Gary Cohen: Anddd Russert peers into the catcher to get the sign...shakes his head yes. Richardson digs in at the plate....Russert in his wind up....it's a fastball....Richardson swings!!! He's strikes out again!!!!Keith Hernandez: Boy, with a swing like that it's hard to believe he was ever drafted!
Gary Cohen: He wasn't, he just says he was!
Ralph Kiner: Garble Garble
Open Bar's top pick for the democratic nomination was on Meet The Press this weekend and his performance was HORRENDOUS.
I don't really feel strongly about him one way or the other but I found myself feeling embarrassed for him.
Here are some lowlights that stand out for me:
- He seems to have done some...evolving on issues recently, which is one thing but he didn't seem even remotely prepared for Tim Russert, who routinely asks tough questions.
- He had been for the Iraq Invasion and against pulling out, now he is for pulling out immediately? When asked why, he stumbled around for a while and really couldn't find a convincing answer.
- Russert pointed out that New Mexico ranks at the bottom of all the states on things like education, poverty, etc. Bill, again, stumbled around for an answer but to no avail.
- He presents himself as the 'greenest candiate'. But Bill, you worked for oil companies after the Clinton Administration, including one whose CEO celebrated the high oil prices. His answer, 'Well, Tim, I don't apoloize for that. I had to earn a living.'
- He often quotes a woman whose son died in Iraq. He claims at the son's funeral, the mom pulled out his 'death benefit' check for $11,000. She claims that never happened and can't believe he's using her son as campaign propaganda. His answer? Again, fumbling around, then saying they just have different recollections. Does he apologize for it? 'Ummm, I'm kind of sorry but not really, but really I do feel bad, but I'm not really sorry.'
- He claimed in the past that he was drafted by a pro baseball team but he wasn't. 'Well, you know, I thought I had been drafted'. Turns out he was offered a contract but not drafted.
- "I've always been a Red Sox fan", he claimed. "But", Russert pointed out, "in your book you say you're a Yankees fan". "Well, I'm a big Yankees fan too". At that point, even Russert was incredulous.
Now, I know Richardson is a smart dude and I have no doubt that he has accomplished a lot in his career. I also understand that politicians often switch positions based on changing conditions and, more regularly, changing political winds.
What I can't understand, however, is how he could go on Meet the Press and be so utterly unprepared for these questions that he should have known were going to be asked of him.
1 comment:
Ugh. I hate talking politics on this blog (or any other, for that matter), but LJT was right that Billy Mex was my pick, so I feel I've got to add a thing or two.
He fucking blew it. LJT's points are all well made, and my first thought upon seeing his Meet the Press appearance was also that he was completely unprepared. I wonder if maybe he and Russert had a late-night drunk the night before. (If you watch Russert right as he asks his first question, he shows blatant signs of a hangover, though he managed to maintain thereafter. Billy Mex, on the other hand -- which Danny G pointed out to me -- was looking down at the table for 90 percent of the interview. Danny says this is a sign of lying; I say he had a tequila headache.)
I still think he made some good points on many issues, but they were clouded by way too much bullshit and "I'm-trying-to-remember-my-talking-points" answers.
But what totally killed it for me was his vagination (Did I just coin that? Probably not.) on the Red Sox/Yankees thing. Red Sox/Yankees is not remotely the same thing as pro-choice/pro-life or pro-(Iraq)war/anti-war. Yet he treated it as such. He said he was a Red Sox fan repeatedly, yet Russert pointed out that in Billy’s book he said that because he loved Mickey Mantle, he became a yankee fan. And when Russert pressed him to choose, Billy said he was a Red Sox fan, but "also a yankee fan."
Being a yankee fan is bad enough in my opinion, but it’s something I’m willing to reluctantly overlook at times (such as choosing a cool roommate or, oh I don’t know, a president?). But insisting on being a Red Sox fan and then saying “I’m also a yankee fan” is the same thing as saying “Yes, slavery was bad, but I was also a really big fan of the Confederacy.”
Billy Mex, you were my boy, but you done fucked up real bad. There’s time to recover, but you got work to do, holmes.
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