Comment Archives: Last 7 Days
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
As an aside I've dabbled in that type of big data analytics, more working on the fringes of projects, so I understand the power that gives a business, or in this case a campaign, when you have that type of advantage over a direct competitor.
It's truly a knife at a gun fight situation. I read some articles on the Obama campaign and their use of big data. It was impressive, and it's something the GOP is going to have to duplicate to keep up.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
Actually I'm right OTP, and you admitted it. Winning an election is about voter mobilization. Do you think everyone who voted Dem agrees with the entire platform, and everyone who votes GOP agrees with the entire platform? Of course not.
The trick is being able to frame your message to the individual so that you not only mobilize your base by sending them the right message but you mobilize the middle by sending them the right message.
Obama's campaign was far ahead of Romney's on the advanced analytics that allowed them to sell themselves to individuals on parts of their platform that were most likely to resonate with the voter. That's how you mobilize voters, and it more than anything else swayed the election.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
"He said that Christians needed to take care of each other but ..."
*********
I'm assuming this is an accurate summary? It betrays the same insular attitude that nullifies conservative "morality" and demonstrates the kinship of right-wing Republican-American-evangelicals to the ancient Pharisees.
Matthew 5:47
"... Do not even pagans do that?"
Politicians would all sound so much more intelligent if they resisted the urge to quote the Bible. But sounding intelligent probably isn't an asset when garnering votes. So stoop to the popular ignorance, if you're not already entangled in it.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
" the right type of white democrat and Mississippi will move into the blue column. remember, you heard it from me first."
From you lips (or fingertips) to God's ears, OTP! I pray you're right.
Re: “Beale Street Club 152 Hearing Postponed”
This sounds like a simple case of someone forgetting to make a contribution to "DA Amy's" re-election campaign and they've just received a gentle reminder to do so. Everything will be smoothed over in short order, with no cause for alarm.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
Mad Merc
Grove got it completely wrong. the republicans lost because their policies are not where the mainstream of americans are. The gop voters had as much opportunity to hear their message as the dems had their message. The problem was that when the too messages were put side by side, the majority of the voters rejected the gop. Along with the rapidly changing demographics, there is also a change in social thinking by the majority of americans.
As far as Msnbc, yes, I like Msnbc. I like them because they don't lie and say thatg they are fair and balanced. They are what they are, liberal. But, how many conspiracy theories have Msnbc originated.
No, Grove is dead wrong. the changing demographics is changing the social thread of this nation and that is a fact. It has been there for a while now, it just needed Obama's sophisticated computer programs to mobilize and keep the people informed and ready to turnout and vote. We all know the way Texas, Arizona, Colorado are going, but, the shocker, right next door will be Mississippi. It is at the tipping point. Mississippi has 37% black voters. the right type of white democrat and Mississippi will move into the blue column. remember, you heard it from me first.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
The GOP never had a chance in 2012 because nobody who had been running, obama would have won by any costs! He cheated, voter fraud was rampant and when you have the complete media to talk you up at every minute of the day, who would have had a chance against him!? This is what the immigration thing is all about! More mexicans to vote democratic in the next election! Soon this Country will be so diverse that white and conservatives will be so out numbered that there never will be another GOP win for the White House or any other office! Take a look at Texas! It is ever becoming a left wing state and as more and more move in from California and other leftist states, their demographic will change and there will go the Country!
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
I'll agree with you about Dukakis, but not Dean.
Grove broke it down pretty well, I think.
And OTP gets to use MSNBC as long as nightcrawler and company continue to use Fox, Limbaugh, Beck, et al.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
It doesn't matter what the GOP does nationally. Unfortunately, the demographics in key swing states just don't add up for a GOP presidential candidate. Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, and Florida all have declining white populations and these are the states that decide elections. Moreover, in a few more years, Texas will be a blue state and that will be the death of the GOP.
That said, the republicans can run whoever they want (i.e. Rubio, Paul, Cruz, etc.) but it's not going to matter. Does anyone think that a Ted Cruz nomination is going to attract non-white voters in the swing states? And yes, 75% of the voters in the 2012 election were white, but for the most part, they are crammed into states like TN, Alabama, Georgia, etc.
The only chance the republicans have is to run a moderate like Chris Christie. He would be the only candidate that could siphon off some of those non-white voters in the swing states.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
Elections are won and lost by one thing only. The media. Obama has had the media, TV and print, in his front and back pockets since the beginning. GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt is the Head Of Obama’s Jobs Council. Ge owns NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, and an Godly amount of radio stations. And George Soros has ties to more than 30 mainstream news outlets – including The New York Times, Washington Post, the Associated Press, NBC and ABC. I know FOX News liberals will not believe them but it is what it is. But don't just read that link, just Google, George Soros and what media he controls with donations.
Google what media goes GE own.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/05/11/…
If you own the media you own the sheeple. You are screwed if the main media does not say what your agenda is and just never shows or prints good thing about you. And that is what is happening. It shows the spins from the Oval Office, or what the POTUS wants you to believe. Yeah Yeah Yeah I know, the Republicans have done so in the past also. But this is reason why you only get what they want you to get. Who owned and ran the media in Germany during WWII. Joseph Goebbels a real nice guy. He had as much control if not more than Immelt.
The people on the left will not believe any of this and come up with some kind of bullshit instead of facts. Most of the right will believe it. Look at Anderson Cooper, CNN News boy. Always calls the TEA party the "TEA Baggers". I believe that term is a reference to a homosexual act. I may be wrong. And I am not saying anything bad about homsexuals. I do believe Cooper has come out.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
OTP - stop cutting and pasting off the MSNBC website
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
yeah mad, maybe they can run against Dean and Dukakis
Re: “Game 1: Spurs 105, Grizzlies 83 — When 0-1 Looks Steeper Than it Did Before”
@Wolfgang,
I supposed maybe the Grizzlies would be less boring if they spent the entire game overreacting to every small bit of contact and then complaining to the refs about every call that didn't go their way.
I have a lot of respect for what the Spurs do as a team when it comes to real basketball, but the whining is tiring and takes away from what they do right.
The Grizzlies aren't all that different than the Spurs, just with a bit less whining. This team knows what it is, just like the Spurs, and it doesn't try to be something it isn't.
We have 3 starters that made first or second team All-Defense this year. We have two bigs that play well together and dominate the post by sheer force. We only have a few players that hit threes. Those shortcomings force us to a certain style of play, but I enjoy it, because it forces team basketball, and it forces us to play for the extra possessions (turnovers/rebounds) to win games. In a league full of players that play above the rim or live by hitting shots from 30 feet, it's unique to see a team that wins with neither.
Re: “The Comparison of Detroit and Memphis, Again”
Diogenes-
“How is the payroll tax fair? It is bullying everyone that does not live in Memphis but works there. Are there a lot of cities in the nation that do that to their suburbs and adjacent counties and even into another state”.
Yes, actually there are. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia allow cities, counties, and municipalities to levy their own separate individual income taxes in addition to state income taxes. These include but are not limited to: Birmingham, Denver, D.C., Willmington (DE), Bowling Green, Lexington (KY), Lousiville, Paducah, Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, St. Louis, NYC, Newark, Columbus (OH), Toledo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Portland (OR), Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and San Francisco among many others. In addition, there are many examples of school districts that set and collect income taxes for those who work within their districts. So as you can see, Memphis would hardly be the first city to institute a payroll tax.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
nightcrawler,
You win national elections two ways, by swaying the middle AND energizing your own voter base.
So you're half right. The trick is being able to do both at the same time. This is where the Obama campaign schooled Romney in the past election.
See, the trick isn't what you actually do with policy. It's how you sell yourself to the masses. Your actions and your actual policy, unless it causes dramatic change, has less of an impact than your sales pitch.
Let's use an example. You are clearly a hardcore right wing Republican. Let's say your neighbor is a more moderate, possibly right leaning voter, but he is more interested in a specific fiscal sales pitch. Can you imagine if the Romney campaign was able to target each of you separately with different sales pitches tailored specifically to the talking points that energized you individually?
That would work a lot better than hosting ads on your local TV station aimed specifically at one of you while simultaneously angering the other of you.
That's essentially what the Obama campaign did in this past election through use of big data tools. The Republicans were so far behind in data analytics when it came to voters this past election. They brought a knife to a gun fight. That's why Obama cleaned up in the swing states. It's not because he was overwhelmingly supported by the country. It's that their voter targeting and messaging was done at a granularly targeted level that the Republican party couldn't touch, and therefore they were able to swing votes in the key areas they needed. Had the data tools been even, the election would've been fairly close.
Point being, you've got to be able to do both, energize your base AND reach to the middle. That means selling yourself to one population as something and then selling yourself to another population as something else. Some might call that lying. I call it politics.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
You're so right, PLEASE do all you can to have the Republican party place Palin on the ticket in 2016. Maybe have Michelle Bachman or Rick Santorum be her running mate. If that doesn't "fire up the moderate and independent voting masses" then nothing will.
Re: “Haslam Cautions Fellow Republicans at Lincoln Day Dinner”
Nightcrawler
I appreciate your rant, however you are completely off key to the majority of americans in this nation.
The so-called scandals you mention are not what is on the majority of voter's minds. Voters are worried about getting jobs and keeping them. They are more worried about drastic cuts that are mostly unneeded that is beginning to hurt everyday people.
The majority of voters are very good at separating real scandals from political bullshit.
Take what you write for instance. The late Ambassador Stevens was considered the foremost expert in Benghazi. The actual embassy is located in Tripoli. Benghazi was just a consulate. There was adequate security in Tripoli and an escape route readily available to the sea, if needed. Neither President Obama nor Secretary of State, Hilliary Clinton ordered Stevens to go from his secure location in Tripoli to Benghazi. He new how unstable the country was, yet, he took it upon himself to go.
Their were uprisings in other countries over the anti-muslin video and sparked riots and unrest in in other Islamic countries. Simultaneously the terror attack begin in Benghazi. It would automatically be assumed that this was another series of protests and riots over the video. That is the first initial report given to the state department and the white house. Even Obama hedged his bet when he spoke on Benghazi. He actually called it an act of terror. Susan Rice, Ambassador to the UN, nothing to do with embassy security planning was dispatched by the white house to talk to the American people. She had no expertise in terror, so she relied on expressly what the CIA told her to say. Did she lie? No, she never had any other information other than the talking points given to the white house and her by the CIA.
The problem with you saying that security should have been increased prior to the attack is absurd, it is hindsight. First of all, E-Mails shows that several weeks prior to this attack, General Pace, European Nato Commander at the time offered Ambassador Stevens added personal security in the form of an 18 man elite force of special forces. Ambassador Stevens refused. The agreement with that country was for only so many foreign (American troops) to be stationed there for embassy security. All host countries limit the amount of foreign solders allowed on their soil for embassy security. The host country is responsible for the perimeter security of foreign embassies on their soil. To further degress, it is a fact that the Gop cut money for embassy for the previous 2 years and the dems went along with it. Relief forces was not close enough to get there on time to make a difference. It takes several hours just to muster the troops. The pentagon alluded to all of this to the members, gop, of congress.
The IRS is an arm of the Department of Treasury. The secretary of that department oversees over 200,000 employees. there are well over 100,000 works in the IRS alone. The president is the chief executive officer overseeing all cabinet departments with over 1 million employees. He, the Secretary of the Treasury nor the acting Director of the IRS could micro-manage everything that went on. No CEO of any company, let alone one that is as large and diverse as the executive branch is could do it.
Other than the partisan politician in the Washington Beltway, the American people realize this. That is why it is just a blimp on the voters, the majority's radar. They understand that the President was not involved or even were aware of what was going on. the American people, the majority, are not as dumb and gullible as you gop conservatives think they are.
You lose presidential elections because your policies are not what the majority of the American people want. You do fine, until you open your mouth and say what you really believe. When you do that, you scare minorities, young white females, youthful voters, etc. You will never win national elections unless you change your policies. In the past you could play both sides of the street, however, now, communications are so numerous and fast, you can't get away with it anymore.
Now, Nightcrawler, I want you to tell these posters facts that you can point to that shows the president personally involved with these scandals that you bring up. If you can't do a credible job of that, then you will look foolish.
Re: “Corky's Founder Don Pelts Passes Away”
My first job was with Corky's. I remember Don very well. He was good to his employees. Even re-hiring someone that was fired by a manager when that employee came back and expressed his dissatisfaction with the way things happened. He also gave us Christmas bonuses even though he (from what I understand) was of the Jewish faith. God bless his family.
Re: “Game 1: Spurs 105, Grizzlies 83 — When 0-1 Looks Steeper Than it Did Before”
I suppose they could continue tripping the Spurs stars until they seriously injure one of them. Keep on grinding, boring basketball.
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Re: “Letter to the Editor”
OTP, I can't argue with your statements which you think are facts, but are really opinions, however, when you say "... it would have been too late" when help arrived I do wonder, do you know how long a terrorist attack lasts? does anyone? NO. You send help on the way then worry if they'll make it. Those diplomats and servicemen deserved that.