36 replies to this topic

[gohornedfrogs]

Let's just leave white middle aged males out of this. They are not the persuadable audience. They are in the Republican pocket.

If you were nominated on the Democratic ticket, you would vote against yourself.

I assume you are voting for Romney, then, being a white middle-aged male and all?

I didn't expect you to get the point, but it's obvious that Obama is no more "connected" to the average person than any Republican. It's an absurd metric, anyway. I don't want the person who installs sump pumps making decisions on the economy or engaging with diplomats from abroad.

[pcf]

Sounds like we don't have to worry about what's happening to Kelly Preston either...

You'd think Travolta could get some gay action somewhere. Maybe he needs to dress like a woman again.

[RSF]

Sounds like we don't have to worry about what's happening to Kelly Preston either...

Somehow I get the feeling that David Crosby really gets around......

[Duquesne Frog]

Every time I see him, I think of this

Now imagine that having sex with Mary Matalin. Now you see what I go though ...

[pcf]

I assume you are voting for Romney, then, being a white middle-aged male and all?

I didn't expect you to get the point, but it's obvious that Obama is no more "connected" to the average person than any Republican. It's an absurd metric, anyway. I don't want the person who installs sump pumps making decisions on the economy or engaging with diplomats from abroad.

That was my point. Neither of them are easily connected to. It is an advantage for neither.

One thing Obama has going for him in connectability is that he wasn't the son of a wealthy Governor from a religious sect that keeps him separated behind a wall of secrecy.

As Bill Maher says, Catholics put their crazy right out front. We don't hide anything doctrinally. The Mormons tend to put out public ads of how normal their religion is and keep the weirdness out of the conversation.

In some ways, Mitt Romney seems like a closeted gay. I'm not saying he's gay. There's something about Romney that tries to hard to fit an image that he has conjured in his head that would be popular. He doesn't seem real in his opinions or comfortable in his own skin. It is like he keeps screaming to himself in his own head, "Act normal! Tell them what they want to hear! Don't screw this up! Ward Cleaver it up!"

[RSF]

I assume you are voting for Romney, then, being a white middle-aged male and all?

I didn't expect you to get the point, but it's obvious that Obama is no more "connected" to the average person than any Republican. It's an absurd metric, anyway. I don't want the person who installs sump pumps making decisions on the economy or engaging with diplomats from abroad.

So you didn't vote for Joe The Plumber?

[gohornedfrogs]

So you didn't vote for Joe The Plumber?

We all witnessed his diplomacy skills.

[NewfoundlandFrog]

So you didn't vote for Joe The Plumber?

Or his girlfriend Sarah?

[The Uniballer]

I assume you are voting for Romney, then, being a white middle-aged male and all? I didn't expect you to get the point, but it's obvious that Obama is no more "connected" to the average person than any Republican. It's an absurd metric, anyway. I don't want the person who installs sump pumps making decisions on the economy or engaging with diplomats from abroad.

I don't think he means you have to be one of them to be connected to them. I think he means that you have to talk about the stuff that is important to people, show an understanding of their situation, and have a plan to improve their lives. I agree with Carville -- Obama and the Democrats aren't doing a very good job of it. I don't think the Republicans are either. I do think whichever side is able to connect will win.

[NewfoundlandFrog]

I don't think he means you have to be one of them to be connected to them. I think he means that you have to talk about the stuff that is important to people, show an understanding of their situation, and have a plan to improve their lives. I agree with Carville -- Obama and the Democrats aren't doing a very good job of it. I don't think the Republicans are either. I do think whichever side is able to connect will win.

"Trying to connect" and running 80%+ negative ads seem a bit contradictory. I see precious little "connection" going on anywhere in the system.

[KillerFrog InD KitchenSink]

To me the political definition of "connect" simply means recognizing which messages work and which don't. We've all seen candidates who "misread" the voter tea leaves, while others seem to have that knack of saying the right thing in the right way (in my mind Reagan and Clinton were among the best in that regard). Connect doesn't mean "having the same experiences as" voters.

[Duquesne Frog]

To me the political definition of "connect" simply means recognizing which messages work and which don't. We've all seen candidates who "misread" the voter tea leaves, while others seem to have that knack of saying the right thing in the right way (in my mind Reagan and Clinton were among the best in that regard). Connect doesn't mean "having the same experiences as" voters.

Sort of the distinction between having empathy vs. sympathy. You want politicians to have sympathy for the plight of the common man without necessarily the empathy of having gone through it.

I personally have never understood the appeal of the populist "common man" national politician for two reasons 1) most of the time their "common man" status is a fabrication (as go deftly points out above) and 2) I want our national leaders to be exceptional, out on the far right tail of the bell curve, not in here near the mean with the rest of us schmucks (sidebar, I learned a few days ago that schmuck is Yiddish for penis ... didn't know that).

So in that vein, I don't really care whether a presidential candidate "gets" me. I hope he/she is far smarter, capable, and deft than I am. If he/she has never spent a day as an adult slogging it out in the middle class, that's fine, so long as they are able to sympathize with how their decisions do ultimately affect me (and others).

[NewfoundlandFrog]

... I learned a few days ago that schmuck is Yiddish for penis ... didn't know that).

...

Well, if you were only a bit farther out to the right on the bell curve, you might have. Vocab is the single best predictor of full scale IQ.

[gohornedfrogs]

My remarks are usually labeled as daft, rather than deft, Duq.

[HFrog71]

Carville on vacation...

[oldscribe]

I assume you are voting for Romney, then, being a white middle-aged male and all?

I didn't expect you to get the point, but it's obvious that Obama is no more "connected" to the average person than any Republican. It's an absurd metric, anyway. I don't want the person who installs sump pumps making decisions on the economy or engaging with diplomats from abroad.

Basically I agree.....but, on the other hand, it's been a while since we tried a sump pump installer, and maybe it would work.....maybe we can find a sump pump guy who also has diplomatic experience...

[gohornedfrogs]

Basically I agree.....but, on the other hand, it's been a while since we tried a sump pump installer, and maybe it would work.....maybe we can find a sump pump guy who also has diplomatic experience...

The sump pump guy is probably a lot cleaner.