AAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

I agee whole heartedly too. The worst was last night when during the commercial break three republican adds were run in a row. At the next break three democratic adds were run in a row. All were negative of course.

Eric,

As a bemused spectator, three things in particular have disappointed me.

1) How the hell did the Connecticut Democrats de-select Joe Lieberman? I hope is winning as an Independent will cost the Democrats dear when looking for control of the Senate. His treatment shows that neither party is interested in reaching bi-partisan agreements, and don’t give a damn for the majority of Americans; just in their particular ideaologies and rhetoric.

2) How do the likes of Michal J. Fox and Alec Baldwin think they can get away with trying to distort the truth in campaigns such as Missouri and California respectively? Does Hollywood think itself so virtuous that they can smear Republicans by twisting the facts. In my opinion, his input will probably cost the Democrats that particular Senate seat.

3) How does Senator Santorum keep getting so much exposure, when he is getting a real beating in the polls. He’s the best reason for supporting Democrats that I’ve seen so far!

Finally, surely Deborah Pryce is a far better option than Mary Jo Kilroy? She is not at all impressive, and appears to ‘smear’ with the best of them. And worse; smugly! Still, I don’t live in Ohio and won’t be my problem.

Best wishes,

Mark

Eric,

Thanks for your response. Direct, and to the point, as ever. Not sure I’d have described Santorum like that, but can see where you’re coming from.

In my opinion, the reason for dumping Joe Lieberman was not valid and I truly hope the Democrats will pay for this. The message from the Kennedy/Kerry/Pelosi wing – do not fraternise with the enemy, whatever your beliefs. How long ago was it that Lieberman was running for VP? I have followed the progress of Senator Lieberman quite closely for the last few years and truly hoped he’d have made it to President. Instead you have two vociferous extremes ignoring the silent centerist majority.

In my opinion, Michael J Fox was well out of order, and was surprised by your thoughts. Both candidates support cell stem research although Fox’s campaign ad suggested otherwise. Secondly, the Democrats are being supported, and the bill ads being funded, by two company directors who have a financial interest in cell stem research. Fox later admitted that he did the anti Republican ad without reading what was in the bill. I see he is now dipping his toe in the Virginian Senate race, which will probably assure Allan of a slim victory.

Finally, I’m sure what you say about Senator Pryce is true, but Kilroy? Things must be desperate in Ohio, and I truly sympathise with some of the choices that Americans are obviously faced with next week.

Best wishes,

Mark

Eric and JD. This may be the wrong time and place to post this…Sorry, but I am not getting email replies at the office. Did you get my email yesterday about your book review running in tomorrow’s Free Lance-Star (Town & Country section)? If so and you replied, I didn’t get it.

Look for it online here in the morning: http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/tnc
and in the printed paper.

I think you’ll be pleased. Thanks. Now.. back to Hannity and Combs…

Valerie,

Surely decisions are made on the information available. If voters are confronted with purely negative ads, how else do they make their decision? You can’t blame the voters for the way the messenger delivers the message!

Whilst Eric may be an acquaintance of a candidate, most voters are not in that position. Having said that, I can’t see how Kilroy is a better option than Pryce, but that’s the problem facing Ohio. All the majority can possibly know is what the media tells them, and how their values react to this information.

Best wishes,

Mark

Eric,

To quote Valerie, “Attaboy!!” I’m impressed and pleasantly surprised by your political leanings. Don’t know why I expected it to be any different but I’m glad it’s not.

I am sorely frustrated by the bulk of the American electorates’ intellectual laziness to invoke a phrase recently used to extremely ill effect by Senator Kerry.

I hate when politicians assume that I’m not very smart. I hate it worse when the American public bolsters their assumptions.

Ah, nothing like politics to get the juices flowing.

I spent the weekend in Gettysburg, so I largely avoided TV and political ads.

I think, however, that to a certain extent the Repubs are reaping what they have sown. In the past decade, R strategists have chosen the demonization route as the most effective campaign strategy, a tactic that Lee Atwater, for example, reveled in. Rove has been no different – the McCain smear in SC, for example.

The electorate rewarded those tactics by voting Republican in large numbers.

The other party cannot win without adopting similar tactics, IMO. So they have. They also have a massive amount of very factual information to work with, thanks to the stunning level of corruption now found in so many Republican incumbents.

A close look at the Republican congress in the Bush years, however, reveals some major problems with the way they have governed, acting largely as a rubber stamp for cronyism, rather than the first branch of government.

they were in full session only about 65 days. Of that, they ate up significant time debating abstract things like a gay marraige amendment, instead of the immediate fiscal and legislative issues that need their attention. In the 90s, the Repub house had 140 plus hours of hearings on the potential political abuse of the Clinton Christmas list. They managed exactly 12 hours on Abu Ghraib.

for hundreds of bills, the Leadership waived the customary 72 hold period on new bills, useful in order to give members time to read the bills. These waivers came in the dead of night, usually 2 am, in a quick voice vote of the rules committee, so that the bills could be voted on the next morning. While bills have been so waived in the past, it was a rare and infrequent process used primarily for emergency budget issues. Now it has become the norm. 100s of bills get voted on within hours of being passed out of committee, giving members no time to actually read the bills.

And as for those committees, bi-partisan committee meetings are thing of the past. Most bills are also passed out by fiat, reconciled by the committee leadership, a white house rep, and advised by the affected special interest groups. Again, these “votes” often happen in the dead of night, without warning.

The facts are that the Republican-led House has surrendered its constitutional authority and long ago abandoned any pretense of bi-partisanship. It is extremely disingenuous to then accuse the Democrats of not seeking ‘bi-partisanship’ in the face of a legislative fiat process that hostile to responsible government.

It is also no wonder that the House now has a 16% approval rating. It is a rats nest, run by gangsters who only pay lip service to democracy.

Dave Powell

Eric,

BTW, I mentioned Gettysburg – I took a group of friends around there last weekend. One highlight was meeting JD for dinner on Saturday, after he sold an acceptable number of books, of course:) The group had such fun that we decided we are going to finish the battle next year, same weekend. If you are in town that weekend, perhaps we can meet up? A long time out, I know, but the group really liked meeting JD.

Val:

I would not dispute that the Dems became arrogant during their tenure in power. I am very much an independent, and like to view the facts first. I do think that the degree of such arrogance matters, and as a fairly close student of politics over the years, I think your characterization is a bit distorted. Under most Dem Speakers, such excesses were the exception, not the rule. This is not true at all with the current speaker, Coach Hastert, where such things have become the standard, not the exception.

Besides, I have never liked the “nyah nyah, the other guys did it first!” defense. I, for one, am clear-headed enough to remember that the GOP oh so self-rightously told me in 1994 that they were going to be different.

It turns out they were going to be different – they were going to be much, much worse…

Dave Powell

Eric,

You have met some of them before. Rick Barber joined us, of course, and you know Jim Epperson. JD hopefully transacted some business with Marc Charise, who is editor of the Hanover Evening Sun. I think you also know Zack Waltz, as he has been with me before at the GDG.

Gettysburg in November is still like grand central station for tours, however, compared to the western theater fields I am now used to:)

Dave