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Donna Brazile's DisUnity Schtick | 77 comments (77 topical)

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She's on CNN, not MSNBC (none / 0) (#52)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 01:05:06 PM EST
And can somebody please tell me where this idea that Ted Kennedy and John Kerry are running the show came from?  I see this all the time in comments on this blog and it totally baffles me.

Serious question, not snark here.


[ Parent ]

Serious answer (none / 0) (#69)
by oldpro on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 01:55:46 PM EST
If you have been involved in Democratic politics for very long, know the players, know their histories, have followed Obama's candidacy from day one (or before) you would not be in the least puzzled.

In fact, you would know that Obama had no plans to run yet...publicly denied it when asked...but was talked into it (drafted/convinced/backed) by the anti-Clinton/anti-Hillary faction in the Dem power establishment:  Kennedy, Kerry, Daschle (and his DC lobbyist wife) and Dick Durbin/the Daley machine.

Why did they choose Obama?  Because the only way to beat a Clinton was to deny them the AA vote...and the only way to do that was with a black candidate and accuse the Clinton campaign of racism.

In a novel or a movie, you wouldn't believe it...but as the saying goes, 'truth is stranger than fiction.'

Clearer now?

[ Parent ]

Obama First Discussed a Run for Prez (none / 0) (#70)
by Harley on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 02:08:47 PM EST
On October 23, 2006.  Which suggests he was considering it prior to that date.   I've seen no evidence that he was talked into running by any faction in the Dem power establishment.  But if sourced and proven, yes, it would be an interesting story.

At the moment, it seems like a rumor based on invidious assumption.

[ Parent ]

Thank you (none / 0) (#74)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 02:16:10 PM EST
That's what I think, but the Kerry-Kennedy thing is getting repeated a lot here and I'd like to know whether there's even a tiny shred of evidence to back that up.  Frankly, it sounds to me like somebody's fantasy since it makes no logical sense. (And neither Kennedy nor Kerry are more than peripheral players the DP establishment in any case.)

[ Parent ]
Obama Daschle connection (none / 0) (#77)
by tree on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 02:29:57 PM EST
noted in the Washington Post in December 2006.

Daschle's chief of staff of 20 years and his communications director were already filling these positions with the Obama campaign in late 2006. Daschle officially endorsed when Obama official announced. I beleive that Daschle is on record on one of the talkshows as having encouraged Obama to run this year.

[ Parent ]

You'd have to be pretty naive to think (none / 0) (#84)
by MarkL on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 04:02:12 PM EST
Obama wasn't backed by some of the party elders.
How did he get hooked up with the big money donors so quickly?

[ Parent ]
First of all, don't patronize me (none / 0) (#72)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 02:12:24 PM EST
I've been following politics intently for 50 years, and if things had gone differently, would have been in a position to call a president of the united states by his first name.  I know Massachusetts politics and its players very well indeed.

Secondly, I assume you don't know the answer to my question or you would have answered it, so I'll ask it again.

How did this idea get started that John Kerry and Ted Kennedy -- in particular -- were responsible for getting Obama to run.  Daschle me no Daschles.

[ Parent ]

There was an article (none / 0) (#75)
by lilburro on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 02:24:41 PM EST
in either Harper's or the Atlantic Monthly on how Obama was encouraged to run by some big names in the Dem Party.  

Ah, here it is!  

Ambinder

The conventional explanation is that Democrats implored him to. "It was the closest thing to a draft that I've seen in my years of participating in politics," Axelrod told me.

The article basically describes the process by which Obama jumped into the Presidential race and I believe it is one of the major sources for what you are hearing.


[ Parent ]

First of all, I had no way of knowing (none / 0) (#81)
by oldpro on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 03:37:55 PM EST
that you are an oldtimer...same vintage as I, actually...and no way of knowing that you are a Massachusetts political activist.

Still...most people following this race intently have googled the candidates and those associated with them, followed the major articles (The Atlantic, TIME, National Review has a cover story now on Michelle...etc.) Googling Obama/Kerry/Kennedy/Daschle as I do/did, will lead you to most of the resources in print.

REmember, Kerry chose newly minted Senator Obama to make the primetime address at HIS nominating convention, showcasing him for future stardom.  But Kerry didn't expect to lose and thought (as did Obama) that his future national race would be years away.

We all saw the Kennedy connection staged on national television...the 'passing the torch' show...a major production of the Broadway/Camelot variety...no usual 'endorsement' I'm sure you'd agree.  I watched it all in amazement (including the two times Barack and Caroline thought it was over and stood up applauding, only to be sent back to their seats by the 'star of the show,' Senator Teddy, who couldn't quite get off the stage).  Made me sad for him.

There's more, of course, but enough for now.  Sorry if you felt patronized.  Don't get mad...get even!

[ Parent ]

OK (none / 0) (#91)
by gyrfalcon on Sun Apr 06, 2008 at 06:35:50 PM EST
But since you never know what the background is of people posting on the Internet, best not talk down to them.

I happily give you Daschle.  Out of power and understandably resentful, he would have every reason to.  I'd happily give you lots of people.  Clearly, Obama was urged into this.  My suspicion, though, is the impetus had far, far more to do with Axelrod than it did with established national party people.  I think they were roped in after the decision had pretty well been made that he had a good shot at it.  That's just my guess from the reporting I read.  I claim no inside knowledge whatsoever.

However, Kerry giving Obama the keynote at the convention, although it certainly raised his profile, has no particular bearing one way or another.  Obama was an obvious choice, given his instant celebrity as a soon-to-be newly minted African-American senator known for his ability to give a great speech, and given the complete charade of the GOP convention's showcasing of black performers.

I'm sure once Kerry heard he was considering the option, he encouraged him to run and has supported him ever since.  Not the same thing as suggesting Kerry was behind his candidacy.  Sure, the party gave Obama a high profile at the convention and afterwards.  Why wouldn't they?  Not the same as engineering things for him to run as a wildly unprepared and unready candidate for president in 2008.

As for Teddy, he didn't even endorse Obama until fairly late in the game, and the fact that it came as a total shock to everybody in politics and the media speaks rather plainly against the idea that he was involved in engineering an Obama run for president.

IOW, point nowhere near proved.

I'll say again that neither Kennedy or Kerry is or ever has been a power in the DP establishment.  Kerry would certainly like to be, but he hasn't got even the minimal skills.  He's a loner, does not play well with others, rarely is able to build alliances with anyone, other than McCain on the basis of their shared Vietnam veteran status.

Kennedy probably has the skills, but he's chosen to use them in different ways, to get stuff actually passed in the Senate.  He's not a particularly subtle man, and his principles are way too firmly, even stubbornly held to enable him to bend and sway and sell out and stiff-arm for institutional power.  What power he has is almost entirely issue-based, plus his voter support and electoral organization in Massachusetts.

So somebody trying to tell me Kennedy and Kerry engineered Obama's run as part of the party power establishment in order to keep Clinton out of the White House so they can increase their power in the party or the Senate just makes me laugh out loud unless there's some pretty specific and unimpeachable insider reporting to back it up.

[ Parent ]

Nothing like a good laugh... (none / 0) (#92)
by oldpro on Mon Apr 07, 2008 at 11:30:11 AM EST
especially these dark days for so many folks and for the country.

You demand proof...I can't prove Kennedy and Kerry were in on the Daschle/Durbin draft.  I don't offer proof...just my opinion, arrived at through what I read/hear and what I observe and the thought process I apply to both.

We agree...clearly, Obama was urged into this...no doubt by many besides Daschle/Axelrod/Durbin.  Those three are obvious, no?  But was that enough to convince Michelle?  By all accounts, no.  She demanded what you deman- proof!  Well, not proof, exactly, but evidence!!  So what would have convinced her that a rookie senator, and a black one at that, could beat the field with a Clinton in it to become the Democratic Party's nominee for POTUS?  What would it take, if it were me (I asked myself).

The answer is major clout, major money, major connections and major Democratic names who would at strategic times go public and become surrogates for the campaign. No rookie goes out and raises $200M+...it took a coalition with connections all over the country...Kerry and Kennedy have them...some recent, some longterm.  They surfaced - not just as endorsers - and in a big way...along with Daschle.

No...I can't prove it.  The books are yet to be written on this campaign (who is Woodward talking to?!? Gawd, I wish Teddy White were still alive).  But think about it...if this were a movie plot, you'd find it entertaining but not believable.  Another case of truth being stranger than fiction...on the surface, anyway.  But ask yourself...how did this happen...and why?  Why Obama and why now?

It's not about Democratic Party power...it's about presidential power and the losers who, unlike Bill Clinton, couldn't get it for themselves (Kerry, Kennedy, Daschle) who have a lot to gain if they can elect a rookie who owes them everything...a rookie who knows no one with whom to staff a government.  They know everyone...they will decide who and what and how.  The Rove/Cheney/Bush model will work for Democrats as well...it's only a scenario, after all!  Like Bush, Obama will have to trust the word and recommendations of a lot of people.  So far, so good.  For him.

Thanks for the dialogue.  The sun is out on the bay this morning...guess I'll cheer up for one more day!

[ Parent ]

Donna Brazile's DisUnity Schtick | 77 comments (77 topical)

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