right's, perhaps. You've seen how the emotions have boiled over on DU alone; do you think bickering about appropriate/inappropriate reactions to Reagan's death is really going to divide the Left -- at least when it comes down to who we're all going to pull the lever for in November? While it's never pleasant to rip open a lot of old wounds, Reagan's death flushed a lot of vitriol out of a lot of systems and into the open. And that is positive in the sense of re-energizing us all. Reagan's death reminded us of Reagan; we should consider it an admonishment from the heavens to never let anything like him happen to our beloved nation again.

The worst possible thing we can do is to become complacent -- again. And I think too many of us have begun to take Bush*'s free-fall for granted, and think it's going to be an easy road to victory in November. If nothing else, Reagan, just by dying, pissed a lot of us off all over again.

And if the Dems are playing Silent Sam right now, well, what else can they do? None of the Dem leadership wants to look like they're kicking a corpse.

Clinton's book can't hurt the process of getting America re-focused on the very real issues that face us right now; it can only help. But, in reality, I see the timing of Bill's book as gravy, icing, serendipity. The momentum against Bush* cannot be stopped now; Clinton's book isn't necessary to keep it going. But it can't hurt.

Soon, this Reagan frenzy will indeed pass. Let the Right go apeshit over slapping his face on ten-dollar bills and the like; all their tears do nothing to settle Iraq, rejuvenate the economy, bring peace to the Middle East, or cure cancer for that matter.

So, we go about our business as usual (albeit a tad more energized), and wait until the morans wake up Monday morning to the jobs they don't have, and the sons they've lost.

[Enraged_Ape]

26. Oh, and let's not forget Fahrenheit 9/11

That, I believe, is going to be the hit that ends the ballgame.

[TrogL]

16. Exactly how long has it been? How long will it be?

Think.

Today is Tuesday (right?). It's been news for less than a week and it's already dying down.

The election is November. We haven't had our October surprise yet.

If the elections were month-end (like in Canada) I'd be worried.

There's lots of water yet to flow under the bridge.

[robbedvoter]

18. Meme: Clinton's book hurts Kerry /Raygun's death helps W

Don't ask why, just is. Crossfire sez so, DU-ers say so, Dem operatives say so.
We are supposed to be ashamed of our best President, they are supposed to be elevated by Mt Ketchup is a vegetable.
I don't see it myself.

[blackcat77]

20. Clinton's book will NOT hurt Kerry

That's hopeful thinking on the part of the Clinton-obsessives. Clinton will be out there working for Kerry and besides, reminding people of eight years of peace and prosperity can only hurt Bush, not the person who's trying to beat him.

[blackcat77]

19. Reagan's death is media mulch

It's going to be in the news a lot but I don't really see it changing many opinions. Those who love Bush will love the coverage. Those who don't love Bush will grow tired of it quickly and it will affirm what they already believe.

The few remaining undecided folks are the ones that matter. Fineman speculates that all the nostalgia will benefit Bush but I wonder... Seems to me that *over*playing Ronniepalooza is going to be a turnoff, and that's what's happening. There are a whole lot of people out there who have no real memories of him as president and all this fuss will wear thin in a hurry. Additionally, the more you hear Reagan, the more inept Bush sounds, so I think the reflected glory will be both small and fleeting.

[msmcghee]

23. Take a deep breath.

You're going to need it - if what I am reading about the CIA coup that's about to be launched in the coming days - that will completetly rout the neo-cons (and Republicans) from the higher levels of our government before the puke convention and for many years to come.

I sure hope this report is right.

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/060804_coup_detat.html

[porphyrian]

24. Just So Much Spin

Fret not. As their favorite tactic is to pre-emptively accuse us of doing exactly what they themselves are doing, and as Kerry has decided to fore-go public politicking out of respect for our latest dead President, the neocon spin weasels have chosen this as the way to say something bad about us despite all factual evidence. I say let them. I'm curious to know how much crow they can eat.

[ElectroPrincess]

25. Burn out backlash

Even people who *adore* Ronald Reagan are going to reach absolute burn-out by Monday. The USA TV media are such shameless whores they're going to milk this cash-cow topic dry.

In essence, it's good news for Democrats and for the Kerry Campaign.

At some point in the right wing's Reagan Canonization Process, objective people are going to reach maximum saturation and wonder to themselves: "Damn, the man was great but not a GOD. Why the riderless horse? Reagan did not die in office. Hum? Yeah, looks beautiful ... grand pageantry ... BUT hey, enough already!"

[Hamlette]

27. Bush can't exploit Reagan with Nancy alive

I'd heard Nancy was against Iraq war, said Ronnie never would have done it. Then this is the stem cell thing. Of all the reasons I have for hating Bush, his decision on stem cell research makes me the most angry because my father was dying of Parkinson's when Bush announced his decision. Most Americans favor stem cell research. The research has moved overseas. Let's tell Americans that it will be the <gasp> socialistic Swedes who will be on the forefront of new scientific discoveries as a result of the Bush ban.

If Bush does the "I'm as great as Reagan" act, Nancy may call him on it. Grieving widow of beloved prez beats airhead sitting prez everytime.

When "they" tell you the Clinton book will be terrible for Kerry remember what they said about Hillary's book. (That it was yesterday's news and wouldn't sell.) They hype just like we do.

[Imperialism Inc.]

28. Before this there certainly was a major shit storm brewing from

an intense number of directions. It will get back to normal soon. The Clinton book will depend on how they spin it. Will the media have all kinds of reports disputing claims in the book, or will they use it against the GOP in whatever way they can. One hopes the latter but I can never guess what our media will do next.