Has There Ever Been As Dramatic And Public A Political Meltdown As The Clintons?

[MannyGoldstein]

I've been paying attention to politics since towards the end of Nixon's tenure, and can't recall anything like this. It's like a two-car demolition derby - just when we're sure both cars have had enough, they eke out yet another terrifying speed run into a wall.

Even Nixon knew to shut up and go away once he was finished - he had *some* sense of honor.

Hunter Thompson was right - the Clintons make Nixon look like a stand-up guy.

[forintegrity]

1. The Howard Dean Scream?

[PretzelWarrior]

3. Dean's was prior to actually winning anything

Clinton had been winning quite a few and things had been even blow for blow with Obama. She was a legitimate candidate and it seems they ran out of money or something. It's like the wheels really fell off after she didn't obliterate Obama on super duper Tuesday.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. But He Exited After That

He says it was because it was clear Kerry would win, not because of the scream. I gotta give him the benefit of the doubt.

[juajen]

2. What meltdown.? What country do you live in?

[MannyGoldstein]

9. The People's Republic Of Massachusetts

Where we have adequate TV service, so we can watch the meltdown.

Is your cable out?

[bunnies]

10. ROFL

this is rhetorical. Right?

[MadHound]

4. Oh Muskie was worse, but then again he was on prescribed drugs

Still, when he started publicly crying, that pretty much did it for him, allowing McGovern to get the nod.

[MannyGoldstein]

7. But It Was Quick. The Clintons Keep Swallowing Handgrenades

One after the other, doing nothing but causing more injury to themselves.

[Medusa]

17. Muskie weren't as well-known as Bill & Hillary Clinton are

the flameout on this one and the loss of respect for them both is enormous.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Sure there have.

But it's still one for the books.

[K Gardner]

6. I don't remember one this self-induced. Ya can't really

count Watergate in THAT equation. She's doing this in public.. in front of the cameras.

[Yael]

11. Its her 'Outraged' Tour 2008

I hope I can still get a shirt.

[ORDem]

25. but don't forget the bitter condescension tour, too. n/t

[Debi]

67. I have a bumper the sticker!

[lojasmo]

12. Truly terrible to watch.

I used to really admire Clinton.

[Forkboy]

13. Kerry Healey imploded the last week of the race after the Willie Horton type ad she ran.

Of course, not many thought she had a chance anyways, but until then race was within ten points or so. She ended up getting trounced, rightfully so. That campaign reminds me of the Clinton campaign in many ways, besides the obvious that they're both female.

[TexasObserver]

14. Nothing else comes close. Never seen anything like it. They destroyed themselves while we watched.

In two months, start to finish.

[ORDem]

26. Unfortunately for all of us it's still not over. In tomorrow's debate which will it be

1. Honor
2. Outrage
3. Bitter sarcasm?

:dem:

[TexasObserver]

48. She wants to make it about his tactics, but it's hers that are on display. It will backfire on her.

Like all her other ploys the past 8 weeks. The crying, the whining, the shouting, the begging, the false outrage, the nonstop lying about her records and his. She's done, and this last debate will be the last debate. She's circling the drain, and Tuesday will put her campaign out of its misery.

Then she can stiff all her worker bees, stiff all the vendors, and pout the rest of the year.

[Kahuna]

53. Riiight. She will point to one erroneous quote and try to make it a

referendum on Barack's integrity. I hope she's ready to be taken to the woodshed again. :popcorn:

[TexasObserver]

55. She's not good on her feet. She can learn lines and repeat them badly.

She can never be ready for his retorts, which are simply miles ahead of her planning and thinking.

She'll come off looking loud, desperate, and annoying. He'll come off looking strong, cool, and deliberate. Hopefully, this is the last debate we'll have to see with Hillary.

[Independent-Voter]

64. and he'll hold his pinky out while doing so!

Somebody was bitching about the pinky the other day, FWIW.

[Egnever]

15. The launching of Vanguard

This thing with Clinton is a train wreck of nearly the same proportions.

[ArfDogMNO]

19. I am wondering

if she will have a moment where she really loses it (anger or hysteria) on camera before this is over. The 'kitchen sink' approach is desperation, and I don't think it is going to work, and may in fact have the opposite effect.

[Hardrada]

16. The Profumo Scandal in the UK?

Willy Brandt in Germany after the spy scandal?

[Recursion]

18. Gary Hart, 1988 n/t

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

20. Budd Dwyer? n/t

[yardwork]

21. I wonder what Hunter Thompson would say about w.

I've often wondered that. In my musing moments.

[EFerrari]

22. "The sky will open. Celestial light will come down . . "

She's lost it entirely. It's embarrassing to watch. She's about as presidential as a soap opera stock character.

[ORDem]

28. Yeah, that performance really put the nail in the coffin for me.

God that was sooooo childish. I think her supporters in that rally were even embarrassed.

:dem:

[EFerrari]

59. They're playing it again on MSNBC.

Let's take up a collection and buy the footage. Is that possible?

Ack.

[Political Heretic]

23. I'm struggling to remember a comparable example.

[ORDem]

24. Nixon didn't really go away quietly the first time. Haven't you heard

of his Checkers speech?

:dem:

[dailykoff]

27. Valley of the Dolls comes to mind.

So does Jessica Savitch.

[Beacool]

29. What meltdown???

She may lose yet, but I have no problem with a candidate calling out another if they feel that their views on the issues have been distorted.

The mocking moment was funny as hell for all those of us who haven't drank the Obama Kool-Aid and don't find him messianic in the least.

[donheld]

30. What meltdown?

I think they mean a candidate going from being the far in the lead front runner to the candidate's campaign falling apart.

[EFerrari]

32. What you people fail to understand is that "mocking" Obama

also rebounds on her and on the campaign.

What a disgusting display. I can only imagine how many people in that audience wished they were anywhere else.

[Beacool]

34. Nope, I heard plenty of people laughing.

Not everyone in the party is enamored with the anointed one. Remember that 9 million people voted for Hillary and not Obama. To plenty of us his ego, his platitudes and this attitude by his supporters that the guy almost walks on water is a complete turn off.

For goodness sakes, the man blows his nose and he gets wild applause. How creepy is that????? What would they have done if he belched or passed gas???


:scared:

[EFerrari]

35. I book comedy for a living. Sometimes people laugh because

they don't know what else to do with their mouths.

I only hope she continues to regale people with her Obama impersonation. That will shorten this crash and burn for all of us.

[Raine]

42. Laughing from embarassment

at seeing such a thing, people often do that cause it's so embarassing they don't know what else to do. :blush: :-(

[cali]

45. Perhaps, but her poll numbers have been sinking since she

went on the attack. It simply doesn't work for her. And I support Obama but see him as flawed and far from perfect. The false meme that people worship him is entirely cooked up by the media and Hillbots like you- along with Hilly. Oh, and he didn't get applause for blowing his nose, dear. He got applause for saying he had a cold but he'd be fine for the debate. duh.

[Beacool]

68. Dear?

I wasn't aware of our friendship.........


:shrug:

[Mushroom]

49. Obama wouldn't be so uptight

if he spent a half-hour a day armpit farting.

[Muzza]

36. She did a good job actually. More power to her.

[EFerrari]

40. Sure, because mocking your opponent is such an elegant argument.

I'm sure her professors thought, there goes our best student.

Small birds sighed and women everywhere thought, someday I want to humiliate myself just like that.

[Kahuna]

54. Glad you liked it. I hoped she keeps feeding you that red meat. nt

[northernsoul]

61. A good job of what?

Pissing away millions of dollars on clueless consultants?

[Muzza]

37. EXACTLY!!! I WAS LAUGHING HARD!

[Muzza]

31. Total Rubbish

Do you know what a real meltdown is??? Britney Spears perhaps. What complete and utter B/S that the Clintons are having a "political meltdown"!

[EFerrari]

33. Yeah, that's the ticket. It's rubbish. n/t

[Muzza]

39. Whatever...

[Raine]

38. Not voluntarily

I've seen people really under duress like Nixon or when Clinton was badgered about Monica but not doing it to THEMESELF! :-(

[Muzza]

41. Heard of a thing called the media?

[MonkeyFunk]

43. This is why it's getting harder and harder for me to support Obama

should he win. You guys aren't content just to win. You feel you must destroy Clinton with this stupid hyperbole.

Unity my ass.

[intaglio]

44. Monkey, the whole point is that it is Clinton destroying herself

Posts have not, in the main, been triumphalist because the meltdown is there. She is behind in the opinion polls and in delegate count, she is losing superdelegates yet - and sorry to shout - SHE CONTINUES WITH THE SAME FAILED ROUTINES AND CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT.

Truth is her campaign was crippled not by her own abilities on the stump but by her inability to put together a winning team; it's a management thing, sorry.

[LeftCoast]

47. You read this stuff on Drudge. Doesn't that give you the teensy tinniest pause?

You have already incorporated into your 'reality' that Clinton is guilty of this hypped up Drudge-crime. Not a single shred of evidence other than an unnamed source on DRUDGE!

Neither candidate is perfect, but my GOD some of you folks will simply believe any negative thing you hear about Clinton. It's absolutely pathological.

[intaglio]

51. I don't read Drudge

I looked at it once about 2 years ago and puked a little in my mouth. I have never read it since.

Thanks for the flamebait - but no thanks

[Alexander]

50. Yeah, vote against your best interests because of strangers on a message board!

That's the ticket!

:sarcasm:

[MonkeyFunk]

58. I didn't say I wouldn't vote for him

learn to read.

I've said from the beginning that I think he'd be a fine candidate and a fine president. But the readiness of some Obama supporters to push any lie, smear or half-truth they can find makes it more difficult for me to actively support him.

As I said, winning isn't enough for you guy - you have to destroy other candidates. It's sick, pathetic bullying, and you should know that most people don't respond positively to such stuff.

[closeupready]

60. There may be a few Democrats who enjoy seeing their peers self-destruct, but come on.

Most of us, even the staunchest Obama supporters, are saddened when faced with such embarrassing displays of stress-induced meltdown-type behavior from someone who was as esteemed as she was. What makes it even worse is that instead of directing her public vitriol at the GOP, she directed it at another Democrat.

[NDambi]

46. How about?

Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI.

Well not really, but I couldn't resist..

[Perry Logan]

52. Quick reminder: all anti-Clinton posts are fiction.

[BeyondGeography]

56. What we haven't seen before is an elective meltdown of this type

The Clintons had eight years in the White House and, for average human beings, that woud have been enough. But they subjected themselves to the messy process of finding a nominee, thinking it would be relatively easy. That was their big mistake. Once it turned out to be a slog, the masks came off and what we saw often wasn't pretty. In theory, they didn't have to go there, but the lure of power is too much for these two. Hopefully, they'll be somewhat cured after this go-round, but it will still take time.

[Vinca]

57. No - and MSNBC just reported a Gennifer Flowers putting tapes

up for auction story. When it rains . . .

[elixir]

62. Why are you such a Clinton hater? Did you suffer under Bill's presidency?

[GarbagemanLB]

65. I didn't know Hillary = Bill! I thought she was running away from NAFTA and the Defense of Marriage

Act!

[elixir]

66. Your response is confused. I asked the original post why the "clintons"

You stated what you believe, or hope to believe, that Hillary = Bill. Did Hillary pass NAFTA? Hmmm, I guess you're wrong again.

[cooolandrew]

63. ...