Exposing Clift's Delusional Beliefs

I just finished reading another of Eleanor Clift's delusional meanderings. To say that she's clueless is a bit mild for my thinking. Here's proof for my opinion:

Republicans are whistling past the proverbial graveyard if they think the Connecticut results bode well for them. The high turnout reflects voter anger with the war and with President Bush and the GOP-controlled Congress, meaning that Rep. Chris Shays and two other moderate Republicans in the state will likely be swept away in the tide of anger come November. "Bush is poison; that's the overarching message of this election," says Paul Equale, a Democratic lobbyist. "Everything else is parlor talk." Illinois Democrat Rahm Emanuel, who chairs the Democratic congressional campaign committee, called Lieberman Bush's "love child." His point is that the election is a referendum on George Bush, "and the person standing closest to Bush gets burned," a spokesman explained.

The truth is that Connecticut is a goldmine for Republicans when placed in the context of the thwarted terrorist plot of this past week. The truth is that Lieberman losing the primary means that alot of Republicans turning out to vote for Lieberman. That means that Republican turnout will be high, which gives Chris Shays, Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons a much better shot at getting re-elected.

Mr. Emanuel is whistling Dixie when he opines that Bush equals instantaneous death for Republicans. That won't be the case in the context that we're living in a dangerous world where the GOP wants to prevent attacks and Democrats prefer cleaning up after the terrorists attacks.

Democrats desperately want Lieberman to step aside and not create a sideshow that diverts attention from Bush. But that will take finesse backed up by poll numbers. "Democrats need to take it easy on Lieberman, not go and hammer on him 12 hours after he's eked out a defeat that's much narrower than was forecast," a party strategist told NEWSWEEK. "Better to wait for the court of public opinion and build a prima facie case with the right messenger [to deliver it]: Bill Clinton, [Connecticut Senator] Chris Dodd, or better yet, someone who has resonance with Hadassah [Lieberman's wife.] She's got a major say in this."

This is purely delusional thinking. Let's start with the biggest flaw: "Better to wait for the court of public opinion and build a prima facie case with the right messenger [to deliver it]" That's assuming that the court of public opinion will send Lieberman the message that he can't win. That isn't likely to happen because Lamont now has to make his case to people who aren't as nutty as his Nutroots protectors. That isn't likely to happen because they know that Lieberman is serious about fighting terrorists before their attacks are underway.

Clift doesn't realize that Lamont is the sideshow, not Lieberman. The only reason why Lamont won was because everything was quiet on the 'terrorist attack' front. That's been shattered with Wednesday's attempted terrorist attack. Lamont is utterly clueless when it comes to the issue of protecting Americans. That matters.

Hillary Clinton got out ahead of the storm with her sharp attack last week on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Critics on the left called her an opportunist, but in the world of politics, is there anybody who isn't? "The way she took on Rumsfeld was great for her," says Republican pollster Frank Luntz. "She took on the manager rather than the war itself, how it's administered. "You criticize the process rather than putting out an alternative."

Luntz is clueless this time. The truth is that Americans aren't satisfied when politicians just criticize something. They're demanding solutions. The notion that you can win with just criticizism is pure folly. Clift is again delusional if she thinks people like Hillary just because she's popular in the Northeast. She turns peoples' stomaches in the Midwest.

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Posted Saturday, August 12, 2006 2:06 PM

July 2006 Posts

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