More On Mumbles
A little post-election analysis from Natalie Jacobson's interview with The Great Orator of Readville:
You needed to get DOWN to the level of the voters in America??? And, you mean to tell me that your condescending, elitist attitude didn't play well in Oklahoma and Nebraska? I'm stunned. Why, that's got "popular appeal" written all over it.
Message received, Tom - loud and clear.
Oh yeah. Those pesky "side issues".
OK, so gay people can get married in Massachusetts, I have no problem with that. But if some gay-bashing asshole wants to beat the living shit out of them, our mayor and elected representatives are doing everything they can to ensure that they will be stuck with no legal, effective means of self-defense. How exactly is that "progressive"?
Gee, don't know. It couldn't be that they're afraid of the government taking everything over and fucking it all up, could it? And as far as this horseshit goes about people in the Midwest "not caring about other people", let me ask you this. Where would you rather have your car break down? In a major city in California, New York, and New Jersey, or in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa?
Yeah, you think your lives are better and more important than theirs, plain and simple.
Oh, please. This from the guy who cried like a baby in '95 when he found out his name was left off the plaque to be unveiled at the dedication of the Ted Williams Tunnel, so he had a separate plaque made just for his name and title to hang underneath it.
But, it's those ignorant, uneducated, uncaring, child-neglecting, red-staters who are self-centered.
Now, for those of you keeping score at home, a recap of the reasons why Kerry Lost the election (text above in red):
1. There was no clear message
2. If there was, we didn't let folks know what it was.
3. But if we did, they'd be too stupid to get it.
4. We need to move forward and look at this message.
5. That message is "We are everything. Everybody and anybody. We're for them."
I personally thought Senator Kerry did a superb job as the party's bearer of that particular message. I don't know what the mayor's talking about here.
Why Kerry Lost
I think, you know, a lot of people out there don't understand what government is all about, and there was no clear message about where we were going and how we were going to get there. The other part, the month of august when he got his head kicked in on the Vietnam situation. That was wrong. He was a hero. He got his medals and the other part of it is John Kerry, like him or not like him, he had that issue of likeability. That was a big issue he never overcame, and the Democratic Party was more united than every before, but we didn't get the message to the voters.
We were all on this level. We needed to get down to that level - to the voters in America, [snip]
You needed to get DOWN to the level of the voters in America??? And, you mean to tell me that your condescending, elitist attitude didn't play well in Oklahoma and Nebraska? I'm stunned. Why, that's got "popular appeal" written all over it.
...and I think we have to retool the Democratic Party and move forward and look at the message.
We can't be everything to everyone and the Republicans are well disciplined. They stay on message. We as the Democratic Party are everything. Everybody and anybody. We're for them.
Message received, Tom - loud and clear.
We should be for basic needs -- education, jobs, health care -- that's it. And when we got into all the other side issues -- we shouldn't do that.
Oh yeah. Those pesky "side issues".
George Bush, he stayed on message. Terrorism. The safety of the country. He never used the word housing. He very rarely said health care. Social security a couple of times. We couldn't get our message across. And we let the month of August -- the month that really hurt Dukakis hurt John Kerry. We didn't have a plan for after the convention.
I see we are disconnected from the rest of the country. We are more progressive on some of the social issues out there today.
OK, so gay people can get married in Massachusetts, I have no problem with that. But if some gay-bashing asshole wants to beat the living shit out of them, our mayor and elected representatives are doing everything they can to ensure that they will be stuck with no legal, effective means of self-defense. How exactly is that "progressive"?
I'm concerned about people not caring about other people. My business is all about helping people, and I just wonder where that mindset is in the Midwest, and where those people are coming from. Why aren't they so concerned about health care, housing and education? What's their mindset about themselves?
Gee, don't know. It couldn't be that they're afraid of the government taking everything over and fucking it all up, could it? And as far as this horseshit goes about people in the Midwest "not caring about other people", let me ask you this. Where would you rather have your car break down? In a major city in California, New York, and New Jersey, or in Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa?
I think we in the northeast have a different outlook on life than the people in the Midwest.
Yeah, you think your lives are better and more important than theirs, plain and simple.
They're more self-centered -- more about me, me, me and not about us. It's about me.
Oh, please. This from the guy who cried like a baby in '95 when he found out his name was left off the plaque to be unveiled at the dedication of the Ted Williams Tunnel, so he had a separate plaque made just for his name and title to hang underneath it.
But, it's those ignorant, uneducated, uncaring, child-neglecting, red-staters who are self-centered.
Now, for those of you keeping score at home, a recap of the reasons why Kerry Lost the election (text above in red):
1. There was no clear message
2. If there was, we didn't let folks know what it was.
3. But if we did, they'd be too stupid to get it.
4. We need to move forward and look at this message.
5. That message is "We are everything. Everybody and anybody. We're for them."
I personally thought Senator Kerry did a superb job as the party's bearer of that particular message. I don't know what the mayor's talking about here.
