FDR, LBJ, and also ran or stuggling Democrats

Master politicians like FDR and LBJ not only had no illusions about their opponents but also knew exactly what was required to defeat them soundly. Watch this currently popular FDR clip again and think it through from a strategic perspective.

Opponent pummeling? Yes, but that would be merely fighting a battle and not a war.
The 1964 Daisy Ad was similarly strategic.

And in her debate this week, Elizabeth Warren accomplished the same strategic objective.

Are you getting what that is? It’s not complicated, although it seems to have totally flummoxed President Obama. As it did Hubert Humphrey’s campaign, Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale and every Democratic Presidential candidate in my lifetime. (And no, Bill Clinton didn’t get it either.)

To be fair, Massachusetts isn’t the nation and Warren had more than ample warning of the task she faced. Scott Brown has been in GOP general election mode since 2010 because the Republican base in that state is so small that candidates can rhetorically ignore them and still count on their votes. As such, Brown has been able to coast on his established credential as the Moderate Scott Brown. What Warren did in the debate was to reduce the size of Brown’s comfy “moderate” box.

Against Goldwater, LBJ locked and secured the door to moderate territory. Left him stranded and wandering in the racist crazyland that nominated him.

Unlike Reagan and GWB, Mitt isn’t a darling of rightwing crazyland. His religion and his devotion to it insure that he will always be somewhat suspect among “christian” fundamentalists. Oh, how he struggled for over a year to gain their grudging acceptance. But those “christians” are if not a forgiving lot than a forgetting one. And just in time for a combative Moderate Mitt to make a safe entrance at his first debate with Obama.

Paul Ryan, with his wacko base secured, has been worming his way into non-crazyland in the past few days. And why not when the opposition has left the door open? Can Biden force him to retreat in tonight’s debate? Or will we see another exercise in hand-to-hand debate combat?

4 Comments

Marie2 on October 11, 2012 at 3:14 pm

Latest PPP report indicates that Warren is being effective in chipping away at Brown’s moderate facade.

Warren leads Scott Brown 50-44. The big change over the last month is that Brown’s image is finally starting to take a hit. His approval rating is now a +7 spread at 49/42, down a net 14 points from mid-September when he was at 55/34. There’s an increasing sense that he’s been more a partisan voice for the national Republican Party (45%) than an independent voice for Massachusetts (44%). That’s a 10 point shift from our last poll when voters thought 49/40 that he’d been more of an independent voice.

The numbers will continue to improve for Warren as long as she and her team keep the focus on his fake independent reputation.

Marie2 on October 11, 2012 at 11:37 pm

An “A” for Joe tonight. Missed an “A+” by whiffing on Ryan’s claim that Obama’s stimulus didn’t work — the half the GOP demanded is what didn’t work and had Obama gotten his 100% stimulus instead of 50% it would have worked twice as well. The abortion answer was too mushy — failed to include contraception.

Alice on October 12, 2012 at 11:43 am

I liked the VP’s abortion answer. The question was about his personal religious beliefs as they affect his politics. His reply was perfect – I won’t inflict my personal religion on other people.

Elizabeth Warren’s statement is also perfect.

Marie2 on October 12, 2012 at 12:43 pm

Here’s the question:

And I would like to ask you both to tell me what role your religion has played in your own personal views on abortion.

Please talk about how you came to that decision. Talk about how your religion played a part in that.

Good for Joe for stating that he wouldn’t impose his religious beliefs on others. But these are two men that espouse a scientifically ridiculous position — life begins at conception (and don’t even bother to state that they don’t mean “life” but human life) — because that’s the official doctrine of their church (and a rather recent doctrine). Convenient for both of them that it has been impossible for them to be subject to a personal test of their personal belief on abortion. OTOH, both were tested on an official position of their religion in late 2002 — and both failed.

In January, 2003, Pope John Paul told his Diplomatic Corps:

“War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity… War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations… War cannot be decided upon…except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations.”

The phrase “I believe that life begins at conception” reinforces the notion that abortion is wrong, sinful, etc.

Marie2 on October 11, 2012 at 3:14 pm

Latest PPP report indicates that Warren is being effective in chipping away at Brown’s moderate facade.

Warren leads Scott Brown 50-44. The big change over the last month is that Brown’s image is finally starting to take a hit. His approval rating is now a +7 spread at 49/42, down a net 14 points from mid-September when he was at 55/34. There’s an increasing sense that he’s been more a partisan voice for the national Republican Party (45%) than an independent voice for Massachusetts (44%). That’s a 10 point shift from our last poll when voters thought 49/40 that he’d been more of an independent voice.

The numbers will continue to improve for Warren as long as she and her team keep the focus on his fake independent reputation.
Marie2 on October 11, 2012 at 11:37 pm

An “A” for Joe tonight. Missed an “A+” by whiffing on Ryan’s claim that Obama’s stimulus didn’t work — the half the GOP demanded is what didn’t work and had Obama gotten his 100% stimulus instead of 50% it would have worked twice as well. The abortion answer was too mushy — failed to include contraception.
Alice on October 12, 2012 at 11:43 am

I liked the VP’s abortion answer. The question was about his personal religious beliefs as they affect his politics. His reply was perfect – I won’t inflict my personal religion on other people.

Elizabeth Warren’s statement is also perfect.
- Marie2 on October 12, 2012 at 12:43 pm
  
  Here’s the question:
  
  And I would like to ask you both to tell me what role your religion has played in your own personal views on abortion.
  
  Please talk about how you came to that decision. Talk about how your religion played a part in that.
  
  Good for Joe for stating that he wouldn’t impose his religious beliefs on others. But these are two men that espouse a scientifically ridiculous position — life begins at conception (and don’t even bother to state that they don’t mean “life” but human life) — because that’s the official doctrine of their church (and a rather recent doctrine). Convenient for both of them that it has been impossible for them to be subject to a personal test of their personal belief on abortion. OTOH, both were tested on an official position of their religion in late 2002 — and both failed.
  
  In January, 2003, Pope John Paul told his Diplomatic Corps:
  
  “War is not always inevitable. It is always a defeat for humanity… War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations… War cannot be decided upon…except as the very last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military operations.”
  
  The phrase “I believe that life begins at conception” reinforces the notion that abortion is wrong, sinful, etc.

FDR, LBJ, and also ran or stuggling Democrats

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