You already know that I don't think the shoving incident is a big deal. I also think the slanting in this
But Coakley's "stalking" theme is lame... or it would be lame if it weren't devious. "Stalking" is a word that I think is deliberately chosen to signal that the man — here, Scott Brown — is dangerous to women.
Or, I should say that it's devious and lame, because it's unlikely to have the desired effect of getting voters to rally around the threatened woman. A politician needs to be strong and not easily pushed back. It's one thing to champion the weak — taking violence against women seriously, for example. But the champion of the weak can't herself be weak.
Since there is no real stalking — if there is, show me the evidence — all Coakley is doing is displaying that she can be intimidated, and what sort of representative will she be? She'll be what her opponents say she is: "a sock puppet for Harry Reid and the Democrats." Now, for voters who above all else want to preserve the 60th vote for healthcare, that's just fine. But those are the voters Coakley already has a lock on (though they may be too uninspired to vote).
I doubt if the more independent voters will feel like rushing to protect her from those (phantom) stalkers. Even if their protective instinct is stirred, there's no reason to put a fragile flower in the Senate.
ADDED: Here's a closeup detail from the photograph of Coakley looking on just after McCormack goes down:
It's not fair to judge an individual by one photograph, but this is what the voters are seeing as she frets about "stalking." Another thing that's not fair is the way Scott Brown looks.
AND: Thanks to lucid in the comments for pointing out that it's not Fox News. It's a local news show on Fox.
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56 comments:
Fox news slanted? NO!!! Say it isn't so!!!!!!
vicki from Pasasdena
Rarely has a politician had such a tone deaf response to a campaign, as Martha Coakley has had. She says things which would bury anyone else who wasn't running for a rotten borough like the "Kennedy seat".
Moreover, it seems she has a mild case of agoraphobia.
She's either complaining that people "stalk" her, or about having to stand out in the cold gladhanding the Fenway crowd.
Coakley. Does. Not. Feel. Comfortable. Around. Folks.
A deadening quality to have for a politician, even an aristocratic one like Senator.
Cheers,
Victoria
Does she complain about being "stalked" by the media? She is running for office. Being "stalked", even if by annoying opponents and their minions is par for the course.
Get used to it or quit! Maybe she can go back to stalking and harassing garden clubs.
I had the same reaction to the use of "stalking". Poor, delicate little Attorney General. Protect me from these dangerous reporters! (I thought she was calling the reporters stalkers, since it was a reporter that got knocked down.)
"Stalking"...a very strange choice of words for a former prosecutor.
Isn't "stalking" a crime in her state? Doesn't she have an obligation to report it to the authorities?
Or is it not "stalking stalking", and just "stalking"?
And this is rather lame from Joan Venocchi (typical extrememe Globe lib)
Lame Venocchi Column
WV: deepho. Nightwalker with PHd
Coakley will win since the D/R ratio is 3 to 1. But, if you were trying to lose you would run your campaign the same way as Coakley. The Democrats are in huge trouble when a Massachusetts senate election is competitive let alone too close to call.
You know, a week ago, I gave Brown zero chance of winning. None. But now that I've seen just what sort of idiot the Democrats have nominated, I'm going to have to revise that to slim-to-none. (He'd have to win by at least a full percent to overcome the Democrat's penchant for recounts that always seem to fall their way).
"Who are these impudent scoundrels asking questions of me?!"
"They're reporters, ma'am."
"Reporters?! And to whom do they report?"
"The people, ma'am."
"The people? Really? How droll."
Pastafarian wrote:
Doesn't she have an obligation to report it to the authorities?
Are you kidding? She didn't even report a drive-by-shoving.
You know, Peter, Palin complained about the same thing and all she got from "Fix" (Fox) was sympathy.
Vicki from Pasadena
"Shake their hands?!"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You can't be serious."
"It's the standard thing, ma'am."
"You mean, I am to touch them?!"
"Yes, the candidates are generally expected to shake the hands of the people they meet at an event."
"God, save me from this prole hell!"
"..."
"..."
"No, ma'am. I don't think the surgical gloves will go over..."
"The people? Really? How droll."
MAGNIFICENT, Freeman.
I think Coakley has run an awful campaign and don't care for her much.
Scott Brown is a liar. He said this week he never heard of the "tea party movement". How does that make the tea party people feel?
Even though he has spoken at several tea party events.
He also pretends he is something he is not. Some truck driving every man-who is a lawyer, owns 5 homes and is married to someone who, gasp, works for the press.
Coakley by 8-10.
Here's a closeup detail from the photograph of Coakley looking on just after McCormack goes down:
Don't she look like Angela Merkel from the side, dough?
Let's see...she's an idiot, FOX reported it and he drives a pickup and owns rental property...sounds like a good enough reason to elect the dem...worked out pretty well on that obama thing didn't it...
And unfortunately it is how lots of voters select their representatives...shame
Who would vote for this woman? What a wet noodle.
The Democratic Party was as adept at picking their candidate as the Republican Party was for the upstate NY House seat a couple months back.
Well, Titus, when Coakley wins and they pass cap-and-tax and cardcheck, I'll know who to thank when we shutter our small business.
But at least you didn't vote for someone who -- gasp -- pretends to be an "every-man" while running for public office. Bully for you, Titus.
Yes, very Merkel.
I don't get it. What's wrong with how she looks?
Sure, Brown is handsome, but why do people care? He's not running for America's Sexiest Man; he's running for a Senate seat.
Looks matter in whether you get elected, Freeman. If they didn't, we might have President Fred Thompson right now, instead of a man with a 6-pack who looks slick in a tux and had 2 years experience in national office.
The new thing I percieve coming out of this race is that the decades long entitlement to office and to a favoritism that crushes opponents may be over. In the early Coakley career she easily used the assumption of evil Male Molesters were among day care providers and crushed many innocent men and women. In DC the Dems club that she belongs to, have easily have used the assumption of all conservatives as Dumb and uneducated men that despise free women, and crushed many innocent ones. Then along comes Scot Brown and he is not so easily categorised as an enemy of women and education. Lets see how far that she and the Dems will go to crush this innocent man. Accusing him of being a Republican, and a Palin supported Republican at that, has finally turned into accusing him of being a man that stalks women, and also that after the women are raped he even refuses them medical care kits to save them. Will that still work for electing an incompetant hack today?
You know, Peter, Palin complained about the same thing and all she got from "Fix" (Fox) was sympathy.
Really? Please provide a link where Sarah Palin indicated that people were 'stalking' her.
I don't get it. What's wrong with how she looks?
Dude, she's the whitest woman in America. She's Hillary Clinton's kid sister: all insipid blonde highlights and Sissy Spacek blue eyes.
She's not ugly though. At least not Helen Thomas ugly.
Besides, Freeman, you know the answer to your question. Wanting your leaders to be easy on the eyes, is an illogical impulse as old as man.
It has to do with being worthier than regular folks, to lead, as if the hand of God personally sculpted them. It makes being ruled over more tolerable. And also, looks are a window to your character. Ugly is as ugly looks. Sayeth the cavewoman.
Coakley needn't worry.
Her future colleague by name of Al Franken will drive up on election eve and hand over enough ballots from his trunk to provide the winning margin of 237 votes.
From now on, every Democratic Senator will have SEIU thugs protect them from unfriendly questions (i.e stalking).
"Look at me, look at me!"
"Stop looking at me!"
(All said in the tone of a four year old.)
Say what you will about Teddy Kennedy - at least he had the common touch and enjoyed spending time with working people.
Well, waitresses, anyway.
I remember the stalking charge being used wit regard to male candidates.
Here's one example.
DBQ, Palin's spokesperson accused a couple of reporters of stalking her.
Details.
This woman is a real lightweight. She is also a liar.
Jason said...
Say what you will about Teddy Kennedy - at least he had the common touch and enjoyed spending time with working people.
Well, waitresses, anyway.
Teddy may have been a world-class hypocrite in not practicing what he preached (busing, AA, no people with guns in their homes or vehicles (his bodyguards), helping a person in need come up for air).......
But, he truly did have a touch with people.
He always led the list of the Republican and Democrat Hill staffers as the nicest Senator, while Arlen Spector was rated the most unpleasant.
Aside from poor Mary Jo, his thoughtfulness to people he knew and their families and to constituents in dire situations was famous.
The guy may have left America a poorer place for what he did as a Senator, but he left with a lot of friends - many Republicans - and a well-deserved reputation for his considerable people skills and legislative talents.
Coakley is no Teddy Kennedy.
But then too, none of the Kennedy spawn remotely measured up to what Joe, Joe Jr,, JFK, Eunice, RFK, Kathleen, and Teddy did with their lives.
i agree that the slanting is embarrassing, but i don't see fox's name on the piece. what am i missing? or is this just the local fox broadcast station, not cable? in any case, i am sure the republicans will be offensive in may ways as they regain power. but i am fundamentally a democratic centrist, so iam voting for every reupublican on the ballot until this out-of-control democratic swing to statism and the left is destroyed.
i do think coakley sounds more and more outclassed and overmatched, not equal to unfolding events. she does look weak. and she talks like a weaslely politician more than brown does.
It's not fair to judge an individual by one photograph, but...
That is what Althouse does almost on a daily basis--so long as the photograph involves a Democrat.
Doesn't make any difference. If ACORN and WFP do their jobs, she'll get in. This is too important to be left in the hands of mere voters. She can be the biggest, dumbest hack in MA; but she'll still provide that reliable Democrat vote.
What I see in the photograph is weakness and confusion. I'm not criticizing her looks, just noting that she looks ineffectual there, and it resonates with the ineffectuality in her "stalking" statement.
As for Brown, as I keep saying, he's getting some portion of his support from his good looks. That's mostly luck, having nothing to do with whether he'd be a great Senator.
That said, it's not all luck. His good looks are partly a reflection of his character and his attitude.
When Dodd announced his retirement, Althouse made hay as if this was doom for the Democrats. Guess what? Today's story will never be mentioned here:
Poll: Blumenthal ahead in Conn. Senate race
The Associated Press
Thursday, January 14, 2010; 8:25 AM
HAMDEN, Conn. -- A new Quinnipiac University Poll shows Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal holding a hefty lead over his three Republican rivals for the U.S. Senate.
But Coakley's "stalking" theme is lame... or it would be lame if it weren't devious.
Thank you for bringing this up.
Apparently Assemblywoman DeDe Scuzzyface called the cops on this same reporter, because she didn't like his questions either.
If this reporter is really acting like a "stalker", and not just doing his job, which is to follow people and ask probing questions, why doesn't Coakley, an Attorney General, build a case against him? Like you say, the claim is BS, but something these ladies feel they can get leverage with.
I can see it now... legislation will be introduced to ban reporters from approaching public officials, because the ladies are afraid.
Pathetic.
He always led the list of the Republican and Democrat Hill staffers as the nicest Senator
I can understand that. Some of the nicest folks in the world are alcoholic womanizers.
See, this is what I was getting at by asking about the shoving incident.
It might be a non-incident, but say so. How does an attorney draw a conclusion from what they witness?
How does a politician spin it?
A couple separate questions, but both are interesting for us to make a decision.
DBQ, Palin's spokesperson accused a couple of reporters of stalking her.
Details.
OK. Good enough.
Actually reporters are getting really pushy. I hate it when Fox or O'Reilly has their obnoxious reporter ambushing some judge or other person. Maybe the judge deserves to be questioned and we deserve answers, but no one should be ambushed and badgered.
His good looks are partly a reflection of his character and his attitude.
That's a good point. Imagine him as some bitter and insecure individual, and suddenly not so handsome.
I heard at JOM that Coakley was a prosecutor in the Amiralt (daycare non-molestation) persecution of some years ago, which Dorothy Rabinowitz chronicled in the WSJ. Why sensible people would vote to give anyone involved in that travesty power is a mystery, but it is Massachusetts.
Can't you people just give it a rest?
That shove was NOT political thuggery!
It was a simple homage to former Red Sox great Pedro Martinez.
BTW, you can also shut up about Martha's Fenway remarks.
I listened carefully and the only slant I saw was the one snark about the spelling error being "smart".
Still just a slight right slant, pretty similar to the much more ubiquitous left one. Wish we didn't have either, but if you got one you have to have both.
Ralph L said...
I heard at JOM that Coakley was a prosecutor in the Amiralt (daycare non-molestation) persecution of some years ago, which Dorothy Rabinowitz chronicled in the WSJ.
As I understand it,
- she was a deputy to the DA who did prosecute rather than responsible herself.
worse:
- later as the DA she opposed the parole board who recommended 5-0 to release the Amiralt son, because of the bogus prosecution based on invented testimony.
The ShoveGate is a perfect symbol of the "It's all about me and my career" attitude that the star Democrats give off. The attitude of progressive Democrats has to be warped since they have no reality basis for their policies. They are therefore always lying and at most are ineffectual at doing anything except being a Star Performer. The Conan O'Brien bruhaha is a good example of a Democrat politician's problems. Then when the GOP occaisionally finds a candidate who is a leader that wants to deal with real issues, it almost seems like cheating.
It makes being ruled over more tolerable.
I, for one, don't want anyone to rule over me; I want people who are willing to serve. (Maybe this is part of the problem.)
It matters particularly because Brown's looks are a teeny tiny bit John-John esque.
What a hatchet job on the cropping of the photo, Ann. Wow, I've not seen you manipulate information like this to protect a female candidate.
Why not show the entire photograph?
Which demonstrates that Martha Coakley was looking directly at the thug who was throwing the reporter to the ground.
You know ... this uncropped version:
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/CoakleyFundraiser.img_assist_custom-640x427.jpg
Pathetic.
Umm....I don't think you get her point, Forida.
I, for one, don't want anyone to rule over me; I want people who are willing to serve. (Maybe this is part of the problem.)
Of course, but I had to make a wide arc from earliest times to now-times, Kev.
And let's be honest, though we have a democratic process today, and our leaders aren't allowed to get snooty without pushback, the truth is that they do rule over us -- every time they get preferential treatment, they are not serving, they are being served.
One of our Florida congresscritters got his electricity turned on before anyone else in his block after a recent Hurricane, despite his office having electricity since it was not in a badly hit area. What is that about? That is power meeting privilege.
Cheers,
Victoria
"ShoveGate"
Have you no ear? Clearly, obviously, unquestionably, this one is Shovaquiddick!
Shovegate is correct. How can a stalking charge stand up when the 'stalker' is doing his "dirty deed" in front of an AP photographer, carrying press credentials and a recorder at a political event featuring Pharma grandees, thugs with meaningless titles as cover and a candidate for a critical position?
Coakley acts as if her election is preordained relieving her of the necessity for mingling with the unwashed masses. This how our ruling aristocracy views the rest of us. They treat us like crying babies in need of a shiny pacifier/binky to distract us from the rigors of ruling.
How did that work out for the French?
HAMDEN, Conn. -- A new Quinnipiac University Poll shows Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal holding a hefty lead over his three Republican rivals for the U.S. Senate.
Hehindeedy!
Shouldn't an Attorney General have a bit more respect for the law than ignoring an assault that she witnessed personally?
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