DH: DNC slimed five straight campaigns--and it *still* can't fight back?!

[BurtWorm]

Offered as food for thought. From a Bob Somerby rumination on the transparently awful "Unfit for Command":

http://dailyhowler.com/index.shtml

...

Yes, the Washington press corps is too scared to challenge accusers like the Swift Vets. Are the Swift Vets ?liars,? as Ron Reagan said? We?re not sure how to answer that question. But the millionaire Matthews knew what to do when Reagan dared to make such a statement. He knew he had to change the subject. And that?s just what the frightened man did.

No, the Washington ?press corps? will never step up and challenge accusers without being forced. It will never say that accusers have written a strange, improbable book. And when witnesses contradict those accusers, the press corps will know what to do with their tales?they?ll throw their tales right in the drink (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 8/30/04). The Washington press corp just doesn?t care?except about salaries and good party invites. ?I don't know what to make of the controversy,? they?ll type. And they?ll go on the air unprepared.

So that leaves it up to our most hapless org?the inept and uncaring DNC. This is the fifth straight White House campaign in which they?ve been slimed by weird, puzzling charges. And this time, as always, the Dems are surprised. The Kerry campaign was shocked, just shocked, to think there were liars inside the Bush camp! Fool me twice, shame on me? Counting ahead from 1988, John Kerry got fooled the fifth time!

The Whitewater hoax? ?Invented the Internet?? Kerry is really a secret Commie? These crackpot campaigns will occur every time until the Dems learn how to fight back. And what should the Democrats do about this? What must the DNC do to fight back? The DNC is so inert that we might as well offer these thoughts to a wall. But if the Democrat ever plan to get off their keisters and fight for the values they claim to respect, they?re going to have to take a page from the Republican camp.

[Seldona]

1. I am in Wisconsin

and I see DNC sponsored ads every time I watch television, which I admit is not often.

In fact I think I saw 2 or 3 ads during the last 2 Big Brother episodes.

(I know, I know.)

And I recall several during the last 60 Minutes episode I was able to catch.

It is the damn media who refuse to comment on it.

But at least in my experiance the ads are there.

And pretty hard hitting I might add.

I really liked the 'Stronger' ad.

That guy has all the credibility in the world, and made it very clear but kept is positive, that he thinks *Bush is incompetant.

Hell the guy has more credentials for the office of president than *Bush does.

LOL

Anyway, though there is far more to be done, they are indeed fighting back at least that I have seen.

[BurtWorm]

2. As I say, I offer this as food for thought.

I think Somerby's point is that the Repubs feel free to slime, slander, lie, etc., and that is testimony to their lack of fear of the consequences. Or, some might say, to their lack of heart and conscience, Zell "DINO" Miller's self-appraisal notwithstanding.

[Nite Owl]

3. The ads can't simply be

hard hitting they have to be controversial to get talked about. And then the Dems have to coordinate the attack so it's repeated, driven home. It has to saturate the minds of a listener. Hot words, making fun, loud music or memorable music.

[sangh0]

4. That implies that the same press that ignored Bush*'s AWOL,

his 9/11 connections, his 9/11 jokes, etc will find something Dems say so controversial it would get talked about over and over.

[BurtWorm]

5. When did Kerry talk about Bush's 9/11 connections?

Dean is the only one who came close to making mention of Bush's 9/11 connections, and that was in passing to a journalist in transit between events. It was Dean's opposition who picked up on it and made something out of it. But I don't remember Kerry or the DNC ever talking about it.

[sangh0]

6. Others did soon after, and it went nowhere

and the fact that you only attempt to refute one shows how often the media suppresses stories that the Dems want promoted.

[BurtWorm]

7. Which other Dems?

[Nite Owl]

8. The Repukes are the ones

that won't ignore it. They will bring it up and try to bash the Dems with how unfair they are to their boy king. That's how it gets talked about. Remember the Hitler ad on the moveon site? Never aired, didn't get picked but they talked about it, complained at how horrible and low it was. Not saying it should be that but calling him a liar should not be out of bounds, saying the 'AWOL President' is truth, saying he's a credit card conservative who can't pay the bill, something like that. I just think the key is repeating, using the same phrases, Dems can just answer a question with that answer, work it in to an answer to something just to say it.

[depakid]

9. Sommewrsby has it right on

As do many of the other people who have been saying the same thing in the past several weeks:

"It’s perfectly clear that our Big Major Dems don’t really care if this costs them elections. But will these lazy, feckless pols ever defend the rights of the public? Will they ever show that they actually care when a joke is made of our White House elections? On Wednesday night, the Bush camp was lying in voters’ faces in those speeches by Miller and Cheney. And the DNC plainly doesn’t care—doesn’t bother debunking the charges, doesn’t bother explaining the process. As long as they get to sell us their cook books, the whole thing is just fine by them.

The DNC needs a meta-story—the Republicans keep making a joke of your discourse. But to tell a story, again and again, DNC honchos have to believe it—and care. We see no sign that they really do care, and that explains our quadrennial clowning. Clearly, the Washington press doesn’t care. Does the DNC care? Let them prove it."

Some posters here just don't get it- maybe they're naive or possibly that they may even want us to lose this election. I can't see any other rational reasos why they'd want keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. kick

[PROGRESSIVE1]

11. ......

[Democat]

12. Our Democratic leader in the Senate has a TV ad where he hugs Bush!

What do you expect from the current Dems - they have all but proven they aren't up to the fight. Hopefully Kerry can win despite, not because of, our pathetic leadership.

Sadly, there is probably going to have to be a changing of the guard before our side really starts kicking ass.