In case you missed it...
Well, the Democrats opened their convention last night and it's time to go over some highlights of the event and of the coverage provided by the three cable networks:
8:04 - National Anthem as performed by Bebe Winans was amazing. Covered live by CNN and MSNBC but not by the most "patriotic" network- Fox.
8:20 - Al Gore comes out to speak- should be interesting to see how he handles everything. Al Gore now speaking live on CNN and MSNBC- meanwhile Fox's Bill O'Reilly is promoting an upcoming interview with Joan Jett (best known for early 80s hit "I Love Rock and Roll" as performed with backing band "the Blackhearts"). Gore uses humor to acknowledge what happened in 2000 "But you know the old saying -- you win some, you lose some. And then there's that little-known third category. I didn't come here tonight to talk about the past. After all, I don't want you to think I lie awake at night counting and recounting sheep. I prefer to focus on the future because I know from my own experience that America is a land of opportunity, where every little boy and girl has a chance to grow up and win the popular vote."
Laughter ensues- he is of course kidding, but kidding on the square. When he says, "take it from me, every vote counts" he really means it. Gore did himself some good tonight- he did not seem bitter and he gave a good performance- good for him, that is. He took on the Nader voters last night as well who really cost him. Chris Suellentrop wrote an interesting column on Slate discussing both Clintons and Gore and that they were all "beloved" by certain parts of the party. Does anyone outside of friends and family "love" Al Gore?
You have to wonder why his humor and brightness did not shine through more in the last campaign. The man we saw on Saturday Night Live and the man speaking last night ofwould have been elected last time. The guy screaming in the past few months would not be. After years in the senate, 8 years as VP, and a presidential campaign, I still don't know who Al Gore really is. Does he?
8:25 - On MSNBC - Why does Pat Buchanan make so much sense to listen to and have so much good insight and yet be such a nut?
8:26 - Donna Brazile - click! You lost last time, ran a bad campaign, and you're boring- go away.
8:27 - Nancy Pelosi - click! Stop whining...also you kind of always look like you're going to cry.
8:39 - Ralph Nader on Bill O'Reilly. Nader still cannot tie a tie. His eyes are still different sizes. He still looks like he gets his suits off a rack at a discount store. Also, he is responsible for Bush's victory. If you are going to vote for him, do us all a favor and go kill yourself before November.
8:40 - Jennifer Granholm on CNN. She is the new Democratic governor of Michigan. Boy she's good, smart, funny, and charming. They should use her more...kind of reminds one of Hillary but without the baggage and the rough edges Hillary has.
8:43 - O'Reilly is all over Nader for Nader assertation of needing only a police action in Afganistan to capture Taliban and bin Laden. Apperently Nader did not see newscasts on September 11th. His eyes are very distracting.
8:45 - CNN is covering blogs and bloggers.
8:46 - Nader should wear an eyepatch like a pirate- "Aargh! I'm almost on the ballots!" Go away.
8:50 - O'Reilly is now interviewing Joan Jett who is inexplicably at convention. Apperently Toni "Hey Mickey" Basil and Cyndi "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" Lauper were unavailable for comment.
8:52 - CNN runs Clinton retrospective- pretty fair, I think.
8:57 - I unloaded my dishwasher- story ignored by all three networks.
8:59 - I used the restroom - also unreported.
9:01 - Jimmy Carter is out speaking now, and he looks and sounds...old! Don't we all agree (Martin Sheen notwithstanding) about Jimmy Carter? What a nice guy, what a great ex-president, what a failed presidency. He seems now like a kindly old major in Georgia. He was president- wow. Seems like too nice and genuine a guy.
9:02 - Telemarketing survey call.
9:07 - Wow, all of a sudden Carter is the velvet hammer! The way he is beating up on Bush in that kindly, genteel way. "But in just 34 months, we have watched with deep concern as all this goodwill has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations. Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism." I think, personally, this is by far the greatest failure of George W. Bush, and probably the biggest mistake we have made in global politics in my lifetime. If we are fighting, as the president often says, a "global war against terrorism" how does it help to piss off the other countries on the globe? The American people would have followed him almost anywhere and were so willing so sacrafice. I was asked by my president to do nothing more than travel and go shopping. The rich were asked only to cash their tax break checks. I don't get it.
9:13 - "We cannot lead, if our leaders mislead." Maybe he got part of Gore's speech by mistake or something. Or maybe Jimmy Carter is pretty fiesty for an 80-year-old. He has nothing on my grandma though...
9:18 - Kerry's daughters on CNN. Funny, they are kind of similar to the Bush daughters in that the blonde is not quite proportional, but the dark-haired one is really hot. The blonde one kind of looks like a female John Kerry, which is kind of unfortunate.
9:20 - Alexandra Kerry is still yummy. Maybe I am just biased towards dark-haired girls these days?
9:22 - Bob Graham - click! What a weirdo!
9:23 - On Fox, Sean Hannity is trying to interview Rahm Emmanuel but they are having technical problems and Rahm cannot hear him down on the floor. As an aside, why does Fox seem to have so many techical screwups- wrong graphics, picture problems, et cetera. It's weird, they have people live from Fallujah and it seems like they're in room next door, but Sean is lost just below. Whenever CNN has someone abroad it seems like they are hooked by via sattelite technology no more sofisticated than Al Franken with that dish on his head on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update." I wonder if Nic Robertson is really so blurry in person, because they have those wierd videophones.
9:26 - CNN still interviewing the Kerry daughters- okay, already. Fox now has Dean who said we "fought war for nothing." Dean is such an interesting character- always wonder what he is going to say. Willie Brown on MSNBC panel just said Jimmy Carter is like a Mother Teresa in Georgia. What is he talking about?
9:31 - I am riveted to Fox now by guest Jerry Springer. "I'm a liberal here I stand." He came just short of announcing his candicacy for Ohio governor in 2006. His comparison of this election to 1980 was the best analysis so far of the night. More on this in a seperate post (Chris Suellentrop made a similar point in Slate yesterday).
9:40 - George Mitchell - Click! He never ran for president, but it would have been interesting to see if someone can be elected president with the personality of my pen. I vote no.
9:58 - Sean Hannity just lied again about Howard Dean saying President Bush knew about 9/11. Alan corrected him for the umpteenth time. Sean has said this again and again, and he knows it is not true. I pounded my table and said out loud "There he goes again with that crap!" upsetting Mickey Mantle bobblehead doll, which began nodding frantically. Does Hannity lie? The Mick says "Yes."
10:00 - Tim Russert of NBC always looks like he needs a haircut. Of course he has nothing on Joe Trippi, whose swarthy looks make him look like a pornographer.
10:01 - 9/11 remembrance was good idea for opening- trying to prove Republicans do not have a monopoly on patriotism. Fox does not cover.
10:09 - Susan Estrich now on Fox. Click! If you can listen to that voice without looking for the remote control with a desperation worthy of a life and death struggle, I salute you.
10:10 - Juan Williams- No Click! I always feel bad for Juan becuase he is all alone up there a lot on Brit Hume. Interesting guy though, I miss him as part of the Washington Post.
10:15 - Douglas Brinkley - Click! He took a break from trying to invent fire to appear on Hardball. What a Neanderthal.
10:20 - Here comes Hillary. She has a very tough hill to climb here, make her own speech (Senator) versus just introduce her husband with adoring gaze (wife). Soft yellow suit says wife. She is speaking to the hall, not to TV, it seems. Her voice is very monotone sometimes, seems just short of too strident. She went went through the hell that was the 9/11 site the day after. She should have teared up and gone through the emotional journey up there that we all went through- horror, tears, resolve (Senator). She said "I know a thing or two about healthcare." You're right, and I do too. Here goes. The too-early focus on, and failure of, the Hillary designed health plan was the worst domestic policy failure in the Clinton administration. I would argue this was one of the main factors which cost the Democratic party control of the House for the first time in over 40 years, when the Republicans won huge victories in the 1994 mid-term elections. Hillary- you are smart and able, but health care was a huge screw up- don't remind us.
By most accounts, Hillary has been a good and serious Senator for the people of New York and I have been very impressed by her in interviews. However, she did not do herself any favors tonight. Also, never seemed to smile.
10:33 - Clinton is resplendant in a black suit and sky blue tie. I have Clinton nostalgia which I did not think was possible. Also, whatever weight Gore gained must have come from Clinton who looks great.
11:00 - MSNBC just interviewed someone in the Ohio delagtion who said "God, he's good." What is funny about that is I said that many times on my Ohio couch. Clinton was simply amazing. He is the best speaker of his generation byfar, swaying the crowd with an almost preacher-like flair. Letting the crowd join in with "Send me" and more perfect union. I thought he was alittle slow out of the gate, but eventually took the hall and anyone listening over. The Vietnam part about Bush, Cheney, and himself avoiding service was brilliant. Shouldn't it bother Republicans who run on "character" that one guy wentto Vietnam, served honorably and came back with 5 medals and one guy cannot account for his whereabouts? Bush's payroll records for the lastyear of Guard service have been blacked out, lost, said to be destroyed("clerical error"), found, released and buried as a Friday night story (how Clintonian) and show him not being paid for the time he was there. That really pisses me off. This is one example of where Bush does, in fact, lie. He says he was there- the payroll shows he was not paid, noone (literally not one person) saw him there, and the records get fudged. That, to me, is a Clintonesque draft-dodger problem.
Whether you agree with Clinton or not, his speech was incredible (although youwere probably not standing and applauding at home as I was). Also, if not prohibited, he would be running right now to make it 4 in '04 and winning handily. His job approval rating was always in the 60s when he left, and now his personal ratings have increased as well. Time heals all I guess, and he has been a good ex-president in the sense of working on issues that all can agree with (WWII memorial with Dole, AIDS in Africa, et cetera). Boy he's a good speaker.
11:12 - All around great reviews for Clinton- even Fox loved speech. Bill Kristol looks frankly scared by how well he made the case for Kerry and against Bush. Pat Buchanan says it was "amazing." Chris Wallace says "He sure is good."
Downstairs to laundry and then some sleep. Back up soon.
1:00 - Really enjoying MSNBC's "After Hours" show particularly cool lounge music. Howard Luntz looks like little 13-year old michevious elf. Like Harry Potter only with focus groups and poll results. Ron Reagan and Joe Scarborough are having fun and good contrast to each other.
1:05 - Carlos Watson- always is compelling and intersting. Plus, does anyone wear nicer suits than him? He looks awesome.
1:29 - Ron Reagan is interviewing Mick "Cactus Jack" Foley and Nina "Ivory" Moretti from the WWE's "Smackdown the Vote". I clearly have either been up too late or I actually am still asleep and dreaming about a paralell universe where this would go on.
Bedtime.
8:04 - National Anthem as performed by Bebe Winans was amazing. Covered live by CNN and MSNBC but not by the most "patriotic" network- Fox.
8:20 - Al Gore comes out to speak- should be interesting to see how he handles everything. Al Gore now speaking live on CNN and MSNBC- meanwhile Fox's Bill O'Reilly is promoting an upcoming interview with Joan Jett (best known for early 80s hit "I Love Rock and Roll" as performed with backing band "the Blackhearts"). Gore uses humor to acknowledge what happened in 2000 "But you know the old saying -- you win some, you lose some. And then there's that little-known third category. I didn't come here tonight to talk about the past. After all, I don't want you to think I lie awake at night counting and recounting sheep. I prefer to focus on the future because I know from my own experience that America is a land of opportunity, where every little boy and girl has a chance to grow up and win the popular vote."
Laughter ensues- he is of course kidding, but kidding on the square. When he says, "take it from me, every vote counts" he really means it. Gore did himself some good tonight- he did not seem bitter and he gave a good performance- good for him, that is. He took on the Nader voters last night as well who really cost him. Chris Suellentrop wrote an interesting column on Slate discussing both Clintons and Gore and that they were all "beloved" by certain parts of the party. Does anyone outside of friends and family "love" Al Gore?
You have to wonder why his humor and brightness did not shine through more in the last campaign. The man we saw on Saturday Night Live and the man speaking last night ofwould have been elected last time. The guy screaming in the past few months would not be. After years in the senate, 8 years as VP, and a presidential campaign, I still don't know who Al Gore really is. Does he?
8:25 - On MSNBC - Why does Pat Buchanan make so much sense to listen to and have so much good insight and yet be such a nut?
8:26 - Donna Brazile - click! You lost last time, ran a bad campaign, and you're boring- go away.
8:27 - Nancy Pelosi - click! Stop whining...also you kind of always look like you're going to cry.
8:39 - Ralph Nader on Bill O'Reilly. Nader still cannot tie a tie. His eyes are still different sizes. He still looks like he gets his suits off a rack at a discount store. Also, he is responsible for Bush's victory. If you are going to vote for him, do us all a favor and go kill yourself before November.
8:40 - Jennifer Granholm on CNN. She is the new Democratic governor of Michigan. Boy she's good, smart, funny, and charming. They should use her more...kind of reminds one of Hillary but without the baggage and the rough edges Hillary has.
8:43 - O'Reilly is all over Nader for Nader assertation of needing only a police action in Afganistan to capture Taliban and bin Laden. Apperently Nader did not see newscasts on September 11th. His eyes are very distracting.
8:45 - CNN is covering blogs and bloggers.
8:46 - Nader should wear an eyepatch like a pirate- "Aargh! I'm almost on the ballots!" Go away.
8:50 - O'Reilly is now interviewing Joan Jett who is inexplicably at convention. Apperently Toni "Hey Mickey" Basil and Cyndi "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" Lauper were unavailable for comment.
8:52 - CNN runs Clinton retrospective- pretty fair, I think.
8:57 - I unloaded my dishwasher- story ignored by all three networks.
8:59 - I used the restroom - also unreported.
9:01 - Jimmy Carter is out speaking now, and he looks and sounds...old! Don't we all agree (Martin Sheen notwithstanding) about Jimmy Carter? What a nice guy, what a great ex-president, what a failed presidency. He seems now like a kindly old major in Georgia. He was president- wow. Seems like too nice and genuine a guy.
9:02 - Telemarketing survey call.
9:07 - Wow, all of a sudden Carter is the velvet hammer! The way he is beating up on Bush in that kindly, genteel way. "But in just 34 months, we have watched with deep concern as all this goodwill has been squandered by a virtually unbroken series of mistakes and miscalculations. Unilateral acts and demands have isolated the United States from the very nations we need to join us in combating terrorism." I think, personally, this is by far the greatest failure of George W. Bush, and probably the biggest mistake we have made in global politics in my lifetime. If we are fighting, as the president often says, a "global war against terrorism" how does it help to piss off the other countries on the globe? The American people would have followed him almost anywhere and were so willing so sacrafice. I was asked by my president to do nothing more than travel and go shopping. The rich were asked only to cash their tax break checks. I don't get it.
9:13 - "We cannot lead, if our leaders mislead." Maybe he got part of Gore's speech by mistake or something. Or maybe Jimmy Carter is pretty fiesty for an 80-year-old. He has nothing on my grandma though...
9:18 - Kerry's daughters on CNN. Funny, they are kind of similar to the Bush daughters in that the blonde is not quite proportional, but the dark-haired one is really hot. The blonde one kind of looks like a female John Kerry, which is kind of unfortunate.
9:20 - Alexandra Kerry is still yummy. Maybe I am just biased towards dark-haired girls these days?
9:22 - Bob Graham - click! What a weirdo!
9:23 - On Fox, Sean Hannity is trying to interview Rahm Emmanuel but they are having technical problems and Rahm cannot hear him down on the floor. As an aside, why does Fox seem to have so many techical screwups- wrong graphics, picture problems, et cetera. It's weird, they have people live from Fallujah and it seems like they're in room next door, but Sean is lost just below. Whenever CNN has someone abroad it seems like they are hooked by via sattelite technology no more sofisticated than Al Franken with that dish on his head on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update." I wonder if Nic Robertson is really so blurry in person, because they have those wierd videophones.
9:26 - CNN still interviewing the Kerry daughters- okay, already. Fox now has Dean who said we "fought war for nothing." Dean is such an interesting character- always wonder what he is going to say. Willie Brown on MSNBC panel just said Jimmy Carter is like a Mother Teresa in Georgia. What is he talking about?
9:31 - I am riveted to Fox now by guest Jerry Springer. "I'm a liberal here I stand." He came just short of announcing his candicacy for Ohio governor in 2006. His comparison of this election to 1980 was the best analysis so far of the night. More on this in a seperate post (Chris Suellentrop made a similar point in Slate yesterday).
9:40 - George Mitchell - Click! He never ran for president, but it would have been interesting to see if someone can be elected president with the personality of my pen. I vote no.
9:58 - Sean Hannity just lied again about Howard Dean saying President Bush knew about 9/11. Alan corrected him for the umpteenth time. Sean has said this again and again, and he knows it is not true. I pounded my table and said out loud "There he goes again with that crap!" upsetting Mickey Mantle bobblehead doll, which began nodding frantically. Does Hannity lie? The Mick says "Yes."
10:00 - Tim Russert of NBC always looks like he needs a haircut. Of course he has nothing on Joe Trippi, whose swarthy looks make him look like a pornographer.
10:01 - 9/11 remembrance was good idea for opening- trying to prove Republicans do not have a monopoly on patriotism. Fox does not cover.
10:09 - Susan Estrich now on Fox. Click! If you can listen to that voice without looking for the remote control with a desperation worthy of a life and death struggle, I salute you.
10:10 - Juan Williams- No Click! I always feel bad for Juan becuase he is all alone up there a lot on Brit Hume. Interesting guy though, I miss him as part of the Washington Post.
10:15 - Douglas Brinkley - Click! He took a break from trying to invent fire to appear on Hardball. What a Neanderthal.
10:20 - Here comes Hillary. She has a very tough hill to climb here, make her own speech (Senator) versus just introduce her husband with adoring gaze (wife). Soft yellow suit says wife. She is speaking to the hall, not to TV, it seems. Her voice is very monotone sometimes, seems just short of too strident. She went went through the hell that was the 9/11 site the day after. She should have teared up and gone through the emotional journey up there that we all went through- horror, tears, resolve (Senator). She said "I know a thing or two about healthcare." You're right, and I do too. Here goes. The too-early focus on, and failure of, the Hillary designed health plan was the worst domestic policy failure in the Clinton administration. I would argue this was one of the main factors which cost the Democratic party control of the House for the first time in over 40 years, when the Republicans won huge victories in the 1994 mid-term elections. Hillary- you are smart and able, but health care was a huge screw up- don't remind us.
By most accounts, Hillary has been a good and serious Senator for the people of New York and I have been very impressed by her in interviews. However, she did not do herself any favors tonight. Also, never seemed to smile.
10:33 - Clinton is resplendant in a black suit and sky blue tie. I have Clinton nostalgia which I did not think was possible. Also, whatever weight Gore gained must have come from Clinton who looks great.
11:00 - MSNBC just interviewed someone in the Ohio delagtion who said "God, he's good." What is funny about that is I said that many times on my Ohio couch. Clinton was simply amazing. He is the best speaker of his generation byfar, swaying the crowd with an almost preacher-like flair. Letting the crowd join in with "Send me" and more perfect union. I thought he was alittle slow out of the gate, but eventually took the hall and anyone listening over. The Vietnam part about Bush, Cheney, and himself avoiding service was brilliant. Shouldn't it bother Republicans who run on "character" that one guy wentto Vietnam, served honorably and came back with 5 medals and one guy cannot account for his whereabouts? Bush's payroll records for the lastyear of Guard service have been blacked out, lost, said to be destroyed("clerical error"), found, released and buried as a Friday night story (how Clintonian) and show him not being paid for the time he was there. That really pisses me off. This is one example of where Bush does, in fact, lie. He says he was there- the payroll shows he was not paid, noone (literally not one person) saw him there, and the records get fudged. That, to me, is a Clintonesque draft-dodger problem.
Whether you agree with Clinton or not, his speech was incredible (although youwere probably not standing and applauding at home as I was). Also, if not prohibited, he would be running right now to make it 4 in '04 and winning handily. His job approval rating was always in the 60s when he left, and now his personal ratings have increased as well. Time heals all I guess, and he has been a good ex-president in the sense of working on issues that all can agree with (WWII memorial with Dole, AIDS in Africa, et cetera). Boy he's a good speaker.
11:12 - All around great reviews for Clinton- even Fox loved speech. Bill Kristol looks frankly scared by how well he made the case for Kerry and against Bush. Pat Buchanan says it was "amazing." Chris Wallace says "He sure is good."
Downstairs to laundry and then some sleep. Back up soon.
1:00 - Really enjoying MSNBC's "After Hours" show particularly cool lounge music. Howard Luntz looks like little 13-year old michevious elf. Like Harry Potter only with focus groups and poll results. Ron Reagan and Joe Scarborough are having fun and good contrast to each other.
1:05 - Carlos Watson- always is compelling and intersting. Plus, does anyone wear nicer suits than him? He looks awesome.
1:29 - Ron Reagan is interviewing Mick "Cactus Jack" Foley and Nina "Ivory" Moretti from the WWE's "Smackdown the Vote". I clearly have either been up too late or I actually am still asleep and dreaming about a paralell universe where this would go on.
Bedtime.
posted by Scott L. Stuart at
6:31 PM
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