Sunday Morning - I'm watching 'This Week with George Stephanopoulos'. After a grating segment with Bill Frist and Nancy Pelosi, the next guests were the two chairmen, Ed Gillespie (RNC Chairman) and Terry McAuliffe (DNC Chairman).
I seem to end up listening to these guys quite a bit. Depending on what day you get me, Ed Gillespie is either the slimiest character in the GOP filth machine, or else a more-or-less professional. A professional scumbag maybe, but a professional.
Terry Mac is his own deal. He catches a lot of shit among Democrats for his role as Collector-In-Chief. For guys like Ralph Nader, who the other day called the DNC Chairman a "jungle fighter," McAuliffe is the symbol of all that is decadent and corrupt with the Democratic party. What gets ignored in the analysis is the importance of money in fighting off GOP attack ads. As much as we lament it, a lot of voters cast their ballots on the basis of information gleaned from TV advertisements. When the GOP is running ads comparing war veterans to Saddam Hussein, running footage of men kissing at the alter in rural districts, claiming John Kerry actually spent the Vietnam war at Club Med (okay not that one), Democrats need money - and TV ads - to counteract the slime.
So between Ed and Terry, I think Terry is actually the more effective spokesperson. You wouldn't get that sense based on the way each man is treated within his own party, but I think it's true. Gillespie alternates between sputtering mock-rage and hopeless shilling, McAuliffe is harder to knock off his game. Oddest moment: Ed Gilespie declaring that "the most dangerous place to be on Tuesday will be between a GOP voter and the polling booth." Uh, okay GOP voter. Just try to focus all that blind rage that fuels your reason for living. No reason to make it "dangerous." Though I'm sure you would like nothing more.
Posted by mike at October 31, 2004 11:53 AM