November 10, 2008, - 12:09 pm
The Real Highlights of the Article Are Telling, Hilarious
By Debbie Schlussel
Over the weekend, I read the Newsweek magazine extended set of articles that have been getting a lot of attention over the allegations about the intellect and behavior of Sarah Palin. But the Palin stuff–whether true or not–is not among the many highlights and notable item in the articles, seven chapters of what’s called “Secrets of the 2008 Campaign”.
I’ve posted them for you below, since I find them hilarious, sad and telling, especially this one. Gee, I wonder why he lost:
McCain had set firm boundaries: no Jeremiah Wright; no attacking Michelle Obama; no attacking Obama for not serving in the military. McCain balked at an ad using images of children that suggested that Obama might not protect them from terrorism; Schmidt vetoed ads suggesting that Obama was soft on crime (no Willie Hortons); and before word even got to McCain, Schmidt and Salter scuttled a “celebrity” ad of Obama dancing with talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres (the sight of a black man dancing with a lesbian was deemed too provocative).
With all of this off the table, what’s left? A losing campaign.
Then, there’s this–the Obama team saying that Sarah Palin would cause violence toward the Obama campaign, and Ms. Thang–Michelle Hussein Obama–wondering why people hate he and hubby. Hmmm . . . might have something to do with the fact that she’s the most overbearing wife in public life since Hillary–only she’s way worse. Or her expressed non-proudness of this “mean” country. Let’s see, they put out a ton of negative ads on McCain, but the Mccain Team isn’t supposed to be negative on them?:
“I’m worried,” Gregory Craig said to a NEWSWEEK reporter in mid-October. He was concerned that the frenzied atmosphere at the Palin rallies would encourage someone to do something violent toward Obama. He was not the only one in the Obama campaign thinking the unthinkable. The campaign was provided with reports from the Secret Service showing a sharp and very disturbing increase in threats to Obama in September and early October. Michelle was shaken by the vituperative crowds and the hot rhetoric from the GOP candidates. “Why would they try to make people hate us?” she asked Valerie Jarrett. Several of Obama’s friends in the Senate were shocked by the GOP rabble-rousing.
Shocked? Look in the mirror, dudes. Um, Michelle, no-one needed to try to make people hate you. You did it all on your own.
And finally, there are these items about the Obama Team’s use of Jay-Z, how the media ignored it, and how the Obama campaign considered using bribe money–a/k/a “walking around money”–and the shockingly real statements by a state senator who wanted that money and saw Obama for what he really was:
The campaign wanted to reach out to young black men, but in a way that would not antagonize white voters. The rap artist Jay-Z offered to perform in concert for Obama in October, but the campaign was “nervous,” recalled Jim Messina, the campaign chief of staff. Black leaders from the community in Detroit and Miami pleaded with Obama headquarters, Messina recalled, saying, in effect, “You keep saying to us, ‘Go produce sporadic African-American young voters.’ Give us the tools. Jay-Z is a tool and you have to give him to us.”
Warily, the campaign agreed but still called the rap star’s management to ask him not to say anything about McCain or Palin onstage, for fear that the rapper would make crude or incendiary remarks that would wind up on Fox News. Jay-Z agreed not to riff on the Republican candidates, but he said he wanted to perform a song, “Blue Magic,” that includes the line “Push, money over broads, f— Bush/Chef, guess what I cooked? Made a lot of bread and kept it off the books.”
At a concert on Oct. 5 in Miami, Jay-Z decided to skip the line about Bush, but the crowd, familiar with the words, roared it out anyway, as giant portraits of Bush and Obama lit up the backdrop. The incident passed largely unnoticed by the media–and the Obama campaign registered 10,000 new voters in Miami.
“Walking-around money” is an old and somewhat disreputable political practice of dispensing cash to local pols, grass-roots community leaders and preachers to get out the vote on Election Day, particularly in poorer areas inhabited by racial and ethnic minorities. As money changes hands, a certain amount of winking is typically involved; not all of the funds go to, say, hiring drivers or passing out leaflets, and the recipients are not shy about asking. (During the Robert F. Kennedy campaign for president in 1968, Kennedy operatives made sure not to bid up the going rate for walking-around money, or to hand it out too early, lest they have to pay twice.)
On Oct. 21, Michael Strautmanis was riding, along with a NEWSWEEK reporter, through the streets of Philadelphia. . . . Strautmanis had been a close friend of Michelle and Barack Obama since he worked at the same Chicago law firm. . . .
Next was a meeting with a state senator, who greeted Strautmanis like an old friend, even though they had never met. The state senator said he was in awe of Obama. “He’s the greatest bulls—ter in the world!” the politician exclaimed. “I know he’s bulls—ting me, but it feels good!” Sensing he was perhaps being a little too frank, the state senator said, “I want to be as helpful as I can.” . . . The state senator suggested . . . “street money. I know you guys didn’t do it in the primary, but . . . .”
. . . . After the meeting, Strautmanis admitted to seeing some benefit [to paying “street money”]. “I think we should do it,” the Obama aide told a NEWSWEEK reporter. “It’s just part of the culture here, and what will it cost? A couple of hundred grand? . . . For a lot of people, if they don’t get it, they just flat-out won’t engage.” (The Obama campaign ultimately refused to provide any walking-around money, though as Politico reported, some was provided by local sources.)
Skip Newsweek. This is all you need to know from over 100 pages of blather about the campaign.
White people afraid of being called racists. They’d rather lose an election than being called a racist, and they did.
You can’t run a gracious, genteel campaign, while the other side puts Palin’s head in a noose.
Either you’re willing to roll around in the mud, or you’re not. It seemed like Palin was the only one willing to get down-n-dirty. Sadly, she was working for a campaign that didn’t back her up on that.
Maxine Weiss on November 10, 2008 at 2:25 pm