Saturday, April 19, 2008
Observations on Carville-Matalin
Some random thoughts on seeing James Carville and Mary Matalin last night:
1. I was surprised at the lack of young people in the audience. This was at Brenau University, and the tickets for students were free. I could count on one hand the number of students there, yet the auditorium was packed. Either young people aren't as involved politicially as I would hope/expect, or Carville and Matalin just don't resonate with the young (which is possible).
2. I was there with my dad, my step-mother, and my wife. Pretty scary when you consider the "baby" of the group was me (age 43).
3. I finally figured out the mystery of their marriage. They aren't ideologues. Sure they tease each other mercilessly about ideology, but they don't take it seriously. For them, it is all about political strategy, and they mutually respect each other's abilities in that area. They just happen to work for opposing sides.
4. They made some VERY good points about our current election, specifically about how we have never had one like it. Matalin said that McCain's early leadership followed by his slump, allowed his campaign to regroup. Carville correctly pointed out that the last election which did NOT involve a sitting president or vice president was in 1928 (President Coolidge chose not to run for re-election, and Vice President Charles Dawes did not run). We are in new territory for political strategists.
5. Carville talked about his test for the best vice presidential choice: It makes the opposing campaign manager "throw up". He suggested the best choice for McCain would be Colin Powell. Ironically, both my dad and I had the same thought at this: Why not Condi Rice? Later it occurred to me that Rice is too closely associated with the Bush administration, and an opposing campaign manager might salivate at that choice.
|
1. I was surprised at the lack of young people in the audience. This was at Brenau University, and the tickets for students were free. I could count on one hand the number of students there, yet the auditorium was packed. Either young people aren't as involved politicially as I would hope/expect, or Carville and Matalin just don't resonate with the young (which is possible).
2. I was there with my dad, my step-mother, and my wife. Pretty scary when you consider the "baby" of the group was me (age 43).
3. I finally figured out the mystery of their marriage. They aren't ideologues. Sure they tease each other mercilessly about ideology, but they don't take it seriously. For them, it is all about political strategy, and they mutually respect each other's abilities in that area. They just happen to work for opposing sides.
4. They made some VERY good points about our current election, specifically about how we have never had one like it. Matalin said that McCain's early leadership followed by his slump, allowed his campaign to regroup. Carville correctly pointed out that the last election which did NOT involve a sitting president or vice president was in 1928 (President Coolidge chose not to run for re-election, and Vice President Charles Dawes did not run). We are in new territory for political strategists.
5. Carville talked about his test for the best vice presidential choice: It makes the opposing campaign manager "throw up". He suggested the best choice for McCain would be Colin Powell. Ironically, both my dad and I had the same thought at this: Why not Condi Rice? Later it occurred to me that Rice is too closely associated with the Bush administration, and an opposing campaign manager might salivate at that choice.
Labels: James Carville, Mary Matalin
Friday, April 18, 2008
Looking at politics from both sides
I will get a political treat tonight when I will be seeing James Carville and Mary Matalin appearing together over at Brenau University.
Some of the luster has been taken off their political shine by their support of losing candidates this year (Matalin supported Fred Thompson and Carville supported Hillary Clinton's slowly dying campaign), but it should still be interesting.
When I have seen them interviewed in the past, I found them both very partisan to an extreme, although I hope to gain some insight into the concept of partisanship by listening to them. Specifically, is it possible to find a middle ground without giving up your political beliefs?
That is the political anomaly of the Carville-Matalin marriage.
|
Some of the luster has been taken off their political shine by their support of losing candidates this year (Matalin supported Fred Thompson and Carville supported Hillary Clinton's slowly dying campaign), but it should still be interesting.
When I have seen them interviewed in the past, I found them both very partisan to an extreme, although I hope to gain some insight into the concept of partisanship by listening to them. Specifically, is it possible to find a middle ground without giving up your political beliefs?
That is the political anomaly of the Carville-Matalin marriage.
Labels: James Carville, Mary Matalin
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
"Everyday Normal"...Politician
Pardon the cynicism that occasionally seeps into my viewpoint after having spent about ten years in Washington. However, it's hard to ignore it after seeing Fred Thompson adviser Mary Matalin's performance on Meet The Press this past Sunday.
Matalin used variations of the word "normal" (or phrase "normal person") no less than seven times while responding to various Russert questions on the issues of the moment.
Then it occurred to me: Each campaign tries to sum up its particular effort in one or two words. For Hillary Rodham Clinton, it's "experience"; for Barack Obama, it's "change"; for Rudy Giuliani, it's "security"; Mitt Romney can probably be assessed as "competence."
Oh, of course! "Normal" must be the Thompson campaign's "brand" for its big unveiling this week. He wants to be the "everyday normal" candidate.:
In response to Shrum's charge that she was hardly the "average" voter, Matalin said she was doing "school orientation" like a "normal" mom, while the guys on MTP were focusing on politics. Right. It's pretty obvious that Mary was collecting her talking points on how to make sure the right code word was pushed into the ether as actor-politician Thompson unveils his new fall "series": The plot is about a "normal" guy who -- after a few years as an actor playing a district attorney -- decides to run for president. And, yes, like most "normal" actors who run for office, he makes his announcement on a late-night talk show.
And they wonder why we all get so cynical?
|
Matalin used variations of the word "normal" (or phrase "normal person") no less than seven times while responding to various Russert questions on the issues of the moment.
Normal people, when the husband cheats on the wife, the wife does not consider the politics before she gives a response on this. Normal people out there did just what James just referenced, they looked at Mrs. Craig, and I remember looking at Lee Hart and through the years this—these poor suffering families. The first thing normal people thinks are—think are, “What? Is—this is a family tragedy.” The second thing they think is, “Why is everybody in Washington glued to this? And can’t—and don’t you guys have something better to do?” And thirdly, I didn’t listen to the tape, I didn’t watch any of this, but the people that I talked to are not particularly Craig fans, or critics, said, “That sounds like entrapment. Don’t the cops have better things to do than tap dance in bathrooms in the airport?” I’m just telling you the normal person view at the end of all...I thought it a litle odd: Mary Matalin -- "Miss Normal"? I mean, she was an RNC chief of staff, campaign manager for Bush I's re-election, special adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney -- and married to James Carville (with whom she shared the MTP set on Sunday). Oh, yeah, she's "normal." Indeed, Bob Shrum even called her on it: "Mary, I love you, but you are not actually the ideal spokesman for the average person in America."
Then it occurred to me: Each campaign tries to sum up its particular effort in one or two words. For Hillary Rodham Clinton, it's "experience"; for Barack Obama, it's "change"; for Rudy Giuliani, it's "security"; Mitt Romney can probably be assessed as "competence."
Oh, of course! "Normal" must be the Thompson campaign's "brand" for its big unveiling this week. He wants to be the "everyday normal" candidate.:
Thompson will announce his White House bid Wednesday night on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” after skipping a Republican debate in New Hampshire."Everyday normal," eh?
“There have been a million debates already and there are going to be a million more,” Harris said. “And people are going to see Fred Thompson out there, mixing it up with the other candidates, mixing it up with the media, engaging the voters. They are going to see months and months and months of that.”
In the meantime, Harris said, “it makes a lot of sense” for Thompson to appear on the Leno show instead of the GOP debate because the candidate will reach “everyday normal Americans who don’t live in the 202 area code.” [Emphasis added.]
In response to Shrum's charge that she was hardly the "average" voter, Matalin said she was doing "school orientation" like a "normal" mom, while the guys on MTP were focusing on politics. Right. It's pretty obvious that Mary was collecting her talking points on how to make sure the right code word was pushed into the ether as actor-politician Thompson unveils his new fall "series": The plot is about a "normal" guy who -- after a few years as an actor playing a district attorney -- decides to run for president. And, yes, like most "normal" actors who run for office, he makes his announcement on a late-night talk show.
And they wonder why we all get so cynical?
Labels: Fred Thompson, GOP 2008 President, Mary Matalin, Republicans
