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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (26236)	1/25/2004 10:46:33 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793670

I don't think the Dems have a prayer. I do think a "Yes,but" approach is their best bet. Meanwhile, back at "Comedy Central." Union Leader ‘The Daily Show’ tunes in for Granite State primary By Sunday News Staff Four years ago, when Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” covered the New Hampshire Presidential primary, “Nobody knew who we were,” recalls Stephen Colbert, a “correspondent” for the self-described “fake news show.” Things have changed. This time around, “The Daily Show,” host Jon Stewart and its on-air comedians-turned-correspondents command a respect among media types and politicians alike that belies the fact that the show — as Stewart himself points out a lot — is on “basic cable.” Witness the lineup for last night’s “town hall” media panel discussion, hosted by Comedy Central at the Center of New Hampshire in Manchester: NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw; Joe Klein, a senior writer for Time magazine and author of “Primary Colors”; former Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, who recently dropped her Presidential bid — and New Hampshire’s junior senator, John Sununu. Stewart moderated the “off-air” discussion, which took aim at the show’s two favorites topics: politics and the media. Sununu on Friday joked he was “petrified” about appearing on the panel. He watches the show. “It is tough, biting satire. I think we need that at a certain level, and I give Jon credit for being reasonably even-handed and distributing the fire. “They’re pretty equal opportunity.” Sununu said after he got the call from Comedy Central asking if he would participate, he had a long talk with Stewart “and that was all the convincing I needed.” “He’s got the funniest satire on television right now,” Sununu said. As for the panel, he said, “I think their goal is to actually delve into, in a light-hearted way, some of the questions about the way the media covers politics.” Palindromic first Colbert said he never met Sununu before last night. But he offered the Sunday News an “exclusive” insight about the senator and his father, who was chief of staff for the first President George Bush. “The Sununus — they’re a palindromic father-son combination. That’s a first.” So why would media stars like Brokaw and Klein agree to participate? Colbert thinks he understands: “I think they talk to us because they understand there are aspects of modern broadcast media that are farcical and they like that we make fun of it. Because I think they make fun of it off-camera.” Colbert said “The Daily Show” staff is here in New Hampshire this weekend “to get some idea from the people who are really covering it what their take is on the different candidates, and how they see the next year laying out.” Basic cable basics For the uninitiated: “The Daily Show” is a half-hour mock news show, complete with anchorman Stewart, real video clips from the day’s news, and reports from correspondents “on location.” There’s also a nightly guest, who is as likely to be a starlet promoting her latest movie as a Presidential candidate or television anchorman. So why should anyone listen to them? “You shouldn’t listen to us at all if you’re looking for information,” Colbert said. “We don’t take ourselves seriously on any level; we’re just comedians.” But he went on, “I’m a huge news junkie. I love what the news does. And we’re a shadow, a reflection, of what’s happening in the real news.” Dashing hopes “Daily Show” correspondent Rob Corddry has been in Manchester since Friday. The first day, he hung out at the Merrimack Restaurant, interviewed CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Jeff Richardson, then headed for Sen. Joe Lieberman’s headquarters on Elm Street. “And we basically dashed the dreams of a bunch of young Lieberman supporters . . . their wide, empty eyes searching for something to believe in . . . “All in a day’s work,” he pronounced. Ask Colbert a question and he’s likely to respond first with mock seriousness (“When I was covering Eisenhower’s reelection campaign . . . ”) and then follow up with a biting — and really funny — political observation. On Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s performance in Thursday’s debate: “I think it was a bold move for Kucinich to send a puppet facsimile of himself last night.” On Gen. Wesley Clark: “He said if someone questioned his patriotism, he would kick their ass. And I think, just for ratings, someone should question his patriotism. Just to see him bring his Kosovo-conquering hand down on someone.” On Sen. Joe Lieberman’s pledge to protect “to the death” the New Hampshire primary: “I think at that moment he would have been willing to move the nation’s capital to Manchester in order to get votes.” On Michael Moore’s endorsement of Clark: “New Hampshire is full of white men. Why would you want someone who’s the author of ‘Stupid White Men’?” On Sen. John Kerry, post-Iowa: “He’s a little less cadaverous than he used to be. It’s amazing what trouncing your opponent can do for your ego.” On winners and losers: “I think this race is impossible to handicap . . . It’s like handicapping a coin toss.”

To: Lane3 who wrote (26236)	1/25/2004 10:49:02 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793670

Here is how a "Pro" handles it. January 25, 2004 - New York Times A Gephardt Staff Member Finds a New Home By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM MANCHESTER, N.H., Jan. 24 — For 12 years, Steve Elmendorf was Representative Richard A. Gephardt's political alter ego, first in Congress and then in the presidential campaign, the first person outside his family to see Mr. Gephardt every morning and the last to talk to him every night. "They were so bonded together," said George Kundanis, a veteran of Mr. Gephardt's staff in the House of Representatives, "that it was often hard to tell where one of them started and the other ended." Mr. Elmendorf said his goal for most of the time he worked for Mr. Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat, had been to ride their relationship into the White House. But that was not to be. On Monday, Mr. Gephardt finished fourth in the Iowa caucuses, and on Tuesday he dropped out of the race. On Friday afternoon, Mr. Elmendorf decided to become deputy campaign manager for Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, who finished first in the Iowa caucuses and moved into the top spot in the polls for Tuesday's primary. It was a wrenching decision, Mr. Elmendorf, 42, said by telephone on Saturday as he cleaned out his desk in the shuttered Gephardt headquarters on L Street in Washington. "I wanted Dick Gephardt to become president," said Mr. Elmendorf, Mr. Gephardt's campaign chief of staff. "I wanted to work for him in the White House. It was very hard to lose. "But I entered this two-year period planning to work on a campaign," he continued, "and once he lost, I thought it was best to keep going. There's no question in my mind that John Kerry is the best candidate still in the field." An influencing factor, Mr. Elmendorf said, was his long friendship with Mary Beth Cahill, Mr. Kerry's national campaign manager. As word of the hiring spread this weekend through Democratic political circles, it was seen as a boon for the Kerry campaign. Mr. Elmendorf takes into the Kerry camp extremely close relationships with organized labor, members of the House and political leaders of gay and lesbian organizations — all areas where Mr. Kerry is not particularly strong. "He's one of the best operatives and political thinkers in the party," said Jim Jordan, who was Mr. Kerry's campaign manager until he was let go in November. "Steve understands where all the levers are. He understands what it takes to win, and he's really good at political hand-to-hand combat." Mr. Elmendorf grew up in Summit, N.J., went to Trinity College in Hartford and became involved in Democratic politics out of college, as an organizer for Walter F. Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign. In the years since, he has built an ample political address book. On Saturday, those on his list received this e-mail message: "I have had a wonderful 12 years with Dick Gephardt. He is the best person you could ever work for, and I am sorry he won't be president. I am excited to be joining the Kerry team. He has the values, judgment and stature to beat George Bush, and I look forward to the challenge." Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

To: Lane3 who wrote (26236)	1/25/2004 11:50:53 AM
From: michael97123	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793670

Karen, David Brooks in Saturday's NY Times described a Kerry with ideas, over the years, far different than conventional liberal views, now espoused. Brooks lamented that unlike mcCain, Kerry stated these views but never pursued them. Of course in defense of Kerry, he is from the Peoples Republic so he always has to run from the left to some extent. MY POINT regards out of the box thinking, and that once president, Kerry might be freed of his dependence on the left and become more like McCain with other issues of course. And with a Republican Congress, Kerry can be move back to consensus building and away from confrontation. Mike