# Those poor little dears at the GOP can't handle much, can they? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 5, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961 "2007-02-05T18:45:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/1 "2007-02-05T18:45:28Z")
At least, judging by what the Republican National Committee calls an "[Agenda Of Aggression And Attacks](http://www.gop.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=6783) in the following news release: > [@](#): > > **Edwards Lashes Out Against Clinton Administration For Giving Him Bad Intelligence On Iraq:** > > **Edwards:** “\* went back to former Clinton administration officials who gave me sort of independent information about what they believed about what was happening with Saddam’s weapons programs. They were also wrong. And based on that, I made the wrong judgment.” (Fmr. Sen. John Edwards, “Meet The Press,” 2/4/07) > > **Edwards Attacks Sen. Obama’s Experience In Response To Iraq Question:** > > **Edwards:** “I will say [Sen. Obama] wasn’t burdened like a lot of us with the information that we were receiving [regarding Iraq] on the intelligence committee and as members of the United States Senate. … Senator Obama I think, what did you say, was a State Senator at the time, so he obviously wasn’t in the Congress and wasn’t part of the decision making.” (Fmr. Sen. John Edwards, “Meet The Press,” 2/4/07) > > **Edwards Won’t Answer Whether Hillary Has Been “Open And Honest” In Regard To Iraq:** > > **NBC’s Tim Russert:** “Do you believe that Senator Clinton has been open and honest about her support of the war in Iraq?” **John Edwards:** “I don’t know the answer to that question. Honestly. I don’t know what’s inside her head and her heart about this. I can’t tell whether there are political calculations going on. I just don’t know.” (NBC’s “Meet The Press,” 2/4/07) If that’s what strikes the nancy-boys at the RNC as heat, then they’d better not come anywhere near a kitchen, that’s all I gotta say. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/2 "2007-02-05T18:49:32Z")
Huh? Doesn’t that mean simply that Edwards is attacking in the sense of being the first to challenge the others? I don’t see where anything in any of that is saying that Republicans feel any heat from Edwards. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/3 "2007-02-05T18:58:06Z")
Tagging Howard Dean as “angry” in 2004 worked so well for them, they thought they would go back to that well again. “Let’s you and him fight” is pretty much the Republican strategy until after the conventions. To wit, the recent manufactured dustup between Hilary and Obama. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/4 "2007-02-05T19:07:41Z")
I think the Pubbies are just doing some glaoting: “Heh, heh, heh. We’ve got ‘_Thou shalt not criticize a fellow Republican,_’ and those pitiful Dems can’t even get to next year’s first straw poll without going negative on each other.” I didn’t get a vibe that they (the RNC) felt Edwards was giving them (the RNC) any heat at all… ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/5 "2007-02-05T19:09:37Z")
Why is his admittance that he isn’t inside Hillary’s head etc an attack? It’s a simple statement. Seems to me that the author of this piece wants to stir shit. Oh, wait a minute… It’s such an old and tired trick. Does no one have any new chicanery? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/6 "2007-02-05T19:09:58Z")
I’m not sure Edwards could even generate any heat. Now, when Hillary gets going, the Republicans are gonna feel some real scorching! Bitch can fight. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/7 "2007-02-05T19:13:55Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] Why is his admittance that he isn’t inside Hillary’s head etc an attack? It’s a simple statement. Seems to me that the author of this piece wants to stir shit. Oh, wait a minute… [/QUOTE] Well, to be as fair as possible to Mr. Edwards, he made no honest attempt to answer the question. He wasn’t asked what was inside Hillary’s head; he was asked what is inside his own head (“_do you believe…?_”). ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/8 "2007-02-05T19:16:10Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] HI don’t see where anything in any of that is saying that Republicans feel any heat from Edwards. [/QUOTE] They consider this sequence of rather innocuous statements an “Agenda Of Aggression And Attacks.” And the first one, they say he’s “Lashing Out.” IOW, they’re putting a thermometer in a pot of lukewarm water and screaming that the pot is boiling. Like I said, the poor dears had better stay away from actual heat sources. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/9 "2007-02-05T19:27:05Z")
[QUOTE=kaylasdad99] Well, to be as fair as possible to Mr. Edwards, he made no honest attempt to answer the question. He wasn’t asked what was inside Hillary’s head; he was asked what is inside his own head (“_do you believe…?_”). [/QUOTE] To be fair, he stated that he didn’t know how to answer that question. Essentially, he is saying that he can’t answer, since he is not HC. Since it was a question obviously designed to stir shit, from a RL troll, he was most likely wise to answer the way he did. (why would anyone question someone else on someone else’s motivation or thought process? Fine for a speculative gossip, but not hard-hitting reporting). ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/10 "2007-02-05T19:28:09Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] TIOW, they’re putting a thermometer in a pot of lukewarm water and screaming that the pot is boiling. Like I said, the poor dears had better stay away from actual heat sources. [/QUOTE] They’ve always struck me as the “we can dish it out, but can’t take it” school. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/11 "2007-02-05T19:39:37Z")
[QUOTE=eleanorigby] To be fair, he stated that he didn’t know how to answer that question. Essentially, he is saying that he can’t answer, since he is not HC. Since it was a question obviously designed to stir shit, from a RL troll, he was most likely wise to answer the way he did. (why would anyone question someone else on someone else’s motivation or thought process? Fine for a speculative gossip, but not hard-hitting reporting). [/QUOTE] Tim Russert is your idea of a RL troll? ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/12 "2007-02-05T20:05:03Z")
Must have been a slow news day at the RNC. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/13 "2007-02-05T20:07:50Z")
[QUOTE=BJMoose] Must have been a slow news day at the RNC. [/QUOTE] well, once you screen out all of the news about the Libby trial, all of the news about Iraq, all of the news about global warming and all, **any** day becomes a “slow news day”. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/14 "2007-02-05T20:13:02Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Huh? Doesn’t that mean simply that Edwards is attacking in the sense of being the first to challenge the others? I don’t see where anything in any of that is saying that Republicans feel any heat from Edwards. [/QUOTE] Do you feel that the quote tagged as “Lashing Out” conveys any sort of hostile or angry affect that one might reasonably characterize as “lashing out”? As **Fear Itself** mentioned, it was a strategy they used against Howard Dean. It was also one that Bush used against John McCain. McCain is such an unhinged hothead that he even hugged Bush, although much later, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/15 "2007-02-05T20:36:39Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] Do you feel that the quote tagged as “Lashing Out” conveys any sort of hostile or angry affect that one might reasonably characterize as “lashing out”? [/QUOTE] Oh, God, I don’t know. That’s all very subjective. One man’s “lashing out” is another man’s “stern stance”. That’s all just spin. Both sides spin as much as they can. As I see it, Edwards’ only hope is to come out of the gate fighting. If he doesn’t catch attention early, the big kids are gonna start grabbing all the attention on the playground. He should be delighted that the Republicans are spinning him as aggressive. It gives him the plausible legitimacy he needs when he faces Hillary and Obama in showdowns on talking head shows. Without that advance publicity, he might come across as mean or petulant. But with Republicans paving the way for him, he has license to attack. “It’s to be expected,” people will say, “Isn’t he hard hitter guy?” They can go straight to the substance of what he says, rather than getting sidetracked by how he says it. That part will have been disposed of. Without this good fortune, he would be expected to sit still, take his lumps, and not interrupt while the political superpowers do what’s expected of them. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/16 "2007-02-05T22:14:09Z")
[QUOTE=wring] well, once you screen out all of the news about the Libby trial, all of the news about Iraq, all of the news about global warming and all, **any** day becomes a “slow news day”. [/QUOTE] Nonsense! After all, some days have news about flag burning amendments, anti-gay-marriage legislation, people trying to post the Ten Commandments on public property, and other important stuff! All that might’ve pushed Edwards’ remarks back to page 2 in their view of the news, had it been going on. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/17 "2007-02-05T22:18:20Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Oh, God, I don’t know. That’s all very subjective. One man’s “lashing out” is another man’s “stern stance”. That’s all just spin. Both sides spin as much as they can. [/QUOTE] Yeah, I know: if I say you’re a mass murderer, I’m neither right nor wrong; it’s all very subjective. It’s all just spin, and everybody does it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/18 "2007-02-05T22:28:02Z")
I don’t know about “aggressive”, but these quotes do make Edwards look like a calculating little weasel. Yup, his vote giving Bush a blank check on Iraq is everybody else’s fault (including the Clinton Administration). I haven’t heard of Edwards having the guts to lead a funding cutoff to block the “surge”. And this wonderful response re Hillary Clinton: “I don’t know the answer to that question. Honestly. I don’t know what’s inside her head and her heart about this. I can’t tell whether there are political calculations going on. I just don’t know.” Translation: “Why yes, she _could_ be a conniving, scheming bitch. I just don’t know.” 😃 It’s gonna be a fun campaign. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/19 "2007-02-05T22:32:21Z")
I don’t understand this pitting. Edwards has changed his tactics from 2004 when he was Mr. Nice Guy. While the examples given in the web site are kind of silly, there are quotes from MSM reporters like Howard Fineman saying pretty much the same thing about Edwards. > [@](#): > > Now Edwards “Embodies The Darker Tone.” (Howard Fineman, “Dem Candidates Come Out Swinging,” Newsweek, 2/12/07) > [@](#): > > "[Edwards] Brims With What Seems Like Resentment At Democrats Who Won’t Support National Health Insurance Right Now (Take That, Hillary) Or Who ‘Talk About Labor’s Concerns Only In Front Of Union Audiences’ (Take That, Obama). (Howard Fineman, “Dem Candidates Come Out Swinging,” Newsweek, 2/12/07) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961/20 "2007-02-05T22:54:28Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] I don’t understand this pitting. Edwards has changed his tactics from 2004 when he was Mr. Nice Guy. While the examples given in the web site are kind of silly, [/quote] Exactly. That was the point of the Pitting. > [@](#): > > there are quotes from MSM reporters like Howard Fineman saying pretty much the same thing about Edwards. Fineman is, IMHO, a media whore who is quite willing to pass along the GOP spin of the day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-poor-little-dears-at-the-gop-cant-handle-much-can-they/390961.md?page=2)