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• August 6, 2004 | 5:31 p.m. ET
Reassuring my pal Joe Trippi (Ron Reagan):
Joe and I first became acquainted at the "kid's table" during MSNBC's Super Tuesday coverage of the Democratic primaries. Joe had, of course, been the architect of Howard Dean's once glorious, energizing campaign — before its death spiral.
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Jim Ruymen / Reuters file |
As Joe launched into his first ever on camera riff, I shifted out of view and studied some notes about demographic trends in the Midwest - spellbinding stuff. After a moment or two, I became aware of an odd dissonance in Joe's vocal cadence which I immediately recognized as the left brain/right brain struggle of an innocent man trying to speak sense while someone yelled in his earpiece some bit of stage direction. Joe had been told to speak into the cold eye of a certain camera lens and now, mystifyingly, the control room was screaming at him to "look at the camera". He already was dutifully staring at the prescribed lens and, in an effort to please, simply tried to look harder. Trouble was, they'd told him to look at the wrong camera. Not his fault at all. Still, when your's is the face onscreen, you suffer the humiliation. Poor Joe.
Let's be clear: Joe, an extremely bright fellow, nonetheless attracts more than his share of embarrassment. It probably doesn't help that he makes Oscar Madison seem like the Duke of Windsor. He doesn't look like an unmade bed so much as one of those dilapidated couches you find squatting in a vacant lot. If only he would allow his charming, genteel wife to dress him. If only he would stop cutting his hair with pruning shears. Not quite the look that appeals to your average TV exec. I love him for it (among many other attributes).
Given all this, we should have seen the Triumph the Comic Insult Dog incident coming from a mile off. Yes, Joe was bumped for a hand-puppet (See Joe's latest post, below). On the humiliation scale, this is second only to being the token liberal on one of those right-wing Fox rant-fests. But it must be said: What a hand-puppet! Triumph got off the line of the night when he observed that our friend Joe Scarborough "swings farther to the right than Marmaduke's pink thing". (Joe S. took this with great good humor, perhaps sensing that he was in the presence of comic genious.)
My advice to Joe: Relax. No, you're not indispensable; none of us are. We are all subject to the whims of the marketplace as reflected in the ludicrous sham we call "ratings". Some management-type we've never met stubs his toe getting out of bed and we're history, a footnote in a TV-Land blooper reel. That's the business we've chosen - or been lured into with promises of fame, riches and decent sandwiches in the Green Room.
Know this , Joe: I'll always have your back... as long as I don't have to claw my way through you on the way to fame, riches etc.
• August 5, 2004 | 11:51 a.m. ET
Of plastic dogs and talking elephants (Joe Trippi)
Wow, my column, “Trippi’s Take,” on the two major political parties slipping towards extinction because they are both obsessed with wallowing in politics as usual, sure stirred the pot. If you missed it – I hope you’ll check it out and let me know what you think by dropping me an email.
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MSNBC TV Joe Trippi, before being pulled for Triumph the Wonder Dog. |
Yesterday, I was at MSNBC’s Washington bureau getting ready to go on Hardball with Chris Matthews when I over heard Tammy (my guardian angel boss) talking to Phil (my other boss). Phil was telling Tammy he wanted before and after shots of me and the hand puppet sitting in the same chair on the set posted on Hardblogger as soon as possible!
Tammy didn’t want to do it to me – but Phil is, well, he is crazed, so he always gets his way, and besides he still doesn’t like my haircut. So sometime today I am sure the pics will show up here.
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But I think Ron Reagan has been to a few so he can give me a few tips on what’s up.
The bad news is that Phil is probably already scheming to bring a plastic dog chomping a cigar, or a stuffed talking elephant on the set in New York to replace me from time to time and keep this sick demented tale of personal humiliation going!
• August 5, 2004 | 12:01 a.m. ET
From the Hardblogger mailbag:
More 'After Hours'
"Loved the late night coverage! Joe and Ron and your panel were all entertaining and enlightening. I’m glad the convention is over, but I wish the late night conversations would continue!" – Mary, Hampton Falls
Mary -- your wish comes true this Thursday and Friday night! Joe Scarborough and Ron Reagan bring you a special edition of 'After Hours' on primetime, at 9 p.m. ET. Check out our schedule at tv.msnbc.com
Are celebrities not 'Hardball' too?
"I chose MSNBC for my view of the Democratic Convention. Even though I was away on vacation, I did watch a lot of the convention. The one thing I was disappointed about was the interviews of the Hollywood folks. When will I be able to escape these knuckleheads? I figured watching a serious news program I would be able to avoid Hollywood! Hopefully for the Republican Convention Hardball doesn't waste time with the out of touch celebrities. Let 'Entertainment Tonight' display their worthless points of view." Gene Sweeney, Spring City, PA
• August 4, 2004| 6:03 p.m. ET
So, now that we're getting more of our photos from the DNC coverage developed (and downloaded), we'll start sharing more of them with you on this blog.
Here's one below: It's Willie Brown, Andrea Mitchell, and Joe Scarborough, with MSNBC President Rick Kaplan standing in front of the set.
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Do you have pics of Hardball/Faneuil Hall in Boston that you'd like to share with Hardblogger? E-mail us at hardblogger@msnbc. com
• August 4, 2004| 4:30 p.m. ET
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"Hail to the Buckeyes?" (David Shuster)
Even back here in Washington, D.C., you could feel the Kerry campaign's Michigan advance team cringing. There was the democratic presidential nominee on tuesday, forgetting where he was, reciting an opening line he had used earlier in neighboring Ohio. "We just came from Bowling Green, and I was smart enough not to pick a choice between the Falcons and the, you know, all those other teams out there. I just go for Buckeye football, that's where I'm coming from." Ouch. The boos from the Wolverine faithful were awfully loud and should serve as a reminder to both campaigns: If you are going to suck up, make sure you get it right.
Michigan is the kind of state where a lot of voters don't know or care about campaign policy differences... but can recite the starting backfields of the last 3 teams from that state to win a Rose Bowl. (Believe me, I know. I got my undergraduate degree at U-M.) Throughout the fall, Michigan stadium will pack in 110,000 fans for every home football game. Another 500,000 will tune in to the Michigan radio network. Another million plus will watch on TV. And that's just in-state. The U-M has the largest living alumni body in the world.
That is a huge block of voters who like to think the next President will know something special about their state, university, or city for that matter. Is this a fatal gaffe? Of course not. And for every Michigan voter (or college friend of mine) who is today calling Kerry a "loser," there is a voter in Ohio who is absolutely delighted the democratic nominee went into enemy territory and dissed the Wolverines. Still, this isn't the first time John Kerry has ventured into sports and blundered. Two weeks ago, he couldn't keep his own Red Sox straight... merging Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz into "Manny Ortiz."
Yes, a presidential candidate gets exhausted. Yes, the crowds begin to look the same. And yes, it's difficult to remember which sports team to salute when you hit 4 different states in a day. But, if you are going to offer some red meat that has nothing to do with politics... be careful. Big Ten fans can be awfully fickle... and most of them are already bitter about all of those losses in Pasadena.
• August 4, 2004| 2:40 p.m. ET
On the show tonight (Dominic Bellone, Hardball producer and newsletter editor)
Tonight we'll talk to fmr. Colorado Senator & presidential candidate Gary Hart (a cat who was calling for a Homeland Security department before calling for a Homeland Security department was cool) about the latest terror threat warning and his new book "The Fourth Power: A Grand Strategy for the United States in the Twenty-First Century"... Sounds positively Kissingerian to me folks.
Newsday columnist Marie Cocco, who wrote a piece this week on Kerry's bid for disillusioned Republicans, will be on 'Hardball' to chat about undecided and cross over voters.
Ret. General Barry McCaffrey is back from Afghanistan and Pakistan where he toured around those countries at the behest of U.S. Central Command...We'll get a firsthand account from the front line of America's war on terrorism.
Remember that ad spot we promised from David Shuster yesterday? It's back! We'll roll it and then get reax from GOP ad gal Kim Alfano and Dem consultant/uber-blogger Joe Trippi who has a new book out titled "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" in which Joe describes being part of an actual online funeral for a real person...No joke...That's not actually the whole book but certainly one of the more unique episodes in Joe's life...It's a great book I'm reading on the Metro ride home.
Shoot us an e-mail when the spirit moves you!
• August 3, 2004 | 3:51 p.m. ET
What's in a name? (David Shuster) As Hardball's election correspondent, I'm often asked by friends and family about the "intensity" of the presidential campaign. Today, I've been staring at an e-mail with the answer. In my Outlook queue is a press release from the Republican National Committee. It says:
"Despite his claim, Senator Kerry has frequently referred to President Bush in his campaign stops."
The entire press release is about the fact that John Kerry refers to President Bush by name. Not that Kerry calls him disparaging names, or makes crude jokes about female body parts a la Whoopi Goldberg, but rather that John Kerry mentions him at all.
Why is this important? I haven't the foggiest idea. I mean, I understand that Kerry a few weeks ago said he refers to the President as President Bush. Last week, he even called him "George Bush."
Still, It is hard to imagine how this distinction, during a stump speech, might threaten the Republic. But the fact is there are people at the Republican National Committee who have probably spent a few hours putting this press release together.
The DNC press releases can be just as useless. Isn't it all so sad? I mean, a decrepid and garbage strewn D.C. neighborhood sits just a few blocks from both the RNC and DNC headquarters. And yet some people in those office buildings are focused on the most trivial and banal political distinctions ever. Pathetic? Yes. A sign of the campaign intensity? You bet.
• August 3, 2004 | 1:47 p.m. ET
Old news is good news? (Dominic Bellone, Hardball producer and newsletter editor) Somewhat disturbing and confusing news this morning as we're learning the intelligence that lead to the heightened terror threat alert was three or more years old. What do we know and when did we know it? What does this say about our government's ability to stay on top of these terrorist threats? How accurate are these warnings and what are we supposed to do about it? And what does it all mean for campaign 2004?
We turned to our all star panel of journalists for answers: Judith Miller of The New York Times, Tony Blankley of The Washington Times and Dana Priest of The Washington Post.
In the back half of the show we turn to HBO funny man Bill Maher who'll talk about everything from the latest terror threat, to Bush-Kerry to Fahrenheit 9/11 and whatever else happens to pop up...The fun thing about Bill is that you never really know what'll come out of his mouth next.
Thanks for all the folks who braved the weather last night to join us at Sequoia! Everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves and we had plenty of t-shirts to go 'round.
• August 3, 2004 | 1:08 p.m. ET
Oh Chris! (Joe Trippi) Okay, sorry, but when I found out about a blog dedicated to Chris Matthews I had to go check it out and bring it to your attention.
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“Devoted to the most brilliant television commentator of all time, in appreciation of his 18-hour work days and complete disregard for punditry norms.”
So who writes this blog of devotion to Hardball’s Chris Matthews?
Turns out its none other than Wonkette.
Just another couple of interesting links for people to check out around the blogosphere.
BTW, my new column should be up on MSNBC’s Hardball page – today’s Trippi’s Take is on why I think the two major parties need to change or die.
Keep the emails coming – and let me know what you think. I have no idea when I will be on the air again – I think Triumph the Insult Dog is long gone from the set – but who knows who or what they will replace me with next!
• August 3, 2004 | 11:19 a.m. ET
Mad for ads (David Shuster) "We've got a hot package Tuesday on the latest battles in the campaign 'ad war.' This is the time of year the democrats had feared.
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President Bush will have the same $75 million limit, but his tab doesn't start running until he officially accepts the nomination at his convention in September. In the meantime, the Bush campaign is loaded and is pressing the financial advantage today with a new round of tv ads.
The Kerry campaign is dark. But "friendly" organizations like The Media Fund are "stepping into the void" as one strategist put it to me over the phone earlier today. We'll explain."
• August 3, 2004 | 8:20 a.m. ET
Fraud at the Fleet Center (Pat Buchanan)
By morning of the day John Kerry accepted his nomination, it was clear the Kerry Party at the Fleet Center was perpetrating a fraud on the delegates and on the nation. And many in the Big Media were going along.
Consider. Among the more than 4000 delegates, two passions were predominant:
- Detestation of Bush;
- hostility to his Iraq war.
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Yet, in prime-time speeches, George W. Bush's name had barely been even mentioned. And, on the Iraq war, Sen. John Edwards, the vice presidential nominee, declared, "We will win this war because of the strength and the courage of our people."
"We will win this war," Edwards said. Kerry has said he would be wiling to send additional U.S. troops to fight and win it.
But what if Kerry and Edwards win in November and it becomes clear that for America to win in Iraq will require more than the 140,000 troops already there?
Will Kerry, who would then be leading a nation that already believes this war was a mistake, and a party that believes it was an unnecessary and unwise, if not unjust and immoral war, be able to unite their party and the country behind the commitment of thousands of more of America's young?
Would Howard Dean and Teddy Kennedy, both of whom opposed the war, back a Kerry war policy? Would the black leaders of the party like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Charlie Rangel, who want the troops home now, support sending more troops to fight to win this war? Would President Carter support more U.S. ground forces?
These are not academic questions. There is a 50-50 chance Kerry and Edwards will win and America will face that situation in January. For it appears today that if we are not willing to commit additional U.S. forces, for a longer time than previously thought, we cannot win the war.
The day Edwards declared the United States will "win" this war, a suicide bomber in Baquba killed 68 Iraqi police recruits and wounded 58 in one of the deadliest attacks since the war began. Nor was that the sole incident on Edwards' big day.
As the AP reported, "Elsewhere U.S. and other forces were caught in fierce gun battles ... including a fight with militants who are thought to have entered from neighboring Iran." In that battle, 42 died on both sides, 10 Iraqi security police were wounded and 40 enemy were captured. A Polish major would not say whether the captured enemy were Iranians.
The AP story continues: "Nearly 1,000 Iraqi civilians and security personnel have been killed or wounded in guerrilla attacks since the U.S.-led coalition handed power to an Iraqi government, a senior U.S. official told Reuters news agency."
In The American Conservative for August 30, foreign policy scholar Andrew Bacevich writes, "History suggests that one precondition for defeating guerrillas is overwhelming numerical superiority, with a ratio of 10:1 traditionally cited as the minimum requirement. Even counting the fledgling Iraqi army, allied contingents (some of dubious quality) and the modern-day mercenaries known as private contractors, counterinsurgent forces available in Iraq today fall well short of that 10:`1 standard.
A year ago, U.S. Gen. John Abizaid estimated there were 5000 insurgents.
Yet, after a year in which U.S. forces killed and captured thousands, official estimates of enemy strength are now at 20,000 and the incidence of attacks on U.S. troops and our Iraqi allies is continuously rising.
Writes Bacevich: "How many U.S. troops do we actually need to pacify Iraq, a landmass the size of California, with long, open borders and an increasingly alienated population of 25 million? A quarter of a million soldiers -- almost twice the number currently deployed -- would not be too many."
While he admonishes America's generals not to replicate the moral failure of Vietnam -- refusing to tell civilian superiors what was needed to win -- Bacevich suggests it is also a time for truth for the White House. "Either the Bush administration needs to get serious about winning the war that it so recklessly sought in Iraq, or it needs to cut its losses."
Kerry and Edwards, as well as Bush and Cheney, need to tell us how much blood and treasure they are willing to expend on a democratic Iraq, how many more troops will be needed and for how long, and what are the chances of victory.
And we need to be told before November.
We need to be given a cold, hard, honest assessment of what we hope to gain there, and what it will cost this nation, so we can decide whether or not we wish to pay that price. We need a honest election. As a beginning of that election, this week's fraud at the Fleet Center failed the test.
• August 2, 2004 | 5:40 p.m. ET
Ron on tap: You'll remember that Ron Reagan, while in Boston, pub-crawled with some youngsters and talked to them about their thoughts on voting and politics. (Click here for that post from Ron.) Tonight, during the 7 p.m. ET hour, watch Ron's taped piece on what the youth think of the Battle for the White Hosue 2004.
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He'll also be on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" tonight (11:35 p.m. ET) with Brittany Murphy and musical guest "The Hives."
• August 2, 2004 | 5:00 p.m. ET
From the Hardblogger mailbag:
"Concerned Voter" from Wilmington, DE calls attention to a Newsweek article:
"No Convention bounce!!! That is the latest on the Kerry/Edwards team. It is interesting to note that Gallup says so but Newsweek says 'wait a minute.' This must be a cause of concern for the Kerry/Edwards camp. I guess they need to change their strategy if they want to make a big dent in the Bush/Cheney ticket."
Rich Jackson, from Beavercreek replies to a previous Hardblogger e-mail:
"By way of a reply to Kathy M. of West Grove, and anyone else wondering if the Presidential candidates will keep their 'promises' after they are elected: Keep this in mind while you are listening to those 'promises.' The President of the United States does NOT have the individual power to accomplish many (if not most) of what they promise during campaigns. Especially if it is something that requires funding. Most of the 'promises' we hear during the campaign, from any party or candidate, are really the things they want to do, and will try to do, but in most cases CAN NOT do unless they have a Congress that will go along with them."
• August 2, 2004 | 3:30 p.m. ET
More live 'Hardball' (Dominic Bellone, Hardball producer and newsletter editor)
Tonight, we're doing something special and we'd like you to join us, those of you in the greater DC area. We're broadcasting live from Sequoia restaurant at 3000 K St., NW on the Georgetown waterfront. Locals know where I'm talking about. We invite all to come, watch the show, meet Chris and have some fun. We'll have a limited number of Hardball hats which we'll hand out on a first come, first served basis. We'll also have some cool T-Shirts as well. (But only if you stay for the 9 pm show!) And if you have a cool Hardball sign we might even put you on TV.
GeorgeWBush.com has already called their troops to rally outside the live taping.
• August 2, 2004 | 9:50 p.m. ET
Still recovering from the Final Humiliation (Joe Trippi) I haven’t been able to post over the weekend because it wasn’t until this morning that I realized I had to move on, had to let go of the humiliation and defeat— put one foot in front of the other and face the fact— that it had not been a nightmare it had indeed happened — I had been removed from the set of MSNBC’s After Hours show to make room for a hand puppet!
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I looked to Dee Dee Myers for help— but she told me that she had waited a long time to work with a hand puppet on air.
Carl Bernstein— a serious journalist— certainly he would rather reveal who Deep Throat is to me instead of a plastic dog chomping on a cigar! But no— to my horror even Bernstein laughed with relish as they took me away.
It turned out, as I should have suspected, that the order came directly from my boss Phil (the crazed Yankee fan)— he didn’t like my haircut, and besides someone had to make room for the puppet— “might as well be Trippi,” he said.
In a roller coaster year of Triumph and humiliation— on the last night of the convention I experienced both— and if you were watching I hope you enjoyed the show.
(Click here to read Joe's last post.)
• August 2, 2004 | 9:30 a.m. ET
From the Hardblogger mail bag:
On the recent terror alert:
"Why does the administration feel it necessary to start this terror stuff and then go on to say 'we don't know when or where and we must continue to do our daily task.' If we cannot do anything, then why warn us and tell us not to do anything? At least with tornado warnings we can prepare. This is just the Republicans hoping Bush looks alert (not like 9/11.)" -L. Treadway, Union
Where is Hardblogger?
"Hey. It's Mon. 2 Aug. I'm still seeing July 29 and 30th stuff. Wha sup?" -Alicia Price, St. Petersburg,Fl
On Kerry's speech accepting the nomination:
"Do you want to know what bothers me, I just hope Kerry keeps all of what he has said he would do if he goes to the White House. They all— and I mean all— say one thing and do something very different once in the big house. What do you think? Because there is a lot of people in the house and so on they all have good ideas but when they get there it all goes by the way side!" - Kathy M., West Grove
• July 30, 2004 |