Last night, in the middle of the craziness that is producing live television, we all stopped for this exchange with Nicolle Wallace. She served as White House communications director under President George Bush and worked as a senior adviser to the McCain/Palin ticket in 2008. She also recently published a political novel called It's Classified -- featuring a candidate for vice president whom Rachel described as "cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs."
Midway through the interview, Rachel asked if she had any advice for Ms. Palin about getting into the 2012 Republican race. From the transcript:
NICOLLE WALLACE: She'd have to play by some of the normal conventions. And I think that will enrage her base of supporters. But the truth is the times are too dire to run as the man or woman for the right or the left.
I think that was the difficult lesson Obama learned and the price he's paying for pushing an agenda that appealed maybe too much to the left. People don't like that.
MADDOW: The left do not feel like they've gotten a lot.
WALLACE: I mean, he has the constitution to govern the whole country and he has missed an opportunity to do so with his policies. So, my advice for anyone, particularly for her -- and she has a whole nest of problems that would, you know, that she'd have to confront. But the first one would be to resist her most partisan and most polarizing instincts because that would make her the wrong candidate for the moment.
MADDOW: Does she have anything to offer beyond that?
WALLACE: Look, you know, I was inspired by her to write a book about someone who was cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. So don't ask me.
I guess that would be the "clef" part of roman a clef. Below, straight out of the Saturday morning cartoons, the yummy chocolatey taste that's a healthy part of a great breakfast.
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I was LMAO at that comment. Only Rachel could have pulled that one off
I was wondering if I heard Nicole Wallace correctly. Thank you for confirming!
The last thing America needs right now is a half-term quitter lecturing our president and the people of this country on how to behave or what sort of radical course we need to set for our collective future. Sarah Palin is interested in personal profit and celebrity, not what is best for America. Her rhetoric is divisive and is dangerous for this country. She would never last one minute in a presidential race if she could not take a year of being the governor of Alaska. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
"I think that was the difficult lesson Obama learned and the price he's paying for pushing an agenda that appealed maybe too much to the left."
Ok so I was a bit done with her when she said this, as someone ON the left - he hasn't come left enough! And at this point I hate the word "bi-partisanship"!
But I figure only Rachael can get away with saying "kookoo for cocoa puffs"...LOL
I'm always puzzled when someone makes one of these non-specific remarks about how Obama is a good man but they just don't like his "policies". What policies? He's not king. He's been opposed at every turn by a balky Congress who have admitted their only objective is to make him a one term president.
What the extremes, on both side, need to realize is they will never get their agenda passed in a centrist leaning country. Two prime examples of this are health care reform and the closing of Guantanamo. Even with a totally Democratic government, neither result satisfied the extremes. Everyone talks compromise, but unless there is a leader pushing for change, it will never happen. It's not enough to give a lofty speech and then leave it to a partisan congress to work out the details. You have to lay out detailed plans and then be engaged from the beginning. On this, Obama fails.
Last night on Fox, Gretta interviewed Palin and both stated recent polls showing the mama grizzly 3 4 points behind Obama. I think Palin will run but will do so under a party of her own. She actually thinks she has the American people behind her (mental illness?).
I would so "support" her in doing that. :) Run,Sarah, run!!!
Wow. An Exxon/Mobil pro-fracking ad before the video starts. That's most unfortunate.
A thought that I keep having about la Palin is that if she looked like Madeline Albright, no one would give a crap about her or what she will or won't do. The only reason that she gets ANY attention in the media, aside from what a goof she is, is because she's a former beauty pageant contender. As far as the intelligence and skills needed to lead the country...there is no "there" there!
"I think that was the difficult lesson Obama learned and the price he's paying for pushing an agenda that appealed maybe too much to the left. People don't like that."
A) As to the things he's done, those were basically the things he campaigned on, so I'm not sure where she gets this "people don't like that" argument.
B) As to the things he hasn't done, those too are basically things he campaigned on, but has not yet fulfilled, such as Guantanamo, reigning in Wall Street, doing away with the Bush tax cuts over $250,000. Polls still show that the majority of people still want that done. So, again, I'm not sure where she gets this "people don't like that" argument.
"Bi-partisanship," to beltway pundits, seems to mean Democrats getting elected, promising to do Democrat things, then, when they're in office, only doing things that Republicans agree with. One wonders why we don't just bypass that whole "election" thing and just turn it over to the Republicans to begin with. Maybe that's the point.
I've believed all along that the totally inept and incompetent Palin won't run.
With her new threat of a lawsuit against Joe McGinnis, Palin can pursue
her two greatest passions: revenge and money. Why look for a job when
you already have everything you want?
I agree! Palin is basking in all the media attention. Her lemmings love her all the more when the media go after her and Palin is laughing all the way to the bank. Why would she change a thing? She's getting exactly what she wants. I'll say it again - I'd love for this blog to be a Palin-free zone.
I would agree. Palin is playing games to keep her face in the media. If she passes the chance to run this time, it will be very difficult for her to do it in 2016. Four years is a lot of time to disappoint your fan base, lose media coverage and watch other potential competitors like Christie. Palin is toast after this election and she will fade away.
Totally agree with that...the bread is toasting...
OMG Rachel, you're actually expending brain cell activity on that 'pit bull'? Talk about pearls before swine...
Pop quiz: What's the difference (if any) between a pit bull and a hockey mom?
Answer A: Pit bulls don't quit.
Answer B: Pit bulls only hump your leg.
Answer C: Hockey moms know when the game is over. But so do pit bulls.
I found it interesting that Steve Schmidt referred to the "Democratic" Party rather than the "Democrat" Party . Very uncharacteristic of anyone in the GOP and though a small consideration, one that denotes some respect. How refreshing!
don't know about that, I don't think it was intentional
Refering to the Democratic Party as the "Democrat Party" is deliberate. Calling it the "Democratic Party" is just respecting the language. It happens that the word "democrat" has a separate adjectival form, "democratic," while the word "republican" has the same form for both the noun and the adjective. Perhaps the Republicans should refer to themselves as the "Republicanic Party."
I am so impressed with Rachel, how she can listen to the criticism of Obama's 'policies' and just chew the inside of her cheeks....
Comment:
I am so impressed with Rachel, how she can listen to the criticism of Obama's 'policies' and just chew the inside of her cheeks....
So...No?
Greetings! Rachel
We progressives need to solidify our opposition to the Republican/Conservative agenda and elect progressive/democrat individuals whom will promote, perpetuate, and devise sound progressive policies that will help move America forward and help to make her a sound fellow citizen within the Global Community.
Peace be unto you!
Marquest Burton
This was one of the most interesting segments I've seen. It was facinating to see two R's coming on to talk to an acknowledged D in Rachel and talk so frankly about Palin. It seems like Schmidt was more cautious but still willing to finally say that they made a mistake in picking Palin even though he would not say her name. And Wallace I think was quite honest in identifiying the potential damage in the ongoing search for a suitable R to run and how it is dissing the current field.
I wonder if Palin did get in and it looked like she might get somewhere close to a top tier candidate if Wallace/Schmidt would come out and be even more open about their acknowledged concern with her being cuckoo.
Big kudos to Rachel for creating a space for both Wallace/Schmidt to be able to begin talking more openly about their VIP mistake. It had to take alot of trust for Wallace/Schmidt to feel comfortable talking to Rachel about this. While it was an unbelivably risking thing to pick such an unqualified person for VIP both are human beings who have to live with the potential damage to not just the USA but all over the world in having a cuckoo so close to the presidency. Wallace has clearly found an outlet for it in writing her books. One wonders how McCain is dealing with it.
"VIP mistake"
Maybe a typo, but that's what Palin believes. She isn't nuts, just a media whore, know-nothing, former half-governor. Go back to Alaska Shore reality TV sideshow Sarah.
Yes that was a typo!!
You can kind of tell how Schmidt and Wallace had to be pulling their hair out trying to work with Palin during the campaign. It's taking a while, but it seems like they're starting to slowly let the truth slip out about that. I hope Wallace's book alludes to that.
How I long for the day when a defeated vice presidential candidate slipped into such obscurity that their name became a trivia question like those old American Express ads. "Hi, do you know me, I'm Bill Miller".
Bush communication person...there's a resume stopper.
Obama is too left, she's on crack.
I think the term "Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs" is much more polite than the more accurate "Self-anointed leader of the Lunatic Fringe."
Politics and French lessons too...I love this blog!
Rachel: It was one of your best interviews EVER! I was half-watching and fully listening last night as I was working at home, but was struck that you had both Schmidt and Wallace. While I recognize that Schmidt is now a paid contributor on MSNBC, it is still rather remarkable that you had these two Rs on your show. It says a great deal about your leading place in the conversation and debates of the day.
So when Wallace said what she said, I thought I'd heard wrong and promptly re-wound it on the DVR to hear it again! But it wasn't just what Wallace said, it was also Schmidt's acknowledgement that the VP selection process is troubled and that he and others made a mistake in suggesting Palin to McCain! All this in the space a few minutes from two folks who aren't exactly nobodies in the Republican Party!
A fine bit of live television, Ms. Maddow!
One comment I found interesting in all that was the (IMHO) false assertion that running for President lays the candidate bare to the voting public. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, what we are presented with is a well-packaged, focus-group tested, vetted-through-polling version of a candidate. Never forget the the old saying "We campaign in poetry and govern in prose." Presidential candidates "look" the way they expect you'd want them to look (families, dogs, flag pins, etc.), say the things they expect you'll want to hear, etc. They are sold to us as anything BUT who they really are! Gawd, if there was ever a better example of this than Sarah Palin, I can't think of it! And these two were complicit in that debacle.
Rachel what is the difference between Chris Christi and the other Republicans. I am not seeing anything except that he is a fat man trying to get noticed so his Koch cronies and other rich cronies can try to make him more visible so he can run in the next election. And that's so Chris Cristi's feeble mind will not be over whelmed and go duh which way did he go.
Nothing like a gal on gal feud to bring a silly GOPer to their senses. I've never heard Nicole Wallace sound so sensible! She like many on the right only likes fictional Republicans they've never met. That's the only way their unworkable failed policies ever seem to make any sense!
All she need to do is SING!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tXr-JKbwaA
I don't think it's fair to call Palin "seriously mentally ill", because no doctor has ever assessed that. She trusts way too easily, and she was thrust into an illusion that was never meant for her. Her fans are still feeding this illusion, like feeding a drug addict who can't stop on their own, how can she be blamed?