Who is this "Mudcat" person and where has he been all my life?

[Clio the Leo]

Watching Rachel (I'm behind) she has former Edwards adviser "Mudcat" Saunders on.

"I was in a restaurant the other day and someone told me that Obama was a Muslim and had a crazy preacher. I asked him 'well which one is it?' He didn't get it of course."

Living in the south, I thought all guys that looked and talked like him played for the other team!

This man is awesome! Bubba with a brain!!!

BARACK OBAMA! Take some of the money I been sendin' you and HIRE this man! He could be like .... I dunno ... one of the generals for the Union army trying to defend the south from the evil secessionist! Man! I wish I knew one of them guys names right now!!!!

[Jackpine Radical]

1. Sheridan? Sherman? Grant? Those guys?

[Clio the Leo]

8. SHERMAN!!! That's who I'm looking for! lol

..... another downside of living in the south, they only teach you about the Confederates.

All I could think of was Braxton Bragg. lol

[Jackpine Radical]

12. Funny--up here we get both sets. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, who got his nickname

at the 1st Battle of Bull Run (Manassas to you); Beauregard, JEB Stuart, Polk, Longwell, Pickett...and oh, yeah, whatsisname...Lee.

[Clio the Leo]

14. Well, I'm in Chattanooga, so Bragg is big here....

(you sound like a Civil War buff so I thought I'd throw that trivia at ya.)

[Jackpine Radical]

15. Pittsburgh Landing. Of course.

No, not particularly a Civil War buff, just an omnivorous reader.

[Two Americas]

21. Shiloh

Pittsburg Landing is near Shiloh, in the western part of the state.

Bragg was there at Shiloh. He was also at Chattanooga.

[Two Americas]

20. Bragg was an ass

Maybe the worst general of the confederacy, in his position because he was a personal favorite of Davis (a yes man). Why not Joseph Johnston? He was a great general and a decent man. By the way, Johnston was a pall bearer at Sherman's funeral. The exposure to the weather at that funeral led to his death.

Johnston was loved by his troops. Bragg was hated.

Joseph Eggleston Johnston

"Joseph Eggleston Johnston served as an Army officer in both the U. S. and C. S. A. Armies. His brilliant defensive tactics went virtually unappreciated, his strategy lost to many, including his commander-in-chief, Jefferson Davis. Today, in retrospect, Johnston may have had a clearer understanding of the situation facing the Confederacy than any other politician or ranking military officer."

"Johnston correctly appraised the situation the South was in - short on material and manpower when compared to the North, he wanted to protect these assets more than the land. He understood the fragile nature of a campaign deep in enemy territory, and territory was something the Confederates had a lot of. Most of the anti-Johnston sentiment came during the Peninsula Campaign, when George McClellan advanced towards Richmond, Virginia. Johnston began a standard, structured withdrawal, defending his ground when he had a good position, then withdrawing to prevent a flanking maneuver."

http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Joseph_E._Johnston

http://www.civilwarhome.com/joejohnston.htm

Braxton Bragg

"Perhaps the most controversial of all ranking Confederate officers, this North Carolina native was a writer, traveler, respected artillery commander and plantation owner prior to The Civil War. Many of his actions during major Western Theater battles in which he fought are still widely debated."

"Bragg began to suffer serious medical problems and during the Tullahoma Campaign he would frequently be transported by ambulance because boils made it impossible for him to travel by horseback. The Army of Tennessee ended up back in Chattanooga by July 4, 1863, soundly defeated by various opponents, most recently William Rosecrans. After delaying for nearly 6 weeks, Rosecrans feinted, moving a small detachment of artillery north of the city while ordering a massive troop movement under cover of the rugged mountains to the south of the city. Bragg retreated to protect his supply line, the Western and Atlantic Railroad. Rosecrans pursued Bragg to the banks of a small North Georgia creek, where the Union general ran into stiffer than expected resistance. He began to move north, protecting his flank with the river. Bragg launched an attack on September 19, 1863 that would be named by the creek near which it started, Chickamauga. Routed on the second day of battle, the Federal Army retreated to Chattanooga. Bragg had won the greatest Confederate victory of the war, but refused the advice of almost all his generals, including James Longstreet and Nathan Bedford Forrest and did not attack the retreating Yankees. When President Davis visited in October to discuss the dissatisfaction of Bragg's subordinates, he kept Bragg and transferred the other generals."

http://ngeorgia.com/ang/Braxton_Bragg

[Two Americas]

17. naw

Thomas. See post below.

Sherman was, ironically, more knowledgeable about and sympathetic to the South than most Union generals. He was teaching at a school in New Orleans when the crisis arose.

[dgibby]

29. Don't mention Sherman

unless you want to lose Atlanta and the rest of the South! Them's fightin' words!:evilgrin:

[asdjrocky]

2. He was a major adviser to Edwards on the rural vote.

He's a good guy and a good spokesman for the good ol' boy Dem faction.

[babylonsister]

3. He was great, wasn't he. I had never seen or heard him before, but

I know he writes; I think HuffPo posts stuff from him.

[asdjrocky]

6. He was also a major adviser to John Edwards during the primary.

[Wetzelbill]

4. He's good, he writes for Huff Post too

[MrsBrady]

5. yes, my husband and I loved him too!

-- idiot freeper: "the koran says we're all infidels"

-- I told him "our bible says WE'RE infidels"



we were on the floor :rofl:

[OwnedByFerrets]

19. That line was GREAT, wasnt it?

[MrsBrady]

25. more Mudcat, please!

bring him down to Texas!

[frogcycle]

7. Mudcat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_%22Mudcat%22_Saunders

[Bubbha Jo]

9. I felt the same way. n/t

[ClarkUSA]

10. I dunno, during the primaries, Mudcat dissed Obama right and left and implied he'd never win.

Mudcat more or less fell in line with the thinking that someone like Obama would never win "his" people, meaning
working-class whites in VA and elsewhere, so he didn't think Obama could win the general election, which is why
he stuck with Edwards in 2004 and 2008 as a strategist. He was also really pissed off at Barack for the "bitter"
comments and never bothered to learn the context of the situation, so I lost respect for him as a so-called
strategist.

Oy! Bet he feels a little sheepish now. Sounds as if he's changed his tune now that the writing is on the wall in VA
and NC, states that Obama is doing far better than Edwards ever did.

[Clio the Leo]

11. Yeah, so did some other folks ...... we've moved on.

PUT THIS MAN IN CHARGE OF SOMETHING!!!!!! lol

I'm tellin you (y'all like how I'm droppin my g's and soundin' more southern all of a sudden) .... folks in this part of the world who would not listen to Obama's other surrogates would listen to this guy. He's home folks!

[Inspired]

13. He's a good Democrat....don't be so dismissive of him.

He is on Obama's side now. Like most of us former Edwards supporters. And by the way, he didn't stick with Edwards because he didn't think Obama could win. Most of us stuck with Edwards because his message struck a chord with us.

But that is over now and we've moved on.

We are all Obama supporters now. And Mudcat is one of the best.

[Two Americas]

16. George Thomas

Has to be Virginian George Thomas - unrecognized hero of the Union army in many ways, and villified in the South, especially after his death. When Sherman ran into Thomas in Washington right before hostilities, he asked "so Tom where are you headed?" Thomas said "I am going South, Cump." Sherman assumed that Thomas, like almost all of the West Point graduates from the South, was going to enlist in the Confederate army and said "not you too?" Thomas said "at the head of a Union army, I hope."

"At the start of the war, Winfield Scott was the most celebrated Southerner to side with the Union. By the conflict's end, that distinction belonged to George Thomas. Thomas knew that his decision to bear arms against the South had subjected him to savage attacks by supporters of secession. In a March 2, 1867, piece in the Army and Navy Journal, he expressed anger at the way former Confederates had successfully stigmatized Unionism: "loyalists to the whole country are called d--d Yankees and traitors, and over the whole great crime with its accursed record of slaughtered heroes, patriots murdered because of their true-hearted love of country, widowed wives and orphaned children, and prisoners of war slain amid such horrors as find no parallel in the history of the world, they are trying to throw the gloss of respectability, and are thrusting with contumely and derision from their society the men and women who would not join hands with them in their work of ruining their country." Thomas wrote out of personal experience, for his own actions and character were the subject of a vicious campaign of rumor-mongering, distortions, and lies. Such attacks continued, even intensified, after his death."

"On March 28, 1870, Gen. George Thomas died in San Francisco, succumbing to what doctors diagnosed as an attack of apoplexy. Flags from Maine to California flew at half mast. Throughout the North, tributes flowed in from politicians, veterans, and newspaper editorialists. Gen. William T. Sherman wrote that the Civil War found his West Point classmate 'at his post true and firm, amid the terrible pressure he encountered by reason of his birthplace, Virginia.' The New York Times spoke of Thomas's 'unflinching loyalty,' and the Boston Daily Advertiser observed "he never seems to have hesitated for an instant as to his duty to stand by the flag."

http://www.aotc.net/Antithomasspin.htm

[Two Americas]

18. more...

Virginia, "The old Dominion," "Mother of Presidents," "Mother of States," cornerstone of the Confederacy, home of the Army of Northern Virginia, is parenthetically, the birthplace of two of the greatest leaders of the American Civil War. One is an American Icon, a Southern hero, whose name is fixed forever in American history. His courage in battle and daring struggles against staggering odds elevated the level of war to new heights. Robert Edward Lee, a southern ‘blue blood’, whose ancestors included founders and warriors, has entered our history as the most innovative and daring General in the Civil War.

The other is largely forgotten. His fame originated at one battle. When, with remnants of the Army of the Cumberland, he fought Bragg’s Army of Tennessee to a draw at Chickamauga Creek. Outnumbered almost three to one, after the right wing of the Army of the Cumberland and its commander Rosecrans, fled the field, and retreated to Chattanooga. He rallied the Union remnants and fought at Snodgrass Hill. Longstreet, after rolling up the Union right, claimed he made 25 separate attacks on what was left of the Army of the Cumberland, but could not move him. Polk and Pat Cleburne, the Stonewall of the West could not move him on the left.

He stayed at Chickamauga until, he, decided it was time to leave. He extracted his men, out of ammunition and food and in an orderly fashion, marched to the Rossville gap, and there, at Rosecrans orders, he organized his defenses. Then, after reviewing the area, decided the place was indefensible, withdrew to Chattanooga and after more than 48 hours without adequate sleep, he posted his troops in a defensive alignment, and then rested.

His name, George Henry Thomas, obscure to most until the term "Rock of Chickamauga," is spoken, then, many still do not recall the name. Yet, George Henry Thomas, in his way, was as fine an offensive planner as Lee.

http://home.earthlink.net/~oneplez/majorgeneralgeorgehthomasblogsite/index.html

[TxBlue]

22. We watched him 2x tonite. Put Carville & Mudcat on together...hog heaven!

Mudcat just had the best lines.

I agree, move on and put him in charge of something. He's a heck of lot more entertaining than most
surrogates and has fantastic comebacks to the yahoo's out there that we could on the frontlines.

[Hamlette]

23. he's pretty conservative, I've been unimpressed with him in the past

he was good tonight but usually he is conservative, berates democrats for not getting racist red neck religious nut cases with gun racks.

[Sugarcoated]

24. I'm curious to know how he got the name Mudcat

I'd imagine a mudcat would be a kick ass little creature.

[FlaGranny]

26. I just looked it up

as I too was intrigued - a mudcat is a large catfish. Wonder if it's the kind those fellas catch with their bare hands. It's also the name of a NC baseball team. He could have gained the name from either activity. Couldn't find out much about this background with a quick search.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

27. Good Ole Boys for Obama

And for Rachel

[DemsUnited]

28. Saunders is a VA fixture, worked on Mark Warner governor & Jim Webb senatorial campaigns.

He's an expert on improving the rural white vote for Democrats. He feels a certain kind of candidate best appeals to that demographic and Harvard educated, "exotic background" Obama ain't it. Unfortunately, he's probably right on that -- thank god for Northern VA and Hampton Roads with all their pro Obama voters!

Anyways, Saunders backed Edwards in the primary, Hillary after Edwards dropped out. He's outspoken and colorful and very funny, but he did say some harsh things about Obama during the primaries which pissed me off.