Well the verdict is in and it looks like the GOP has been severely damaged by its opposition to Obamacare, well at least that was the conclusion of all the liberal members of "The Chris Matthews Show" panel over the weekend. On the syndicated show, NBC's Kelly O'Donnell and HDNET's Dan Rather were unanimous that the "branding" of the GOP as "The Party Of No," has "hurt" them. The New York Times' Helene Cooper chimed in that the Republicans were "gonna be in a really tough spot," and the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan judged "The town halls clearly hurt them. They turned the debate around in favor of the President."
The following exchanges were aired on the October 18 edition of "The Chris Matthews Show":
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Andrew forget the trigger for a second and all this maybe, maybe, shoulda, some day. Can they, do they really believe that they can get the public option as part of the bill the President signs this year? The people pushing it?
ANDREW SULLIVAN, THE ATLANTIC: It's the eternal question. Are they hypocrites or cowards? I actually think they're optimists. I think that the White House thinks they can get this, maybe. And I think they understand in a long game -- remember Obama always plays the long game and he's a good closer – that maybe they can pivot in the next month and a half. I think it's perfectly on the table. And don't underestimate him. He's Road Runner.
MATTHEWS: Well your romance is your selling point, it always will be with me. Anyway. Kelly the Republican Party. We haven't given them enough time. Let's get to the point. When the smoke clears, a bill is signed somewhere in the, in the bright sunshine of Indian Summer, will the Republican Party be seen as a party of fiscal principle that opposed big government or seen as a party that's insensitive to the health needs of regular Americans?
KELLY O'DONNELL: Well the branding of calling them "The Party of No," has been really sticky-paper for them. They have trouble getting aside from that. At the same time, trying to talk about keeping costs down is something that, depending on the audience listening, can really resonate with people.
MATTHEWS: Dan?
DAN RATHER, HDNET: I think they're heavily branded as "The Party of No," justifiably or unjustifiably, whether it's the right thing or not. It's heavy branding and it's gonna be very hard for them to shake it.
MATTHEWS: It hurts?
RATHER: It hurts.
MATTHEWS: Helene?
HELENE COOPER, NEW YORK TIMES: I'm with these guys on it. I think, I think they're, they're gonna be in a really tough spot.
SULLIVAN: The town halls clearly hurt them. They turned the debate around in favor of the President. If you look at party ID, the worst election result last November, 26 percent, now 22 percent. They are drowning, not waning.
—Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Insert Twilight Zone theme here
October 20, 2009 - 08:52 ET by 10ksnookerTalk about having a perception of what is really news....
The Party
October 20, 2009 - 10:00 ET by allanfThat's No Ripoffs
Socialists love slogans.
Party of NO!
October 20, 2009 - 08:54 ET by SouthJersey1953If being the "party of no" is a bad thing, the democrats would have taken advantage of their congressional majorities and passed this thing already. Regardless of what these presidential cheerleaders think, at least some democrats realize that the majority of Americans do not like Obamacare.
"Maybe if we keep our heads buried in the sand, this will blow over" - The Congressional Republicans
"...the democrats would
October 20, 2009 - 08:56 ET by mattm"...the democrats would have taken advantage of their congressional majorities and passed this thing already."
Exactly - and you'd think a guy with a political TV show would know enough to point that out, or at least ask someone about it....but I guess he's too distracted by the funny stuff happening in his pants whenever he thinks of Barry.
right matt, so why doesn't
October 20, 2009 - 09:03 ET by motherbeltright matt, so why doesn't anyone ask the obvious question? If the majority of the country is on the side of Obamacare, why don't they pass it and make the Republicans look like uncaring ba$tards??
FYI
October 20, 2009 - 09:40 ET by KC MulvilleCheck out this relevant piece by David Harsanyi.
Good article, KC. I read
October 20, 2009 - 10:31 ET by motherbeltGood article, KC. I love his takedown of the fabricated buildup of Olympia Snowe's heroism, as if she took a major chance. And Paul Begala's idea of a "rational, moderate Republican" is, of course, one who votes with the Democrats.
I read elsewhere that in the past, when one wanted to make a major change, one had to show why it should be done (other than the fact that some nebulous "history is calling.") The responsibility now has changed to forcing the opponents of the change to show why it shouldn't. This was in the context of messing with the institution of marriage, but it easily extrapolates to any number of proposed changes.
In other words, the assumption that change, in and of itself, is by default a good thing, and people should have to justify resistance to it.
The concept of "If it ain't broke don't fix it" or even "don't throw out the baby with the bath water" has been jettisoned in favor of something being irretrievably broken and the necessity of starting from scratch. And if you're against that, you're an obstructionist.
Oh, and apparently "doing nothing" is a positive thing when it involves the President habitually postponing important decisions under the guise of more "studying" (i.e. on Afghanistan).
Today's Drudge Report is a perfect example of the President's priorities. We have
"Pentagon Says Obama Decision on Afghanistan Can't Wait"
"President Not Sure on Timing of Troop Decision"
"Party: Obamas Big on WH Gigs"
oh, and the big photo of Gibbs holdin a poster-sized photo of Obama playing basketball.
Gravitas, anyone???
Well, you see MB, people voted for change
October 20, 2009 - 10:33 ET by KC MulvilleObviously, the presidential election of Barack Obama (which McCain was leading in September) proves that country secretly wants to abandon capitalism and become a welfare state. The election proves that America wants to change its philosophy about what America is, and how we conduct our affairs. <sarc off>
Drawing long term conclusions based on relatively short term evidence is always a bad move.
the democrats are just
October 20, 2009 - 11:23 ET by mwill555whistling past the graveyard.
That's their story and
October 20, 2009 - 08:58 ET by motherbeltThat's their story and they're sticking to it!!
SULLIVAN: The town halls clearly hurt them. They turned the debate around in favor of the President.
There's that famous liberal "clearly".....meant to forestall any disagreement. It's a fact, so don't bother to disagree with tme.
OH it hurt the GOP alright,
October 20, 2009 - 09:04 ET by ForeverOnTheRightOH it hurt the GOP alright, amongst the hard line liberals that is. These liberals need to get out of there liberal bubble in New York City and the east coast and rub elbows with the real world where we cling to our guns and religion.
OH it hurt the GOP alright,
October 20, 2009 - 09:07 ET by ForeverOnTheRightOH it hurt the GOP alright, amongst the hard line liberals that is. These liberals need to get out of there liberal bubble in New York City and the east coast and rub elbows with the real world where we cling to our guns and religion. Chrissy, you gathered your liberal like minded freinds around you and of course they are going to agree with you. Talk about narrow minded, stupid jackasses.
SULLIVAN: The town halls
October 20, 2009 - 09:09 ET by Tom PaineSULLIVAN: The town halls clearly hurt them. They turned the debate around in favor of the President.
Oh yeah, they really turned the debate around. They managed to put together a bill with so many compromises that it is hated by both the left and the right. They have a 60 seat majority in the Senate but they don’t have enough votes to invoke cloture to stop a filibuster. There is such overwhelming support that they have to try to ram this through before the end of the year because anyone supporting this bill is going to lose their seat in 2010. Yeah, boy those Republicans sure are obstructionist.
This is Orwellian to say the least
October 20, 2009 - 09:35 ET by Lord Erond2+2 = 5. That's the logic of Mr. Sullivan. "The town halls clearly hurt them. They turned the debate around in favor of the President?" You can't make such ridiculous conclusions unless you are an idiot or you're a disingenous liar. It's probably a little of both.
The target of my angst at this point in my life is not Obama and his idiot ilk. They've been liberal morons and we've known this forever. But the horrible thing I've noticed is this complete FAILURE by ANYone but Fox News to do anything but be a mouthpiece for the Obama administration. I mean, this level of lying in national broadcasts and partisanship is unprecedented to me! Perhaps it's always gone on but never has it seemed so bold lately.
I hope to see the end of these media organizations who are so baldly obvious in their partisanship support of the liberal left agenda in my lifetime.
I may not be able to cure the disease of liberalism, but I can certainly keep it from spreading.
"Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge."
Timothy 6:20
Au Contraire Mr. Sullivan
October 20, 2009 - 09:09 ET by Caringwhiteguy(I used that fancy French term to impress the intellectual left that snarks around here from time to time).
The Town Halls had absolutely the opposite effect. Congress is now back in session and Senators & Representatives are back in Washington, hidden away from the "rabble". There's no one to confront. The public outcry, so demonized by the left, has lost a little edge. Lo-and-behold the opposition seems to be losing momentum that may be difficult to re-ignite.
When your enemies warn you about
October 20, 2009 - 09:09 ET by Thinking.ManYour behavior you know you are on the right track
LMAO
So Tingles admits to liking Sullivan's "style of romance"
October 20, 2009 - 09:14 ET by SickofLibsHey, Tingles, you're still married, you pervert!
Divorce your wife like an honorable man, THEN you can put on the leather chaps and begin cavorting.
Wait until after the elections in November
October 20, 2009 - 09:20 ET by c5thenMatthews and company will tell us that picking up a few governor seats and miscellaneous house seats will be "bad for the GOP" too.
Everything that happens now is "bad for the GOP".
What I am hoping for is that the GOP morphs into (or a third party emerges) that is the "Wait just a damn minute, where is that in the Constitution??!!" party.
Throw 'da bums out!!!
no incumbent re-elected, with very few exceptions!
www.loyaltoliberty.com
great new party c5!!
October 20, 2009 - 09:37 ET by SouthJersey1953"Wait just a damn minute, where is that in the Constitution??!!" Party
That's it!!!! Where do I sign up? I am through with the Republicans who only seem to want to endorse RINOs
"Maybe if we keep our heads buried in the sand, this will blow over" - The Congressional Republicans
I'm in!!
October 20, 2009 - 10:19 ET by Meredith1966I read a commentary not long ago by some guy who suggested the formation of a new party called the Capitalist Party. It's platform would be just what the name implies--rampant, unabashed support of capitalism and free-market principles. Limited government, emphasis on individual freedom, property ownership, all that 'pursuit of happiness' stuff that the elitists on the Left and Right don't actually believe in (not for the rabble, anyway). I say, why not? The Republicans started as a third party, formed by disaffected Whigs and Democrats who were frustrated by the two major parties unwillingness to take a stand on the issue of personal freedom and liberty as represented by the heinousness of slavery. Well, I'm feeling a little disaffected these days by neither party's adherence to our Constitution and the system of federalism that it created for us. Wake up, Repubs (and Dems, too), as the unwashed masses outside Washington DC are starting to get a little irritated...
"The words of a President have an enormous weight and ought not to be used indiscriminately." - Calvin Coolidge
Fast forward to November
October 20, 2009 - 09:39 ET by Tom PaineFast forward to November 2010:
Chris Matthews: “Now that the Republicans have picked up 50 seats in the House and unseated Nancy Pelosi as Speaker, they have really played into the Democrats’ hands. The fact that they’ve rolled in such a tidal wave is going to be perceived as bullying by the American public.”
Ha! What is this called?
October 20, 2009 - 09:21 ET by Calypso Joneswishful thinking? Saying it don't make it so in this instance Matthews because the people who are opposed to this president's agenda, know what has hurt the GOP and it ISN"T saying NO. Republican congressmen better continue to say NO if they KNOW what is good for them.
Agreed
October 20, 2009 - 09:42 ET by KC Mulville"It clearly hurt them." Pauline Kael, call your office.
We're seeing a lot more of
October 20, 2009 - 09:23 ET by notonmywatchWe're seeing a lot more of this out-and-out lying in the last month.
___________________________________________________________
Graphical conservative commentary - animations & pictures for posting on forums: http://ubama.org/chu...
Seeing a lot more...
October 20, 2009 - 09:35 ET by Calypso Jonesyes. It's a little frightening the liberties they are taking. They go after not just ideas and opposition but people. They're on the cusp of attacking everyday conservative americans as a group and then individually. Evil in its intent and progression.
These idiots remind me of those stupid snobby kids
October 20, 2009 - 09:27 ET by Lord ErondWho formed their own club in high school, wouldn't talk to you or share anything with you or ask you to do anything when you could have clearly cared less. They have this idiotic notion that the rest of the world shares their faulty conclusions when clearly they do not. They have the effete snobbery to believe that saying anything on their ridiculous show seems to make it so.
Meanwhile, they haven't even bothered to look at the ratings and realize that no one is paying attention to them at all. Morons.
"Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge."
Timothy 6:20
Timothy
October 20, 2009 - 09:37 ET by nolotrippenWhat a joy that Timothy quote was to see first thing in the morning after reading these poor souls pontificating from their bizarro, upside-down worrld.
“It is almost impossible to distinguish a politician from a gangster.” (Will Durant, 1931)
Have a Party
October 20, 2009 - 09:39 ET by jaywlInstead of spending money on production costs every day MSNBC and its ilk could opt for far cheaper means of promoting Obama's agenda. I suggest they find their own budding cinematographer with a Camcorder and invite him to a nightly cocktail party hosted by Matthews. If this were extended to the other inmates at least two things would happen. NBC would reduce the losses it occurs promoting this agenda and even though these socialites have little parties, I'm sure, if they had a series of to-dos every night by the time Greta was saying goodnight this bunch of lefties and guests would be plastered and saying all kinds of things. It might be entertaining enough to watch as the truth slipped out from the loosened tongues!
Reminds me of my ex-wife..
October 20, 2009 - 09:44 ET by Paul GIf I said " look at how blue the sky is" she'd say, it's not blue. If I said "Look at how dark the sky is" she'd say it's not dark. My point is, some people (Dems), are just to stupid to see the truth. Look at what Obamas' doing to our country...We tried to tell them, but they were to stupid to get it.
Wow
October 20, 2009 - 09:50 ET by KC MulvilleThese people are hilarious. The town halls hurt them? With who? The voters? It was the voters who showed up at the town halls.
If anything, these poll results show that while people vigorously oppose the president, his spending, and his healthcare agenda, they increasingly doubt the GOP is a reliable vehicle to carry that opposition. To put it bluntly, we don't trust Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lindsay Graham, et al, to lead the opposition. They cave. They compromise when the money's on the line ... witness Snowe's recent committee vote. They're not conservative in the first place.
The numbers for the GOP are going down. The numbers for conservatives are going up. That's the equation.
THANK YOU!
October 20, 2009 - 11:19 ET by stage9You just hit the nail on the head my friend!
"If God is dead, somebody is going to have to take his place. It will
be megalomania or erotomania, the drive for power or the drive for
pleasure, the clenched fist or the phallus, Hitler or Hugh Hefner."
— Malcolm Muggeridge
So now the debate is in favor of the president
October 20, 2009 - 09:53 ET by StarAZThese people seem to need to reinforce each other almost everyday! Insecure. I am not even sure Republicans, as such, are the opposition. Seems like people scared of bankrupting the country (will there be enough gold bars to go around?), or of dismantling a system that is doing paperwork for people and keeping the pipeline working somewhat, or of passing their medical destiny and information into the hands of inexperienced, dogmatic youngsters are more the opposition. I would say the operative word is SCARED. We don't TRUST these people in power. Period. We don't care for their personalities and don't trust their judgment. We would never become friends with them and sense they would have no affinity for us.
Oh, Chris Matthews... you
October 20, 2009 - 10:01 ET by AJOh, Chris Matthews... you are my favorite non-journalist. You supersede logic. For you, if it's raining outside, then it must mean the ice caps are melting.
Laughable
October 20, 2009 - 10:20 ET by another_old_veteranThat is the sad case for MSNBC who think that anyone on that network carries any weight. I think the only viewers they have are those that like some comic relief.
The Democratic party makes the Keystone Cops look like a precision drill team and 'their' Congress wins the Rube Goldberg award.
Propaganda Works
October 20, 2009 - 10:28 ET by slickwillie2001The 'party of no' propaganda may hurt Republicans, but only because the democratics and the state-controlled media have had some success with it. The Republicans had at last tally, five different bills in Congress as alternatives to Obamacare. How many people know that outside us NB newshounds? Has Fox News ever explained the five alternates to viewers? Any point-by-point analyses out there? It's like they don't exist.
Running Scared
October 20, 2009 - 10:39 ET by Secret ConservativeYou know the left is running scared when their media mouthpieces start trying to make us believe that we have been "hurt" by our strategies that work! The only people who were hurt by the townhall meetings were the politicians who thought they could slither through and vote for this crap sandwich and nobody would notice. I mean, when members of Congress can say publicly that it's ridiculous to expect that they would actually READ the legislation before voting on it, clearly they think their constituents are a bunch of idiots! And when you go on record as thinking your constituents are idiots, you may find out that the only idiots are those who still voted for you - as you pack up your Washington office in 2011 and go home.
Chris Matthews show where has been news people go to die
October 20, 2009 - 11:06 ET by TheLipWhat is surprising is not that they came to that conclusion ( Rather fade away gracefully instead of doing stupid show like this) but that they think anyone actually takes them seriously.
Wishful thinking
October 20, 2009 - 11:35 ET by chiefpayneNothing more to see here...move along, move along.
one point seven million
October 20, 2009 - 11:36 ET by wizardjrThat's bigger than the million Mom march.
I hope it keeps hurting conservatives a lot more like this.
roll on 2010 and 2012.
Yeah, Riiiiight....
October 20, 2009 - 12:30 ET by farstar99That must be why the Democrats have LOST on every point of trust in the latest Rasmussen poll.
http://www.redstate....
This is really good news
October 20, 2009 - 14:03 ET by Jack BauerThis is really good news for the Republican party, which is still in its own internal battle between the activist conservatives and the old farts.
It's enemies are clearly mental. Delusional even.
Chris Matthews
October 20, 2009 - 14:06 ET by djm159If you believe what Mr. Matthews and his ilk think is true, come to South Florida. The seniors here, you know the ones that actually vote, are nearly 100% against Obamacare. 2010 will be a blood bath for the Democrat party. It will be hard to see how any democrat will be reelected or elected. It is not a pretty sight down here. Most of these people voted for Obama, especially the Jewish population who I believe would vote for Hitler if he had a "D" behind his name, now see the error of their ways. The tide is turning dramatically against Marxism here. Many of these seniors lived through one Holocaust and are not anxious for another one.
People were willing to leap
October 21, 2009 - 02:49 ET by RR GOPPeople were willing to leap off the cliff blind-folded in voting for an inexperienced community organizer with scads of shady Communist pals, but scoff at any idea that said community organizer isn't a natural born citizen and at the idea of taking Sarah Palin seriously.
This is goes along with the idea that the majority of people are actually siding with the Republican opposition...but still don't like them because of the "Evil Bush". Interesting. Stupid, but interesting.
Can't we just form our own country?
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
As usual...
October 21, 2009 - 19:11 ET by OutInTheAStreet...Matthews and the DC numb-nuts mis-read their own polling data.
November 2008, Republicans poll at 26%.
Today they poll at 22%.
Obviously, Republicans are less popular now then they were then. What have they been doing since then? You can answer the question yourself, but I'll give you a hint: they've been behaving like Democrats!