Politics & Other Mistakes: Memory lapse
Al Diamon
I asked some Republicans what they knew about Patrick Calder, the guy who came within 300 votes of being the GOP’s 1st Congressional District nominee and is now being hailed as one of the party’s rising political stars.
“I think I met him once,” said a well-connected party hack. “I don’t know a thing about him, except he seemed nice enough.”
“I voted for him because … well, mostly because he didn’t have a lot of baggage,” said a Portland voter. “At least, I don’t think he does. He doesn’t, does he?”
“I’ve heard of him,” said a Tea Party activist from the midcoast. “Played defense for the Boston Bruins a couple of years ago. Or was he a goalie?”
It’s possible I made that last one up.
The point is that a whole bunch of people – GOP moderates, disgruntled Ron Paul supporters, little old ladies who still wear white gloves when they visit each other for afternoon tea – voted for Calder in the June 12 primary, even though the Republican Party had another candidate on the ballot who appeared to have far more impressive qualifications for higher office. I’m referring to … uh … er … his name will come to me in a moment. It’s right on the tip of my tongue.
David Emery?
No, that’s not it. Former Congressman Emery is now gainfully employed as a budget-crunching bureaucrat in the administration of Gov. Paul LePage.
Anyway, back to Calder, who raised almost no money (his poverty-stricken campaign was mostly self-financed), showed little sign of having a grassroots strategy (he showed up for debates and in places where there were crowds – sometimes) and was roundly ignored by the news media (except for a couple of perfunctory profiles that told us little more about him than that he’s 29 years old, the first mate on a cruise ship in Hawaii and displays no obvious tendency to say stupid things in public). Calder had run for the Maine House of Representatives a couple of years ago in a solidly Democratic district in Portland, where he lost by a two-to-one margin.
In both of his campaigns, Calder espoused the standard GOP refrains of fiscal conservatism and government restraint, although he did so in a far more articulate manner than his most recent opponent, whatshisface.
Jim Longley Jr.?
Nope, I’m pretty sure the fumble-mouthed one-term representative (a lot of folks thought they were voting for his father, the former independent governor) is off somewhere making big bucks being a lobbyist.
So just how did Calder come within a fraction of a percentage point of knocking off a better-known, better-financed, more experienced competitor? Sheer dumb luck certainly played a role. It never hurts to be the fresh-faced alternative in a year when the electorate is holding alternatives in kind regard. The debates did him no harm. He looked as if he knew and cared about the issues. His opponent (Ted O’Meara? Phil Harriman? Plato Truman?) looked like he was just going through the motions while waiting for his pre-ordained victory to be officially certified.
In fact, that’s how the other candidate in the primary race handled his entire campaign (I’m fairly certain it was “his campaign,” as opposed to “her campaign,” although I suppose it’s possible Calder was running against Jane Amero. If so, she’s really let herself go). This guy is allegedly serving as Senate majority leader. He’s probably in the news every day defending the GOP agenda. He’s got a solid base of support in someplace like York County. Whoever he is, he probably figured he didn’t have to put much effort into pressing the flesh and kissing babies.
Got it! Charlie Summers!
Oops, turns out Summers (who’s run for this seat three times without much to show for it) is on this year’s ballot, but not for this office. Sorry.
After it became obvious Calder’s upset bid was going to fall just short, he did everything necessary to bolster his image (which was just this side of invisible) with the party rank and file by refusing to ask for a recount and promptly endorsing the winner (Oram Lawry? Dean Scontras?). “The primary is over,” he said. “We’re all on the same side now.” He then graciously gestured toward a guy hired to provide the sound system for the press conference, apparently mistaking him for, you know, the candidate who won.
Rollin Ives? Linda Bean?
While Calder awaits his next opportunity to demonstrate his unconscious ability to attract votes, the fellow who squeaked by him (Roland Speers? Tony Payne?) must now prepare for a general election race against the incumbent Democrat, Chellie Pingree. Pingree has plenty of money, a solid organization and a hedge-fund-manager hubby who owns the major newspaper in her district. Her Republican opponent will have to somehow get by on wit, wiles and the immense advantage of being … hmmm …
Jonathan Courtney?
Nah, not likely.
Sometime before the November election, I’ll have to look that name up. In the meantime, feel free to email any possibilities to me at aldiamon@herniahill.net. Peter Garland? No, I’m almost certain he’s dead.
Entries(RSS)
How did Obama win office? Oh yeah, because of mindless, asinine, brutish, careless, foolish, forgetful, gratuitous, heedless, idiotic, imbecilic, inattentive, moronic, negligent, nitwitted, obtuse, out of it, rash, senseless, silly, simple, spaced-out, thoughtless, unaware, unintelligent, unmindful, unthinking, witless people who knew nothing about him and voted for him for reasons that should not have had anything to do with it. (And we still don't know anything about him.)
The most glaring paradox of Calder’s campaign was his membership in the the Marine Engineer’s Beneficial Association (MEBA). The MEBA union is part of the AFL/CIO and negotiates for excellent healthcare and retirement benefits for it’s membership. Chellie Pingree received a 100% rating from the AFL/CIO on her voting record. Perhaps Calder should now be supporting Chellie Pingree. He campaigned for raising the Social Security retirement age and repeal of the AHA. Evidently his concern for the evil unions stopped at the water’s edge.
It was the intelligent ones like "Me" (not I) who voted Bush in. Wait - he wasn't voted in -he was installed. With the help of another intelligent guy : Clarence Thomas , who to our grave misfortune,happened to be awake that fateful day.
"Me:" I'm very impressed that, after "mindless," the rest of your negative attack terms are all in alphabetical order!! Did you copy-and-paste from Thesaurus.com?
Geoof Cyr... I didn't look at it as an attack.. Just a reminder of who the Prez is.. I will await for your positive spin on the man... I reckon that will be a struggle or lots of effort, exertion, labor, pain ,strain, stress, trouble and lots of time....
Me, I voted for him and I would do it again,
Ah, Glen, excellent assumption on your behalf!! Who said I was an Obama supporter? Perhaps I'm just tired of insults, demagoguery and ad hominem attacks being used in place of legitimate political dialogue!
What bothers me most about Obama is his generous and relentless use of empty clichés. “Fair Shot, “hope and change,” “Yes we can”, “fair wage, “Forward,” “racism,” “social justice“, etc.
A close second in what is bothersome about Obama is his use of the formal and informal fallacies. We see the “post hoc,” ad misericordium, ad hominem in its three forms, the fallacy of accident and its reverse, ad baculum, ad vericundium, appeal to greed and to envy, straw man, ad populum, complex question, circular argument, question begging, and the formal fallacies of denying the antecedent and affirming the consequent. I have seen him use them all. He either knows that these are errors and will fool people, or he doesn’t recognize them and is fooled himself.
What is particularly sad about his use of clichés and fallacies it that people are so easily fooled.
"What is particularly sad about his use of clichés and fallacies it that people are so easily fooled".
Willie Nelson in one of his numbers (Outlaw album - maybe) said/sang something to the effect "we received out education in the cities of this nation, me and Paul"
My core education and learning after reasonably meeting the exit requirements at FHS and FSC instilled in a me a continuing proclivity for the utterance of phrase "I didn't hear him say that, did you hear his say that?"
This is certainly knot to say that underestimating the value of home "court advantage" and/or local rule 101 ain't important, in the some of cities of this nation the exits aren't necessarily well that marked (that's where good old learning comes in when the creek starts rising faster than the Farmer's Almanac said it wood)
............doesn't anyone do their own thinking in anymore?
Since when is "racism" an empty cliche? (Or "fair wage" and any of the others cited too.)
Not to be mean, but some of you folks need to reread what you've written before you hit "Submit Comment." Some of these postings don't make sense.
Laura, you are apparently a person who finds these cliches meaningful. These are political slogans. They mean very very little----essentially they are empty emotional prods or goads. They tend to trample on reason and short circuit analysis. For example, what real content is there in Obama's new slogan "forward?" Cliches are worn out or overused expressions. Everything is "racist" now. It is very widely over used and means just about nothing any more.
What do you think of the fallacies?
bill, what politician or candidate for political office runs a campaign free from slogans, clichés, and empty buzzwords meant to rouse the ignorant rabble? if you want to talk about emotional prods, the entire corporate media is just as guilty, including holy fox. politics is propaganda. read jacques ellul's seminal work on the subject. is your opposition to obama entirely based on his speech-writers' and campaign managers' uses of logical fallacies? tell us which fallacy that falls under.
if you feel that the word "racist" lacks meaning, you are seriously out of touch, my friend.
The only people who call "racism" a cliché are those who have some motive for pretending it's not still a problem.
Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point where bigots and their apologists can pretty much throw racial slurs around, and then if anyone calls them on it, they call it "playing the race card."
As for the fallacies and other lists piling up here, all I have to say is, "Thanks a lot, Walt Whitman."
Words are not cliches. Words are words. They have definitions. I doubt that anyone of color finds "racism" a cliche, an empty expression, or even a meaningless word. Or that anyone without a job or underemployed thinks "fair wage" is meaningless. "Everything is racist now" does qualify as a cliche.
Fallacies?
Yes Words do have meaning.
Like ,,WOLF!!!!!
Keep crying it even when there is no wolf and you have what's happened in this country with racism.
Contrary to Jesse and Al Sharptons careers agenda,,,,people of color are ambarassed about the way racism has absolutely been politicized.
This is as wrong as wrong can get folks.
Shame on em (OMG did I say that).
YUP.
Rasicsm is wrong.
So is crying WOLF for personal gain or just plain good sport watching the fallout.
Know what I hate?
I hate being called a "HATER" when I am not one.
Cry Wolf all you want,,,dont make it so.
Reasonable and politically "free" people feel the same way I do.
Now go about your business as if you had good sense will ya.
What's happened in this country with racism is this: the racists are still racists.
Some know that they are, and some are in serious denial, but they all claim that it's not a problem anymore, and that anyone who points out that indeed it is still a problem and that it happens every day is throwing clichés around, or crying wolf.
Racism is wrong.
So is running around accusing everyone of being racist at every opportunity.
Both of these groups of people are in denial.
How 'bout this,,,
Lets BEHAVE and BE REAL.
Doesnt sound to me like Peter accused anyone of being a racist. No he just pointed out that some people here are sending mixed messages, like racism is wrong but it's not a real problem. If anyone here is in denial its not him.