Asking Poor People to Vote Republican
April 21st, 2008 at 06:38am Mark Noonan
Not a normal task for a GOP Presidential candidate, nor an easy task - but a task well worth doing, and long overdue:
John McCain plans to spend next week reaching out to African-Americans, displaced factory workers and people living in poverty - voters not usually associated with the Republican Party.
Starting Monday, the presumptive GOP nominee for president will stop in Alabama’s “Black Belt,” then move on to the struggling steel town of Youngstown, Ohio, and the Appalachian region of Kentucky. The Arizona senator is also trying to make it to New Orleans, which is still recovering from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
“I want to tell people living there that there must not be any forgotten parts of America, any forgotten Americans,” McCain told newspaper editors this week.
“A lot of moderate white voters want a president who can reach out to the disadvantaged,” said John Pitney, a former House GOP aide and government professor at Claremont McKenna College in California. “So McCain has to show he’s making the effort.”
McCain “is sending the signal that he’s a different kind of Republican,” which he must do to attract independent voters unaligned with either party, Republican pollster Whit Ayres said.
“Independents voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in 2006,” Ayres said, when Republicans lost control of Congress. McCain can win, Ayres said, only if independents vote for him in 2008.
For far too long, the GOP has written off these areas of the country - and the worst part about this neglect isn’t in electoral politics, but in the fact that the cure for what ails them is to be found in conservative policy. These places are locked in poverty not because of some failure inherent to America, but because they are hamstrung by a corrupt Democratic machine which wants the poor kept down, and on the liberal plantation. The best way to utterly crush liberalism is to, step by step, take these poor voters away from them by providing them with real help - and real hope for genuine change.
Naturally, Democrats are mostly denigrating the effort - if we GOPers have been writing them off, Democrats have been taking them for granted, and they expect to be able to do so again in November…but even if McCain only switches one in a thousand of these voters, it is still a thing worth doing, because it will start a process rolling which can eventually lead to the end of liberalism in America. But I think he’ll do better than that: No, he won’t win 25% of the black vote, nor will he carry any of the Congressional districts Kerry won by 10 percentage points or more back in 2004 - but he’ll win some, and any poaching in Democratic territory makes the Democrats’ task harder - but more important than that is the political shift of a GOP aggresively courting America’s poor.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Republicans
46 Comments Add your own
1. Christian Wright | April 21st, 2008 at 7:37 am
Republicans threw 53,000 Black people off the voter rolls in 2000 in Florida by accusing them of being felons.
Republicans short changed Black communities of voting machines in 2004 in Ohio so they had to stand for hours in the rain.
Republicans are passing laws that make it harder for the poor to vote by requiring photo ID when poor people cannot afford them or have no permanent address.
Republicans let thousand die in Katrina to prove that Big Government does not work and the US needs to outsource to private industry, and to kill off thousands of potential Democratic voters.
The poor and the Black community will never vote for a party that supports the ethic cleansing of the poor and the Black.
2. Joe | April 21st, 2008 at 8:34 am
I just don’t understand why “Poor People” wouldn’t naturally go Republican…
Good luck trying to woo them voters.
3. Joe | April 21st, 2008 at 9:38 am
More “proof” of exactly why the “Poor People” should vote Republican…
Umm……. Then again maybe not.
This, in my opinion is why we will have either a President Obama or a President Clinton come 1/20/09.
4. SteaM | April 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Happy Monday, Mark!
So, the Democrats are a corrupt machine that wants to keep the poor man down?
bwahahahahaha
Keep dreamin’ Mark. It’s just not reality.
5. Joe | April 21st, 2008 at 9:49 am
Mark,
What exactly does McCain offer to these poor folks? He is looking to push forward exactly what has been done the last 8 years. Those same 8 years where the middle class and the poor are not moving forward while the top do move ahead and tell everyone else how great the economy is doing.
But hey… if isn’t the current Administration, it is those damn corrupt Democrats that keep everyone down.
6. middlefinger | April 21st, 2008 at 11:02 am
Yes,
Candidate McCain can take his lovely wife Cindy, all decked out in their fashionable best and proudly declare…
I want y’all here in the deep south as my “base”. “You are my people”.
I agree, the GOP will make great strides in improving the life of the “slackers” the Demolibs have created.
Bbbuuuuwaaahhhaaa.
Yeesh. You guys kill me.
7. Plantation Owner | April 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
40 years of Democrat control has done nothing but making these individuals dependent on government. This, of course, is EXACTLY what the libs wanted!
Here is the “change” offered by Democrats. ONCE every 4 or 6 years, liberal candidates go into these liberal created poverty areas with Tshirts, hotdogs, empty promises and excuses as to why their previous promises did not work. Naturally, if the libs passed what they promised these individuals would no longer be dependent on the hand that fed them.
It is amazing how C Wright bitches about the plight of the blacks with voting and Katrina. These problems were in LIBERALLY CONTROLLED districts. New Orleans was governed by liberals and 80% black representation!! He should be looking in the mirror for those problems.
But what can you expect from a single-celled unevovled individual with absolutely no direction just goes with the flow.
How’s your daughter’s private CATHOLIC school education coming??? I know she is learning more than you did at you government school or indoctrination center.
Putz.
8. Joe | April 21st, 2008 at 12:26 pm
PO:
“…what can you expect from a single-celled unevovled individual…”
Are you going to use that in all of your posts now? You used it on a couple of previous ones as well.
I notice you don’t actually bring up any facts or anything. Just throwing out your “opinion” (as flawed as it is) as fact. Just try and deflect that big bad liberal meanies were in charge and the Katrina disaster was all their fault.
Do you actually have anything to say about the income gap growing at unprecedented rates?
9. SteaM | April 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/21/fox-few-blacks-attend-mccains-forgotten-americans-kickoff/
10. Plantation Owner | April 21st, 2008 at 3:05 pm
uh, Joe, Katrina was a failure on local and state levels. Those levels which are their primary response. The feds are reactionary, state and local are preperatory.
New Orleans had an evacuation plan from the previous administrations (again liberal), which were never used. Then some local genius suggested using the Superdome as a shelter.
Gov. Blanco is required to ask assistance of the feds, who cannot act on their own until requested by the state governments. Again, Blanco, a liberal, dropped the ball and was caught on an open microphone stating that she should have requested help sooner!
Again, liberals dropped the ball. State and local governments (both liberal) did not prepare for the evacuation that was on the books. Neither administration could not make a decision and then dumped it into the federals’ lap after the fact.
Why do you think Blanco did not run for re-election?
Joe, your fantasy does not agree with reality.
My “opinion” as you put it are based on facts as broadcasts from local N.O. news would show every election cycle the campaign activities of liberal politicians in the poor areas of N.O.. They would indeed come into the poor areas with great fanfare and were never seen again in the area until the next election cycle.
Face it Joe, your party is an empty suit, full of promises but lacking on action when it comes to the poor. They deliver just enough to keep them on the plantation.
I know you want written proof, but who in their right mind would document their efforts at keeping the poor, poor?
The income gap? Oh, you mean the measure of “fairness” in society? The income gap is a joke for measurement. The poor stay poor because there is NO INCENTIVE to move up, but there is plenty of incentive by the federal government and social programs to stay where they are (keep them on the plantation). You know the EIC? Look at all the reports how people hide, do not report or refuse raises in order for them to keep it!!! I have personally seen this happen!!!
Again, who in their right mind would keep data on how government programs hurt society!
Again, Joe, your fantasy does not agree with reality. Like Obama, you are out of touch with it.
11. sam | April 21st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
PO is full of BS IMHO, he needs to read up on his economics ASAP. ttyl Po…hahahaha..the level of ignorance among people like PO is amazing……
The poor stay poor because they don’t have incentive to move up right?? so they stay poor because they dont wanna be rich…hahahahaha…wow…….
12. Joe | April 21st, 2008 at 3:47 pm
PO, I never brought up New Orleans. I think it was a mess for both local and federal. It wasn’t exactly a shining moment for anyone in charge.
My posts have been about this pain-in-the-ass income gap that you hate to read about.
To say that the poor are poor because they want to be is the most insane thing I’ve ever heard.
Did you actually read the links to the articles or did you just see the words “income gap” then close your eyes put your hands over your ears and say you don’t want to know about it?
That isn’t because they are lazy and don’t want to make money. It is because wages are stagnant unless you are in the top 1%.
This country was built with a middle class. Now that class is getting smaller and smaller and smaller. You can play blind deaf and dumb, but that is about all that is…….. DUMB.
13. Just Another Taxpayer | April 21st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Plantation Owner
Katrina was a failure of the worst order on the federal level. Nobody but Bush after 9/11 could’ve concluded that in order for America to secure its energy supply in the event of a disaster that we should invade Iraq instead of bulding some dedicated refinery capacity for the strategic reserve.
It wasn’t the environmentalists then, nor is it the envrironmentalists now that are causing oil prices to spike, or gas prices to skyrocket. Refinery capacity for gas is down to its lowest level since Katrina, because there are other petroleum products more profitiable to make.
And it is not the responsiblity of the oil companies to make sure that Americas economy runs smoothly. Their first job is to make as much money as they can, which they have been doing handily. If a smooth running economy is a component of national security, it the feds job to insure that resources are avilable to keep the economy doing just that.
If left to the market, Americas corporate leaders have clearly demonstrated they have little concern for anything but salaries for failing CEO’s and the boards of directors who hire them. Americas oil companies failed us during Katrina because Bush decided having dedicated refinery capacity for the strategic reserve was important. He still doesn’t, pursuing some fanatasy about a greatful Iraqi nation giving us some of their oil. No doubt Dick Cheney thinks it great that his old co. Haliburton is doing well, too. Good thing that good old American co, moved its headquarters to Dubai, to avaoid taxes.
You see, Mr. Plantation owner, it was the cost of gas that hurt me after Katrina. It still does. And watching Bush beg the French and Germans to beg for a couple of million barrels of European gas was a moment that will be remembered almost as well as his Mission Accomplished speech.
Does paying 4$ a gasllon make you feel better while we throw billions at the Iraqi welfare program?
Oh, and as far as poverty goes, like Mr. Noonan, who says he’s lost 100k in equity on his home, I too have lost equity. I know 3 families who’ve been foreclosed on. My neighbor is in the process. While borrowers are at fault it takes 2 to tango. Bush said that the lenders who’d been entrusted with the nations financial health would know who would and would not be a good candidate for home ownership.
I don’t want to pay for my neighbors mistakes, nor do I want to pay for their lenders. But I am. Unlike, Mr. Noonan, and like many other Americans, becoming poorer, so that failed CEO’s and their boards of directors can get big fat paychecks, and Mr. McCain can keep us in Iraq for 100 years doesn’t make any fiscal sense.
It’s not the poor McCain needs to reach out to, its those who have become poorer in recent times that he needs to connect with.
Bush, and his allies in the private sector, have made that job impossible.
14. SteaM | April 21st, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Did anyone ever consider that maybe some people don’t want to be rich because they are comfortable having a moderate income which can cover their cost of living? Pay for food and some entertainment here and there? Raise their children and put them through college? Pay for a home? Pay for a ride to work?
Some people are perfectly content with not being “rich” because they don’t particularly want to be rich to begin with. But when people cannot afford to get to work, to pay for food, to go out anymore (businesses lose money), and then begin to lose their homes then you have to realize that they are not doing this simply because they want to be poor. Its not because they want welfare and are lazy or something.
No one wants to lose their home to the bank.
But of course Mark admits that the higher gas prices we are experiencing, being $3.39 a gallon where I live, and more expensive food costs dont affect him. Why should he even care about something that doesn’t affect him?
Hey, maybe if people were rich they wouldn’t care about souring gas and food costs. Maybe they would stop whining and go shopping like Bush wants them to.
And I honestly believe that today’s modern Republicans are blind to these issues. They just don’t care because it doesn’t affect them.
15. Diana Powe | April 21st, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Well, gosh. How is it that poor people might not be inclined to vote for the Republicans who are their saviors? Maybe it’s because Republicans field candidates like Colorado senatorial candidate Bob Schaffer who thinks that the sweatshops of the U. S. Northern Marianas Islands would be a great model for the mainland United States:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/schaffer_what_forced_abortions.php
Maybe poor people would prefer jobs where they weren’t held behind barbed wire fences, worked 12-hour days at below minimum wage, forced to not date and compelled to have abortions if a female worker became pregnant. However, he’s game. He’s still defending his 1999 Congressional junket to the Marianas where he and his wife stayed at a luxury resort and spent some quality time parasailing:
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_8872607
Of course, it’s kind of embarrassing because now he has pro-life groups yelling at him for ignoring forced abortions:
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_9001285
It’s just so puzzling why poor people might not see Republicans as their natural allies.
16. ViralNexus | April 21st, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Poverty… I’m in poverty. I have a family of five and make less than $20,000 a year. I use food stamps, WIC, and medicare for my 3 kids. Do I want to- NO. Do I feel a little bit of prideful indignation everytime I pull out my EBT to pay for my food for the month- YES. Do I strive to break out of this position- EVERY DAY. Mark’s contention that people who are poor are duped in to staying poor is an ignorant gesture on his part. My wife is about to graduate from college and then I will go on to continue my education. It’s a process, it takes time, but I have definitely not been duped by anyone. The truth of the matter is that when it is all said and done and we both have degrees we will still be making only $45k at most per year. For a family of five that isn’t much and is still far below the average middle income. By state medicare standards we would have to make $54k before our childrens medical benefits would require a copay.
In a utopian world each and every American would marry (for life), have 2.2 kids per household, have a college degree, and make an average of $55k a year. Sounds great doesn’t it? The problem with utopian ideas is that they don’t transfer into the real world. The truth of the matter is that without the poor and lower middle class there would be no America. These classes are the foundation of our industries and our corporations- they simply have to exist. Frankly, most of my working class friends, even the ones with families, are quite content with where they are. Do they wish they had more money- sure who doesn’t. Would they like the more extravigant things in live- don’t we all. But do they pine away their days in sorrow and wish the damn democrats weren’t tricking them into remaining poor- ABSOLUTELY NOT! The problem occurs when the poor fall into destitution and where there is a large concentration of destitution problems are bound to exist. People will always need help to survive but you insult those people by saying the are dependent on the government and that they are poor because they have been tricked into being so. There is a lot more that could be done to relieve the issues associated with poverty- but lacking financial resources is not the issue.
17. Diana Powe | April 21st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
ViralNexus,
Thank you for your eloquence. Mark and Matt have made much of Senator Obama allegedly being a typical liberal who is contemptuous of the real America. However, he doesn’t even see his own assumption that “the poor” are so stupid, ignorant and lazy to see through the supposed Democratic plot to keep them “on the plantation” (as some curiously, but perhaps instructively, choose to style it).
18. Plantation Owner | April 21st, 2008 at 8:31 pm
uh, just another uninformed taxpayer
nothing in your post makes logical sense. Oil companies are not producing gasoline because other products are more profitable to make? That statement right there shows you have no concept to what you think is going on.
So what do the oil companies do with the gasoline that is a result of the oil cracking process while they are “making more profitable products”?
There was a refinery shortage long before 9/11 and Iraq. Refineries were at 90-95% capacity before 9/11.
We have not built a new refinery in this country for over 30 years? Why….the liberal NIMBY crowd. We do not exploit our own oil sources because of environmentalists. FACT and your arguments against these are pointless.
Oil companies failed during Katrina because several were damaged beyond operating. Two refineries in my hometown were flooded with 4-8 feet of water. Anything electrical was ruined and had to be replaced. Refineries are heavily dependent on electrical equipment no easy fix. It was 9 months before the refinery I worked at even attempted to start limited production.
Take into account the refineries in southern Louisiana and Mississippi that were heavily damaged plus all the distribution fleets that were destroyed in the area and you have have a crisis - a shortage of supply. The rest of the refineries had to try to make up for lost refining capacity as a result of Katrina. Refineries are at capacity and anyone who believes otherwise is uninformed or a complete idiot. The refining crisis is one exacerbated by the liberal left fighting to keep oil production and refining out of this country’s borders in order to please their special interests, namely the NIMBY crowd and environmentalists.
The same is happening with alternative power generation namely solar and wind. The liberals are fighting to keep them out of their neighborhoods.
Just like Joe, your fantasy does not match the reality.
Maybe in your next post you can avoid rambling on trying to cover all the lib talking points. But don’t post until you have a clue as to what’s going on.
19. ViralNexus | April 21st, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Wow, Plant. I’m glad that you are so informed. What would we do without you? All kidding aside, I would like to know at which point in this time have we ever heeded the words of environmentalists? Had we started listening when the problems became apparent 30 years ago we would be well on our way to energy independence and alternative energy sources. And I have yet to meet a liberal who is fighting to keep solar and wind power out of their communities. For someone who seems to be so informed you sure do lack a lot of substance. Capitalizing the word fact doesn’t actually make it such no matter how much you want it to.
20. Christian Wright | April 21st, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Gov. Blanco is required to ask assistance of the feds, who cannot act on their own until requested by the state governments. Again, Blanco, a liberal, dropped the ball and was caught on an open microphone stating that she should have requested help sooner!
Plantation Owner: It has been proven that Blanco asked for federal help before the hurricane even hit. But the FEMA was operated by political hacks with no experience in disaster relief. Quit repeating Republican lies.
21. congressive | April 21st, 2008 at 11:02 pm
“I want to tell people living there that there must not be any forgotten parts of America”
This is the Bush Administration language trick all over again! Bush never promised a freaking thing to the people of New Orleans et al. He stood in front of Jackson Square and stated “I am here to SAY that bla bla bla.” Not to actually promise, not to actually commit anything to New Orleans. He did it again to the troops in Iraq, stating that he was “there to say bla bla bla…”
Now McCain is stating that he really WANTS to tell people living there that there must not be bla bla bla. He’s only wanting to tell, he’s not committing anything, and he’s not promising anything. He just really WANTS to tell…
John W. McSame. Can’t get fooled again.
22. Sue | April 21st, 2008 at 11:39 pm
“Plantation Owner: It has been proven that Blanco asked for federal help before the hurricane even hit. But the FEMA was operated by political hacks with no experience in disaster relief. Quit repeating Republican lies.”
OK, then…PROVE it. What are your sources? Links? Something other than a nobody stating that that is what they heard.
23. Plantation Owner | April 22nd, 2008 at 6:44 am
CW,
“It has been proven that Blanco asked for federal help before the hurricane even hit.”
Well, prove it.
From an NBC news report with Lisa Myers…Myers: “A key criticism, the governor’s slowness in requesting federal troops. She told the President she needed help, but it wasn’t until Wednesday [Aug. 31] that she specifically asked for 40,000 troops. That day, in a whispered conversation with her staff caught on camera, the governor appears to second-guess herself.”
Blanco: “I really need to call for the military.”
Unidentified female aide: “Yes, you do. Yes, you do.”
Blanco: “And I should have started that in the first call.”
MOST IMPORTANT: BLANCO CONTROLS THE NATIONAL GUARD. WHY DID SHE DELAY IN MOBILIZING THEM? From the same NBC news report:
Myers: “Another key mistake, experts say, Blanco’s lateness in getting the Louisiana National Guard, which she commands, on the streets to try to establish security.”
Myers: “The governor would not say whether she made the decision not to use these troops, and tells NBC News that her state’s response to Katrina was, quote, ‘very well-planned’ and ‘executed with great precision and effectiveness.’”
Roy Fletcher, Louisiana Political Consultant: “How could any governor argue that they have done what they can do when people were left on an interstate without food and water for a week?”
Also why did Blanco say no levees were breeched to the Bush administration on 8/29: “We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees… We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee. I think we have not…”
Blanco did not order an evacuation on Saturday knowing it would take 48 hours to evacuate New Orleans. Nagin did not follow the evacuation plan on the books from previous administrations.
The name of the bewildered and undecisive look by the governor when asked questions of the relief effort became known as the “Blanco Stare”.
Blanco was ranked as one of the 3 worst governors in the country.
So CW, ONCE AGAIN, your fantasy does not meet with reality. Your party, your candidates and your philosophies are complete FAILURES. Thankfully your daughter is receiving a NON-LIBERAL CATHOLIC EDUCATION and not at some government indoctrination center, I mean, public school as you were.
PUTZ!
24. Some Assembly Required | April 22nd, 2008 at 7:19 am
PO, I’m not excusing Blanco, nor the Mayor nor brownie. All had a hand in what happened. I just have one question to put to you. Put the shoe on the other foot, If Clinton or a democrat had been in office would you be so dismissive? I mean The president had the power to go to war in Iraq but cannot get water to the saddle dome… What he should have done was take the reigns. Again I’m not excusing Blanco, but Bush should have been on the phone 10 minutes after they knew the levys broke TELLING her what she had to do. Not standing by to let her make up her mind on a national security matter. Which is what it was, spin it how you want but when 80% of a major city is underwater, it’s no longer just a state problem.
25. Canadian Observer | April 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 am
The world watched in disbelief and horror as the federal and regional governments of the richest nation in the world staged petty fights while American citizens died. Outside help was offered and denied while American citizens died.
The Katrina disaster brought home just how bad and ineffectual the leadership had become.
A first world nation had morphed into a third world republic.
26. Joe | April 22nd, 2008 at 9:03 am
This thread is not about Katrina, but here you go.
Nobody said Blanco handled this well or correctly, but if the Federal Govt doesn’t know that a cat-5 hurricane was pressing down on a large American city that stands below sea-level and they don’t understand that asking for a state of emergency may just possibly include federal troops… then I would say they have some of the blame as well.
This was bungled by both parties at the local, state and federal level. This wasn’t just Bush or Blanco or anyone else. It was a complete failure top to bottom.
Anyone who tries to blame one way or the other is a fool. That is for getting people out of harms way pro-actively or even a day after the hurricane.
Now when you start talking about A WEEK afterwards… that is where you can say the Federal Govt and FEMA specifically was a major disgrace.
27. pa voting&hellip | April 22nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
[…] candidate, nor an easy task - but a task well worth doing, and long overdue…….>>http://blogsforvictory.com/2008/04/21/asking-poor-people-to-vote-republican/voting: HomeHome Abstract: Voter Registration Application Forms Deadline to apply to register to […]
28. Diana Powe | April 22nd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
By all means, Senator McCain should get out there and style himself as a “new kind of Republican” just like George W. Bush did with his “compassionate conservative” line before he became the President with the highest disapproval rating in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll:
Wow, even nearly 1 in 3 Republicans disapprove of his performance. That’s got to hurt.
29. Diana Powe | April 22nd, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Maybe Republicans have problems with poor constituents because Republican legislators like Colorado Representative Douglas Bruce can’t stop themselves from going onto the floor of the Colorado State House and opining, “I don’t think we need 5,000 more illiterate peasants in Colorado.”
http://cw2.trb.com/news/kwgn-douglas-bruce-comments,0,3587423.story
30. Plantation Owner | April 22nd, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Sorry Joe, what you assume Blanco’s letter to be and what it actually was are two completely different things. The specifics of declaring a state of emergency does not include troops and material for after the storm. Blanco did not declare the SPECIFIC TYPE of assistance needed as outlined in th federal emergency managment procedures.
The aid she did generally request was for FEMA help with grants for those displaced by the storm and debris removal. Her request did not include troops for aid and rescue operations.
The request she did file was two days too late. The request boiled down to a legal form letter that did not get the job done. LOUISIANA was her responsibility. She waited 24 hours after the storm before mobilizing the National Guard.
When the federal help did arrive, they were simply overwhelmed by the people who trapped in their homes and near the Superdome. These people were the result of massive local failures by the city and state governments for not using the plans and procedures on the books. Next they had to deal with the local leadership who did not want the convention center to become a refugee camp. The feds wanted to deliver food and water to that area, until the people could be moved but the city put the squash on that.
The federal agencies had to go in and clean up the mess left by the city/state government failures to deal with the emergency.
Sorry, Joe, but Blanco dropped the ball and her and her staff were more worried about damage control that anything else. So was Mayor Nagin, who did not order the evacuation that was on the books for fear of legal action by the hospitality industry. Other parishes ordered evacuations and most of the people left, but not New Orleans.
Joe, the poor have had Democrats “representing” them for over 40 years. It is indeed time for a change, but not the change Democrats are looking for. Democrats are satified with the status quo the way Nagin and most of the citizens of southeastern Louisiana were before Katrina, unfortunately many are still satisfied with it after the complete failure of liberal controlled governments.
31. Joe | April 22nd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
PO, do you actually read the full post or do you read a line and assume the rest?
I think I’ve stated Blanco was to blame on calling for assistance. Why are we even discussing this? It has been hashed over for the last 2 years.
As for the poor being represented by Dems. Well… it is either back those that want to try and help or back those that want to tell you to fend for yourself regardless if you are capable or not. I think it’s pretty obvious which party they would follow.
Again… did you even read any of the above posts about the income gap and the tax cuts or anything? You need to read and not just assume something is being said.
32. Some Assembly Required | April 22nd, 2008 at 3:35 pm
PO, are you really that naive? I mean come on man, she didn’t ask for the ’specific type’ of assistance during a state of emergency. sheesh
I note with interest you did not mention Browie who did ‘a heck of a job’. Only Blanco and Nagin and I’m guessing if they were republiCONS you’d find excuses for them as well.
33. Plantation Owner | April 23rd, 2008 at 6:43 am
SAR,
There are federal guidelines and procedures for requesting federal aid in times of disaster. The request that Blanco filed was a boilerplate legal document that was simplistic in her requests and YES there are specifics in the type of aid to be asked for. Why send all the agencies resources if all or not needed? That is why those procedures are in place so the proper type of assistance is mobilized. In Blanco’s case, she initially requested too little, too late, made huge assumptions as to the federal response and simply dumped the responsibility into the federal govt’s lap.
Why do you thinks she states, later, that she could have been more clear in her requests???
I am not naive. I WAS a resident of Louisiana who watched very closely the incompetence of Kathleen Blanco and her reactions after Katrina.
We did not give the term “Blanco stare” for nothing. The woman’s reactions after Katrina was similar to a deer caught in an oncoming car’s headlights.
Sorry to burst your liberal bubble but Blanco and especially Nagin dropped the ball with New Orleans, even before the storm made landfall.
Joe, I read the posts completely. What I see is a very deliberate manipulation of the numbers, by liberal politicians, to show that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer - the same usual liberal ploy - keep them on the plantation! An easy task to fool the simple-minded and those who are deliberately being kept ignorant as a result of a government school education.
The so-called income gap, the shrinking of the middle class, etc etc etc. It has been shown in several threads that this is a result of families moving from the middle class into the upper class more that those from the middle class moving into the lower class. But, of course, liberal politicians will present it as the “rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.”
It is sad that people can be so easily manipulated by those who pretend to be on their side - “keep them on the plantation”.
I grow bored arguing with the ignorant masses and useless idiots.
34. Some Assembly Required | April 23rd, 2008 at 6:57 am
PO, I agree with you, Blanco and Nagin messed up big time. I’ve never said otherwise. Infact I have stated before that they were contributing factors. You are missing my point sir. You cannot just blame Blanco and Nagin while ignoring Brown’s and Bush’s blunders as well. Bush could have stepped in and applied pressure on Blanco to do what was needed. He didn’t. As for Brown, well since your from louisiana I feel I don’t need to explain what a complete train wreck he was. Your blaming Katrina on liberals is simply ridiculous.
As for this…
“The so-called income gap, the shrinking of the middle class, etc etc etc. It has been shown in several threads that this is a result of families moving from the middle class into the upper class more that those from the middle class moving into the lower class. But, of course, liberal politicians will present it as the “rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.””
You have this ass backwards sir. If you don’t believe it I suggest talking to even one of the millions of people who have had their homes foreclosed on. Try telling them they are easily manipulated and this has nothing to do with a credit crunch or a disaster in fiscal policy from the Bush administration. Just see what happens.
35. Diana Powe | April 23rd, 2008 at 11:52 am
The modern Republican Party is the natural ally of the poor and downtrodden. Why just ask Bob Schaffer, Republican Senate candidate from Colorado, he’ll tell you:
Then enjoy the lovely photo of Bob and his wife investigating the shocking reports of human rights abuses in the Northern Marianas Islands while parasailing. Yes, sir. He “worked around the clock” to help out the workers there. Then, he went back to Congress and worked to carry out Jack Abramoff’s efforts to block anything being done about the conditions he found…while parasailing.
36. Danish Artist | April 23rd, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Wow, DPed I love the “credible” source:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/schaffer_radio_marianas.php
talking points memo?
Talking points?
Figures. Demonstrating that there is no bottom to how low the libs will go.
37. FmrMarine | April 23rd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
co
>>>The Katrina disaster brought home just how bad and ineffectual the leadership had become.
A first world nation had morphed into a third world republic.<<<<
Your total frogheaded IGNORANCE of how our REPUBLIC works is astounding!
What you witnessed is a democratic led state, with a democrat led parrish, with a democratic led, city…full of typical democrat inner city losers.
Who ALL sat on their A$$ES and waited fo da man to send AIR CONDITIONED greyhound buses from out of state, while letting thousands of school buses only miles away SIT empty, and eventually be flooded.
EVERYONE in the state knew NO was BELOW helloooooo BELOW SEA LEVEL, protected by levies built to ……….GET THIS………………………….withstand a CAT…..3 storm.
The governor of louisiana REFUSED Bushe’s pleas to federalize the guard thus tying the feds hands to act in a sovereign state.
FRMA is, has been, and ALWAYS will be a L_A_S_T - responder.
Local, county, state, THEN Federal
38. Diana Powe | April 24th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Deleted - off topic.
39. Diana Powe | April 24th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Danish Artist,
The point of the link is because it had the audio, but feel free to visit the Denver Post’s stories and read about the hard-hitting investigation of human rights violations (with parasailing photos!) by Bob Schaffer, Republican candidate for Senate.
40. Joe | April 24th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Wow Diana. RE: Post #38… could you even imagine if Obama or Clinton did that?????
41. Danish Artist | April 24th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Joe,
Obama did do that. Not in front of a crowd of Nazi wannabes, mind you. He did attend a church for 20 years in which, the “reverend” spoke inflamatory racial and anti-semitic “sermons”.
And your response was “no big deal, Obama did not say that”.
typical liberal double-standard
42. Joe | April 24th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
double standard?
Obama attended a church. The Rev at times said GDamn America. Obama DIDN’T say it.
This Republican stood in addressed these people “celebrating” Hitler’s birthday.
Obama was a member of this church for that long and you want him to walk away.
This Republican was asked to speak and he accepted.
My point is that if Obama accepted an invitation to speak here, it would be on a loop on FOX News running every 2 and a half minutes.
If you are ok with this guy speaking at a Hitler Birthday party and are outraged over Rev Wright it is YOU that has a double-standard.
43. Diana Powe | April 24th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Deleted - off topic.
44. Tractatus | April 24th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I note with interest that a Republican candidate speaking to neo-Nazis on a thread about Republican’s appeal to poor people had to be quickly sent to the Memory Hole.
Well, surely you can understand why. It makes Republicans look bad, first of all (can’t have that), and it violates the demanded “conventional wisdom” around here that Nazis are, like, total left-wingers (and we absolutely, positively can’t have that–they’ve spent a lot of time and effort setting up this alternate reality, and they’re not about to let it be ruptured by pesky facts).
45. Danish Artist | April 24th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Joe,
Do you even know the content of his speech?
I can confidently answer that…..NO!
Plus I never said that I was ok with the speech.
Obama attended services where there were hate speeches. So did a Republican, but who gets the pass with you?
Obama………..
YES! LIBERAL DOUBLE STANDARD!!!!
Diana,
McCain was pandering to the ignorant masses who believe till this day that Bush left them to die and rich white people blew up the levees.
Ample proof has been presented of city and state government massive failures as first responders. There was no communication between New Orleans and Baton Rouge and therefore no communications between Baton Rouge and Washington. Then the whole mess was then dumped in the federals lap and you liberals, of course, blame Bush and not some bloated government agency another gift from liberals.
Uh, do you have any pictures of Obama and Clinton on that fateful day?
Jeez, you people are so transparent.
46. debris removal services&hellip | July 14th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
debris removal services
It sounds interesting but I am not sure that I agree with you completely.
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