Speaker Pelosi endorses Capuano

A and B (6.00 / 2)

A) Is anybody surprised by the Pelosi endorsement?

B) Nice try with the guerilla marketing by Khazei, Is this an attempt by Khazei to get Colbert's attention, or maybe the fix is already in and Alan will milk some free media.  

---

by: FrankSkeffington @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 17:43:47 PM CST

If it's not to late, I have some advice that the Khazei campaign should also take. (6.00 / 1)

If they haven't sent the video...DON'T.  

Reshoot Alan's ending keep everything the same and promise NO BEARS wil be allowed to ask questions.

---

by: FrankSkeffington @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 17:49:00 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I love watching the Daily Show too (5.00 / 3)

but I'm surprised by David's and Bob's stubbornness to not call Coakley on her flip-flop nor give it front page visibility. In fact there are already diaries they could promote.

This front page post is ironic too becuase David can't just give Capuano his due, he has to pivot to popular culture to divert attention.  

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 17:49:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Ease up (6.00 / 2)

As the almost only Democratic progressive voice on this website that is unimpressed with Deval Patrick, I've found them to be generally fair.

Bob had his opinion on Capuano's misstep on the Stupak question, and stated it.  Harassing him and David -- who has been decently neutral on this race -- isn't helping anyone.  You have a lot of points that are well-made and don't require extensive repetition.

~~~~
Believe it or not, I have even more to say...

---

by: sabutai @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 17:55:38 PM CST

[ Parent ]

thanks for the caution and the compliment sabutai (0.00 / 0)

I won't repeat it again (on this thread.)

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 17:59:12 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Not surprised (4.33 / 3)

But certainly continue to be disappointed by Pelosi's decisions.  How does she justify, first allowing such a regressive amendment to sail past in the House without nary a word and now trying to knee cap the first viable women candidate who actually stood up for women's rights.
Great little piece by Women for Coakley-
http://www.womenforcoakley.com...

"Another question is about the bizarre timing.  Granted, Pelosi wouldn't have been available before now, busy as she's been with - as Bonnie Erbe of US News & World Report calls it - "tossing women's rights over the side like so much detritus."  But the headlines about Pelosi over the last couple of days have been so negative that you'd think Capuano would want to let the dust settle a little before having his picture taken beside her.  On the other hand, Capuano did schedule the presser for Friday afternoon when Washington insiders dump bad news..."

---

by: Menemsha @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 17:51:39 PM CST

There you go again! (4.50 / 2)

The last sentence of your first paragraph strongly implies that as a woman herself, Pelosi should side with the woman seeking election.  As I recall she endorsed Obama over Hillary too, which disappointed me as a Hillary supporter, but from the gender angle, so what?  I actually DON'T like dictatorial Speakers who decide which amendments get voted on and which do not.  On a controversial issue like this especially I believe she was right to let the House decide.

---

by: Christopher @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:00:01 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Pelosi tries to kneecap Coakley? You've got a persecution complex. (5.00 / 3)

Come to think of it, shouldn't Menemsha be more supportive of Pelosi? After all, they are both women who think for themselves.  

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:04:56 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Pelosi is chair of the DSCC (4.57 / 7)

As such she should have remained neutral until we got a democratic candidate.  The timing, while most of the women's groups are up in arms over the tires marks on our civil rights, is pathetically wrong-Pelosi is tone deaf.  I can tell you from the emails I'm getting, this is national anger.  Since politically I'm tied into women's groups I can only judge by what they are saying.  Now with  the NYT piece in the caucus my NYC friends are outraged.  I don't think Nancy understands what she has done by not remaining neutral.  Sure it's nice to say it shouldn't be a gender thing but if you have a candidate that's incredibly qualified and happens to be a women in a state that has NEVER had a women Senator, you get pretty excited.  This is historic and about time.  Sorry if you don't see it that way but many of us do.  Of course if we didn't think she was the best candidate we wouldn't be out in force but we do and we won't let distortions get in her way.  We all know what happened to the first viable woman candidate for President, especially with the media.  No one seemed to care that 97% of African Americans voted for Obama- Hillary barely got the majority of the women's vote.  Being a woman is a handicap-that's a fact of life.  Sad but true.  

---

by: Menemsha @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:32:30 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Huh? (5.50 / 2)

Chuck Schumer is the Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.  It would be odd to put a Congresswoman in charge of re-electing and electing Senators.  Chris van Hollen is in charge of the DCCC.

Nancy Pelosi endorsed a fellow Congressperson who has been a loyal supporter of her drive to the top.  And anybody who votes based on gender probably isn't a good fit for the Democratic Party, and is the type of voter John McCain was hoping to scoop up by putting Sarah Palin on his ticket.

~~~~
Believe it or not, I have even more to say...

---

by: sabutai @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:52:56 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Actually... (6.00 / 1)

...I'm pretty sure Sen. Melendez of NJ is now the DSCC chair, a post Schumer held for the last cycle.

---

by: Christopher @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:57:51 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Close. (6.00 / 1)

Bob Menendez is DSCC Chair.

 

---

by: lightiris @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 19:00:26 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Oof (0.00 / 0)

I put in "chair of DSCC" and got an outdated webpage from the DSCC.  My bad for not clicking through...but given how d*mn good he was at it, can you blame me for wishing Chuck still had that job?

~~~~
Believe it or not, I have even more to say...

---

by: sabutai @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 19:05:02 PM CST

[ Parent ]

No problem. (0.00 / 0)

Glad I could help.  ;-)

Now if we can only help them with their Pelosi = Wicked Witch of the West confusion.  :-\

 

---

by: lightiris @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 19:08:42 PM CST

[ Parent ]

You better hope your NYC friends (0.00 / 0)

aren't writing to Nancy Pelosi as Chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee since she's neither Chair nor a U.S. Senator.  

 

---

by: lightiris @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 19:02:47 PM CST

[ Parent ]

"Pelosi is chair of the DSCC" NO WRONG. Learn the Google (6.00 / 2)

"Pelosi is chair of the DSCC As such she should have remained neutral"

FAIL. Chuck Schumer is chair. Chris van Hollen is in charge of the DCCC.

"tires marks on our civil rights"

FAIL. Stupak does not deny civil rights but it is in direct conflict with the official 2008 Democratic Party Platform, which asserts a access to abortion services without restriction to ability to pay.  

"Sure it's nice to say it shouldn't be a gender thing"

It isn't, except quite obviously for you.

"We all know what happened to the first viable woman candidate for President"

She lost to a better candidate.  

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 20:09:07 PM CST

[ Parent ]

correction (0.00 / 0)

Chuck Schumer is was chair. Bob Menendez is DSCC Chair.

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 20:12:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

How great you guys know how to gang up over a typo- (3.00 / 1)

Truly grown-up.  Guess you really got me.  Oh boy that really hurt- as if.  Guess when your candidate is down by 20 or so you gotta do something to make yourselves feel better.  It's pretty pathetic how you all find any stupid opportunity to gang up on anyone who doesn't support your guy.

Lots of luck with that strategy.   Oops Neil- maybe I plagiarized that?  Better check other blogs.  Still waiting for an apology.  

---

by: Bostonboomer @ Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 09:00:20 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Menemsha's comment is full of factually incorrect statements and conclusions (0.00 / 0)

especially her paranoid "Pelosi tries to kneecap Coakley" by endorsing Capuano.  Seriously. If anything Pelosi is dedicated to supporting womem in higher government. What does that say about your candidate?

If you are still waiting for my apology it is because you didn't bother to look for it: Tue Nov 10, 2009 at 12:09:57 PM EST


www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 11:22:14 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Ugh. (5.40 / 5)

The way you dump on Nancy Pelosi is really disturbing.  An authentic trail-blazing woman in American politics and you disrespect her with glee and abandon--all while championing Women for Martha Coakley.  Your comment here is truly stunning--and did not go unnoticed by many, including me.  

Nancy Pelosi is a courageous, dedicated, and hard-working progressive whose bona fides are unassailable.  

Your Coakley hagiography is beginning to get a little funky.  Really, get a grip.  
   

 

---

by: lightiris @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:07:32 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I'll get you, my pretty, and your little [veteran helper] dogs too! (3.11 / 9)

So the wicked witch of the west is coming to the aid of one of her flying monkeys, and to drop a house on Massachusetts' first best shot at a female senator?

This could backfire big-time, not just for Capuano but also for Pelosi. Women's groups are firmly behind Coakley and are mad as hell about Stupak-Pitts. And here comes Pelosi to reward one of her minions for voting for the bill with the odious amendment?

The commenter above is right to suspect quid pro quo, because the politics make zero sense for Pelosi. Capuano's not going to win, and when he loses the media will run a cycle of stories questioning Pelosi's political starpower. It also calls attention, probably in the national media, to Stupak-Pitts, thereby questioning her "leadership" in the house.

Massachusetts voters, particularly female voters, do not need a house speaker who couldn't pass her main legislative priority without compromising a core Democratic value telling them what to do with Ted Kennedy's senate seat.

---

by: blurgh @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 18:19:22 PM CST

Classy. (5.56 / 9)

So the wicked witch of the west is coming to the aid of one of her flying monkeys, and to drop a house on Massachusetts' first best shot at a female senator?

This is the sort of sexist bullshit one would expect from Republican neanderthals who hated Hillary Clinton.  Wonder if Martha Coakley would approve of calling Nancy Pelosi the Wicked Witch of the West?  Let's hope she has more class than her supporters.  

 

---

by: lightiris @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 19:06:52 PM CST

[ Parent ]

apologies (3.75 / 4)

lightiris, I'm genuinely sorry if I offended you with my reference to a classic children's tale, but I don't think it warranted profanity on your part. I guess I struck a nerve.  That said, I hope you'll give some thought to my main point, which was that the events of the past week may blunt the effect of this endorsement with Massachusetts voters, particularly those for whom the women's right to choose is paramount, and that it might actually hurt Pelosi's political prestige in the long run.  

---

by: blurgh @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 21:30:52 PM CST

[ Parent ]

My vote ... (3.00 / 1)

I think it did warrant profanity.

Listening to Charlie Baker talk about fiscal responsibility is like getting lectured on abstinence from Paris Hilton - Tim Murray

---

by: johnk @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 21:41:52 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Honestly, (6.00 / 4)

it's pretty much impossible to take a reference to Nancy Pelosi as the "wicked witch of the west" as anything but wackily sexist.  Language like that pretty much guarantees that no one will "give thought to your main point."  Food for thought.

---

by: David @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 22:03:43 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Thank you, David, (0.00 / 0)

and very very sorry, again, to lightiris, johnk and everyone else.

---

by: blurgh @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 23:09:47 PM CST

[ Parent ]

a classic (6.00 / 2)

We thought you were smearing Nancy Pelosi but you were just invoking imagery of The Wizard of Oz in a bid to construct an allegory for our entertainment , albeit an inaccurate and perverse one. In your allegory the witch and her monkeys drop a house on Martha Coakley, your Dorothy.  But as you may recall, in the original narrative, the house with Dorothy in it drops on the witch wearing the ruby slippers.  Let's give it a go with the original narrative. Pelosi is the house. Mike Capuano is Dorothy in the house and Martha Coakley is the witch wearing the ruby slippers upon which the house falls and ends her life.  Then Pelosi gives Mike the ruby slippers for him to wear as he follows the yellow brick road.  The monkeys are the angst-ridden Coakley supports on BMG.  

www.bit.ly/7Wousr - "Must include a public option"
www.bit.ly/7yaoMv - Coakley shifts, backs abortion curb
www.bit.ly/5f8CVb - John Kerry reporting for duty!
www.bit.ly/6rJnZU - Questions for Martha Coakley on Civil Rights  

---

by: NeilSagan @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 23:51:07 PM CST

[ Parent ]

In the original narrative, they were silver shoes (5.00 / 1)

Ruby slippers were only in the movie.

Not quite sure why they made the change, perhaps to show off Technicolor?

Anyway the use of silver shoes, the "yellow brick" road and other aspects of the book have led people to speculate that L. Frank Baum intended as a political allegory of the free silver debate and other Populist politics of his day.

---

by: Marcus Graly @ Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 10:10:39 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Struck a nerve? (4.50 / 2)

I spent years in the service, so expletives can fly from my mouth on a regular basis--and do.  Inferring that you struck a nerve because I used the word bullshit is kinda dum; indeed, I was being polite.  I could have said fucking bullshit.  

And I gave no thought to your post as it was gratuitously insulting to Speaker Pelosi and poorly constructed as an argument.  Political endorsement are an intrinsic element of the process.  The tendency to pick and choose which endorsements are legitimate or productive is a sign of political naivete.  Pelosi endorsed Capuano.  Period.  The end.    

 

---

by: lightiris @ Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 05:38:59 AM CST

[ Parent ]

lightiris, thank you for your service to our country, (0.00 / 0)

but I respectfully disagree. I don't think it's naive to speculate about the value of this endorsement in light of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment, or about the value of one endorsement over another generally. There's an entire school of thought that endorsements don't carry any weight at all, although that's a different debate for a different thread.

But here's my point: Many Democrats for whom choice is a major issue, male and female, are not happy with Speaker Pelosi over Stupak-Pitts. Others Democrats see the amendment as symptomatic of how ineffective Democrats have been in the past year in general -- that they've been too cautious and too accommodating of Republicans who weren't going to play ball anyhow.

By receiving Speaker Pelosi's endorsement so close after this dust-up, doesn't Rep. Capuano run the risk of reminding voters of it all over again? Why not space it out a few weeks, let this die down a bit?

This really gets to the central problem of running as a Washington insider: if folks aren't happy with what Washington's been doing lately, they might take it out on the candidate who's been in Washington.

I hope this post is more in keeping with BMG standards and less "dum" than my previous one.

---

by: blurgh @ Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 09:02:28 AM CST

[ Parent ]

yeah, why didn't they wait until mid-December or so? (6.00 / 1)

By receiving Speaker Pelosi's endorsement so close after this dust-up, doesn't Rep. Capuano run the risk of reminding voters of it all over again? Why not space it out a few weeks, let this die down a bit?

Possibly because they trust most voters to understand WHY they passed the House bill on to the Senate.  Not all Democrats are angry with them over this.

Also, frankly, the suggestion to "space it out a few weeks" when we're less than a month away from the election date is pretty funny.  

---

by: melora @ Fri Nov 13, 2009 at 10:20:27 AM CST

[ Parent ]

since you repeated your comment verbatim... (6.00 / 4)

...from kennedyseat.com, I'll take the same liberty:

This is and should be frightening to every woman in Massachusetts and the country. The first woman speaker of the house attempts to derail the first viable woman Senate candidate in Massachusetts.

Actually, what's frightening to me as a woman in Massachusetts right now is the irony of having so many women who have spent the last however-many years fighting for candidates to be judged on their abilities and not their gender now tell me that I (and House Speaker Pelosi, apparently) have some innate obligation to support a candidate BECAUSE of her gender.

Seriously, if one more person calls those of us who actually support Capuano because of his record "the old boys club", me and both my X chromosomes are gonna lose our minds. Please stop presuming you speak for the entire female population of this state.

---

by: melora @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 22:56:21 PM CST

[ Parent ]

I respect Nancy Pelosi... (0.00 / 0)

...but not really worried about her endorsement as opposed to say half of the Dems in the legislature who support Coakley.

ProgressiveMan

---

by: ProgressiveMan @ Thu Nov 12, 2009 at 20:43:11 PM CST