The Final Countdown of the Campaign: Granholm, McDonnell, Castellanos, Reed, and Brokaw
- Fmr. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) served as head of the state of Michigan for two terms, from 2003-2011. Granholm served as the stand-in for Fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) during preparations for the 2008 vice presidential debate. She said of Vice President Biden’s performance in this week’s debate, “He clearly has a heart for real people. He has passion, he was relatable. I think he did what he had to do” and it “stopped the Romney momentum.” Granholm and her husband, Dan Mulhern, co-wrote “A Governor’s Story.” She also hosts The War Room with Jennifer Granholm. Watch her most recent appearance on Meet the Press.
- Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) is in his first term as governor and is chairman of the Republican Governors Association. He has been stumping for Mitt Romney across the country, and throughout his own state of Virginia. While campaigning in Wisconsin earlier this week before the debate, McDonnell said he anticipated “a lot of bluster and a defense of the Obama record by Joe Biden, but I expect a lot of facts and figures and passion for the American dream by Paul Ryan” and it will present a choice between “a vision of America that is forward looking, Reaganesque and free-market-oriented vs. a plan for the last four years that hasn't worked, no matter how Joe Biden sugarcoats it." Watch his latest appearance on the show.
- Republican strategist Alex Castellanos wrote pre-first debate that “the ultimate undecided voter is in the White House.” He wrote that “uncertainty of what [President Obama] stands for is mounting,” citing the president’s changed stances on ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, closing Guantanamo, and the Bush tax cuts, among others. Castellanos has served as a strategist for the Romney campaign, as well as on John McCain’s 2008 campaign and the Bush-Cheney campaigns in 2000 and 2008. Watch his latest appearance on the show here.
- Democratic Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has been in office since 2010 and is currently the chairman of the Transportation and Communications Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. On his last appearance on Meet the Press, Reed said of Mitt Romney’s missteps on the campaign trail, “[I]t shows basically is Republicans have a candidate that’s defective, and it shouldn’t be surprising to them. He has made these mistakes repeatedly.” Watch the mayor’s latest Meet the Press appearance here.
- NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who moderated the town hall debate between Obama and Sen. John McCain (D-AZ) in 2008, said last week’s debate was “a kick-start to this presidential campaign” because “[i]f it had been Romney performing like the president last night, it would have been over.” The debate was good for the country though because “it will engage the country. There were big ideas” they talked about in the debate. Brokaw said, “Some of [these big ideas were] imperfectly articulated and certainly not well defended in some instances, but they are talking about the issues on the minds of a lot of American people.” Here is his most recent Meet the Press appearance.
Stephen Colbert
- Stephen Colbert is the host of the Colbert Report, a political satire show he hosts in character. His character, he said, is “based on news punditry, the masters of opinion in cable news.” Colbert is also a writer and executive producer for the show, which won a Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting in 2008 and two Emmys for itswriting. He was previously a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
- Colbert also takes his satirical character beyond his show. Last year, he formed a Super PAC, the Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, parodying the surge of the Super PAC since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. He later transferred control of the Super PAC to fellow political satirist Jon Stewart in order to form an exploratory committee about entering the South Carolina GOP primary race in January. He previously attempted a South Carolina Democratic primary run in 2007. Colbert has also testified in character during a Congressional hearing in 2010 regarding farm labor and immigration after spending a day as a farm worker.
- Colbert is the author of “America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren’t.” With the country’s current economic issues, he says there is now a “sense that you mustn't criticize America because it's perfect. But then again America is in the toilet, and we have to fix it.” This book covers “that dichotomy, that sort of paradoxical statement that our greatest days are ahead of us, and we've got the greatest history in the history of history, but right now […] we've got to save America from disaster.”
- Here is Colbert’s previous Meet the Press appearance in 2007.
Follow these guests on Twitter:
- Stephen Colbert: @StephenAtHome
- Fmr. Gov. Jennifer Granholm: @JenGranholm
- Gov. Bob McDonnell: @bobmcdonnell
- Mayor Kasim Reed: @KasimReed
- Alex Castellanos: @alexcast
- Tom Brokaw: @tombrokaw
Also follow @meetthepress for updates during the show.
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The Change in Tone and Civility…
(azcentral.com, McCain, 2/17/2012) "U.S. Sen. John McCain is one Arizona Republican who is not excited about Wednesday's GOP presidential debate in Mesa.
A downbeat McCain told The Arizona Republic last week that he believes that the preponderance of debates over the past year or so -- there have been 25 since May -- and the increasingly negative tenor of the forums could result in the Republicans nominating a damaged candidate to take on President Barack Obama this year.
"They've turned from a candidate's ability to describe their position on the issues to mud-wrestling," McCain said. "Unfortunately, it has driven up the unfavorables of the candidates. So I think we've had enough debates, and every day that it goes on, the more advantage it gives to President Obama."
Even back during the Republican debates, the GOP had a problem with "NEGATIVITY". President Obama's first debate demonstrated to the Democrats how ill prepared they were for politics in the 21st Century. With the likes of Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Coulter, Savage, Reed and the Teavanglicals and the Fox Noise Team, Republicans have become increasingly angry and negative. Somewhere down the line the "TRUTH" also took a battering as the GOP strategy became to win at all cost, LIE if you have too.
In last nights debate Vice President Joe Biden gave the Republicans a dose of their own medicine. Joe Biden's infamous smile was as effective as Mitt Romney's Cheshire Cat grin in his debate with President Obama. With Ryan playing the "Professional" Congressman, he didn't have a chance. Although America says it longs for "Civility" what we really want is "SPECTICAL" for entertainment, revenge and ratings.
No my friends "Democrats" are not above this sort of thing, and that's good. Last night Joe Biden's PERFORMANCE gave America hope that the Democratic Party had the BALLS to win. That we were not neutered by our own politeness and civility; that we could still defend our beliefs and fight for the American Middle Class without apology.
Lamenting days past is useless. The only way to fight FIRE is with FIRE and last night Joe Biden created that fire-line and let loose the dogs of hell. He changed the game for the Democrats, who have been afraid to fight, afraid to say Mitt Romney is a LIAR….afraid to interrupt or to take back the floor when interrupted, to be aggressive and assertive while defending their positions. But that is the world we live in now, it doesn't' really matter whether it is unfortunate or not…it is what it is and it has been changing for quite sometime….The Republicans were counting on a another election season where the Democrats would not catch on…they were counting on them staying neutered, polite and passive.
The first Presidential Debate seemed to have awakened the sleeping giant, one can hope. The issues are too big and too important to the American Middle Class and the poor among us to wring our hands about being POLITE….We must fight tooth and nail for what we believe, because the other side is doing the same…
The GOP stopped being "COLLEGIAL" with each other long ago, why would the Democrats think they were still going to extend that courtesy to you?
So my fellow Democrats, Progressives and Independents….it is time to stand up for ourselves and what we believe in and not hide behind the veil of "likability", we can be civil, but assertive and show America that we do have the CAJONES to lead…we must show them our CAJONES are HUGE and made of STEEL!!! JOE BIDEN was surely PROUD TO SHOW HIS and they were COLOSSAL LOL Good job JOE!
If the Republicans win by LYING and CHEATING the System (voter suppression) the voters of America have just signaled to both parties that they would rather here LIES and we will never hear the TRUTH AGAIN....Democracy will be dead.
The Press should be CHAMPIONING the TRUTH, who wants to sit in front of the Television to watch lies? The "FALSE EQUIVALENCY" Doctrine has brought the Press to the precipice of irrelevance...
The Republicans are living in a bubble, it was said that Clinton turned the economy around in 4 years, LIVING IN A BUBBLE. It took him 8 years.
Why do the Republicans LIE and think no one is LISTEN.
There is a lot of discussion about Romney's $5 Trillion tax cut. Let's take it at face value, as Romney himself said in the debate over and over (which makes you believe that it's true, also in his own words in the debate) that rhe rich will not pay less and the middle class will not pay more. My question is, What kind of stimulus is that, and how will such a revenue neutral non income-shifting tax "cut" provide it?
I lived through the Nixon catastrophe involving the Watergate breakin: the lies, denials, secrecy, the group of bandits involved in this grand deception who almost brought the government down and was responsible for the loss of confidence and trust among Americans in their elected officials. Like so many Americans, I lived through the G. W. Bush administration and all his prevarications, like the WMD that were supposed to be in Iraq and his bravado of Mission Accomplished.
Now we're facing another potential presidency where denials, lies, and secrecy are rampant with Mitt and his merry gang of contortionists who can't recognize the truth if it was sitting on their faces.
First, his refusal to show more of his tax returns. Why has the media forgotten to press him on it? Whose protecting the interests of the American public on such an important matter?
Second, Mitt's removal of all the hard drives from the computers when he left his job as governor of Massachusett? Why did Mitt and his cohorts take the hard drives from all the computers when he left his governor's job, what was he hiding, and why doesn't the media pick up on this?
Third, the Olympics archives. What happened to all the documents that are missing from the Utah Olymics archives, important documents relating to vendor contracts, including fees, and full agreements made between the Olympics administration and vendors? Why did he or others under Mitt's orders take the documents, where are they?
Fourth, Mitt refuses to make public the names of his bundlers, why so much secrecy?
Fifth, Mitt refuses to give the American public specifics about his tax cuts. Why keep the American people in the dark on this subject and why tell so many different stories about who is or is not going to be affected by these cuts?
Sixth, why should we trust a candidate who behind closed doors with his rich supporters uses such means and derogatory language in referring to 47% of Americans as freeloaders, as lazy people begging for government handouts, who said about unions, “I will pursue and hopefully enact legislation which inhibits taking money in the form of dues and putting it behind political campaigns. That should not happen.”
Last, why should we think Mitt and his gang will be straight with the public if he becomes president? He's already told us what he thinks of most Americans and we already know that he likes to keep many of his ideas secret and away from the voters whose votes he needs to get elected. We should not be surprised when the real Mitt Romney reveals himself to us if and only if he becomes our president.
1st- Obama refuses to release any of his college records
2nd- In his Rose Garden Speech, Obama announced the attack at 0:27 and didn't get around to terrorism until much later in the 5:35 address. Further, he allowed UN Ambassador Rice to lie on the Sunday press shoes. Further than that, it was not until 26 September did Jay Carney finally admit the whole 'The Muslims were pissed at the YouTube movie sham from the Administration was false. 14 days of the Obama administration lying to the American People. Obama has NEVER not attached terrorism to an act, but in the Rose Garden on 12 Sept he failed to do so. Then he was off to LV for campaigning.