NationStates Jolt Archive

I stole this from AOL ... poll as fast as I can type it.

Mark Foley by far. All the rest can be chalked up to blundered words, chips on ones shoulder, or just plain old ignorance.

This on the other hand was the action of a sexual predator, and as such far more reprehensible than any botched joke, ignorant response, or racist undertone.

america is not the only place where ploitical blunders happen.

let me also add that you left off President Bush's groping of the chancelor of germany.

let me also add that you left off President Bush's groping of the chancelor of germany.

Yeah, but unlike foley, he did it with both hands.


And what about the White House press secretary saying "I'm not gonna touch that tar baby"? That was pretty funny.

Bush's continued presidency.

After that, Mark Foley.

america is not the only place where ploitical blunders happen.

It's the only place for which I had a list, sorry. Please, feel free to start another one.

I voted Mark Foley.

In fact, let me say that anyone who says anything other than Mark Foley is nothing more than a partisan hack, one way or the other.

George Allen's "macaca" remark, as it arguably had the effect of costing him reelection.

Mark Foley by far. All the rest can be chalked up to blundered words, chips on ones shoulder, or just plain old ignorance.

This on the other hand was the action of a sexual predator, and as such far more reprehensible than any botched joke, ignorant response, or racist undertone.I can agree with your line of reasoning, but I wouldn't call such a thing a political blunder.

I can agree with your line of reasoning, but I wouldn't call such a thing a political blunder.

How was it not? It cost him his seat and substantially hurt the Republicans as a whole.

I can agree with your line of reasoning, but I wouldn't call such a thing a political blunder.

Well, I agree that it doesn't really fit as a "political blunder" so doesn't really fit the list.

However if we consider the list to include it, and consider it a valid selection, then it is by far the proper answer.

Foley

How was it not? It cost him his seat and substantially hurt the Republicans as a whole.

ONe could argue that a "blunder" is usually something done on the moment, without thinking it through, and causing negative consequences.

Foley's actions on the other hand was not a "blunder". It was an intentional, calculated action to sexually pray on minors. As such calling it simply a "blunder" vastly downplays what it really was.

ONe could argue that a "blunder" is usually something done on the moment, without thinking it through, and causing negative consequences.

Foley's actions on the other hand was not a "blunder". It was an intentional, calculated action to sexually pray on minors. As such calling it simply a "blunder" vastly downplays what it really was.

True, true. I suppose the "blunder" part was him thinking it would never get out.

How was it not? It cost him his seat and substantially hurt the Republicans as a whole.Well, it was a blunder in this sense, but I was referring to the fact that his actions were that of a sexual predator.

Well, I agree that it doesn't really fit as a "political blunder" so doesn't really fit the list.

However if we consider the list to include it, and consider it a valid selection, then it is by far the proper answer.I can agree with your assessment that his blunder was heinous, I would say that the effect of a blunder is properly measured in how it affects the blunderer's political career. Foley resigned his seat, but Allen lost his, and I would say that the latter is worse.

I can agree with your assessment that his blunder was heinous, I would say that the effect of a blunder is properly measured in how it affects the blunderer's political career. Foley resigned his seat, but Allen lost his, and I would say that the latter is worse.

Oh but it did a lot more than that. Allen's comment lost him his seat.

Foley's action may well have lost the republicans the majority.

Foley's action may well have lost the republicans the majority.

This is why I picked Foley.

Oh but it did a lot more than that. Allen's comment lost him his seat.

Foley's action may well have lost the republicans the majority.I would say that it was that his actions appear to have been covered up by Hastert and others that did so. I suppose if you interpret the page messages to include Foley's part and other people's, too, then, yes, I can agree that it was worse. I was interpreting it to mean solely Foley's part.

I would say that it was that his actions appear to have been covered up by Hastert and others that did so. I suppose if you interpret the page messages to include Foley's part and other people's, too, then, yes, I can agree that it was worse. I was interpreting it to mean solely Foley's part.

well, it's a question. But I still meant foley HIMSELF. Hastert did a great job at pissing people off this is true.

But a lot of conservatives were very, very mad at foley himself, and when you look at just how close some of those senate seats were, I consider it conceivably possible that some people either stayed home or switched their alliance in those tiny margins as a direct result of foley.

Bush's continued presidency.

QFT.

Definitely the Mark Foley thing. It was the knockout blow the D's were waiting for.

If you think about it, ten poll slots really isn't enough for this year's collection, especially if you throw in some from outside the US. And I needed to save one for the "Pancakes!" option.

well, it's a question. But I still meant foley HIMSELF. Hastert did a great job at pissing people off this is true.

But a lot of conservatives were very, very mad at foley himself, and when you look at just how close some of those senate seats were, I consider it conceivably possible that some people either stayed home or switched their alliance in those tiny margins as a direct result of foley.I'd have thought they'd have assumed that he was simply an anomaly if not for the question of how far in the Republican ranks the coverup went, but you may be right.

Definitely the Mark Foley thing. It was the knockout blow the D's were waiting for.

Come on, it wasn't a knockout blow. It was mangling the corpse.

I'd have thought they'd have assumed that he was simply an anomaly if not for the question of how far in the Republican ranks the coverup went, but you may be right.

The last straw for some may have been the news that Hastert's office had had complaints as long ago as two years, and nothing had been done.

Well, it was a blunder in this sense, but I was referring to the fact that his actions were that of a sexual predator.

I don't believe Foley raped or otherwise abused anyone. If he had, I would agree with you; that is far beyond "political blunder" territory.

As it is, what he did was inappropriate, but not to the degree that its moral significance supercedes its political significance.

The worst political blunder of the past year? The Republican Party, or more specifically the actions taken by said Party over the course of the last year. It takes effort to lose both the House and Senate in a single election, especially in today's gerrymandered political landscape!

Given the limited choices at hand, I would have to say that George Allen, made the worst political blunder of the year. My reasoning as follows:

Allen KNEW he was in public, and yet he chose a word that he either did not know the racial overtones of the word or DID know the word and chose to use it anyway. He did so on the stump in front of reporters, recorders and cameras.

I think he thought he could simply get away with it, no matter what. To me this indicates premeditated arrogance in either case. Definitely a textbook political blunder. He single handedly gave Jim Webb his seat in that moment.

Mark Foley is a sad, sick little man who lost a nothing seat in Florida. The loss of the seat did not cost the Republicans the majority in the Florida Congressional Caucus...and a better case could be mounted against Tom DeLay as the key reason the Republicans lost the House than Mark Foley. Certainly Foley helped, but the whole Abramoff-DeLay unholy alliance is what really killed the Repubs. The fallout from the Foley thing certainly did not cost anyone other than him their seats. Sad, I know...but true.

The worst political blunder of the past year? The Republican Party, or more specifically the actions taken by said Party over the course of the last year. It takes effort to lose both the House and Senate in a single election, especially in today's gerrymandered political landscape!

Yah, true.

Why is Chocolate City on that list? It's funny, not a political blunder. At most it annoys those few who have no sense of humor.

Yah, true.

Why is Chocolate City on that list? It's funny, not a political blunder. At most it annoys those few who have no sense of humor.

Heck, I don't know, I stole the list from AOL. WHat's even funnier is that after making the remark, Nagin was re-elected.

Chocolate City? Wasn't Nagin aware of Hershey, Pensylvania already existing?


That term totally reminds me of that old commercial about having a chocolate stream by a chocolate field with chocolate cows and what not.

Heck, I don't know, I stole the list from AOL. WHat's even funnier is that after making the remark, Nagin was re-elected.

Well, that's New Orleans for you. Nagin handled it poorly, but don't expect them to blame anyone except the President.

Sumamba: Possibly. The great thing about the CC remark is that it paved the way for some amusing YTMNDs, which is always a good thing.

I've seen like a total of 3 of those ytmmnd things in my life. I never really understood their popularity and always avoid them.

I may be missing some good stuff for all I know.

I've seen like a total of 3 of those ytmmnd things in my life. I never really understood their popularity and always avoid them.

I may be missing some good stuff for all I know.

YTMND. It's a quote from Finding Forrester by Sean Connery, where he calls a black teenager working on writing "You're the man now, dog!"

But meh. It's one of those things you either like or you hate. There's plenty of stuff on YTMND for both positions. Don't worry about it. We're getting off the subject.

Mark Foley's blunder, I think, only reinforced the already proven image of Republican incompetency. I think, however, we have already begun to see the beginnings of the worst blunder of 2007: Democratic assumption that their victory means the American public thinks they are extremely competent. They may not be. They were voted in as a change of pace, to see what they would do, and mainly because the American public is too propagandized to understand that there are more than two choices, more than Democrats or Republicans.

let me also add that you left off President Bush's groping of the chancelor of germany.

The 'Yo Blair' Vid

It seems that the only valid measure of how bad a blunder is would be how much it costs. So none of the Dems blunders could be all that bad because they won anyway. Allen's Maccaca comment probably cost him the election, but Foley's escapades likely cost Republicans both houses of Congress.

Right wingers will forgive financial malfeasance, catastrophic incompotence, and myriad instances of moral turpitude as well as any number of other things that they can't pronounce or don't know the meanings of. But when it comes to s-e-x they'll turn on you like a Drunk Commie Submarine Commander on LSD.

It seems that the only valid measure of how bad a blunder is would be how much it costs. So none of the Dems blunders could be all that bad because they won anyway. Allen's Maccaca comment probably cost him the election, but Foley's escapades likely cost Republicans both houses of Congress.

Right wingers will forgive financial malfeasance, catastrophic incompotence, and myriad instances of moral turpitude as well as any number of other things that they can't pronounce or don't know the meanings of. But when it comes to s-e-x they'll turn on you like a Drunk Commie Submarine Commander on LSD.

:eek: DCD gots submarines?!?!?! :D

Mark Foley is a sad, sick little man who lost a nothing seat in Florida. The loss of the seat did not cost the Republicans the majority in the Florida Congressional Caucus...and a better case could be mounted against Tom DeLay as the key reason the Republicans lost the House than Mark Foley. Certainly Foley helped, but the whole Abramoff-DeLay unholy alliance is what really killed the Repubs. The fallout from the Foley thing certainly did not cost anyone other than him their seats. Sad, I know...but true.
With the Foley scandal it wasn't so much the event as the timing. The scandal occured right when Bush, Rove et al were playing the 9/11 card to such an extreme that it was starting to work.

Even so, if the Abramoff scandal was on that list I would vote for that because it affected so many politicians, Republicans and Democrats (but mostly Republicans.)

I stole this from AOL ... poll as fast as I can type it.

None of the above. The worst political blunder was Karl Rove's insistence on making the war the central issue of the political campaign. He believed the press clippings that said he was a genius. From a political standpoint, saying the war was going fine was a disaster, and it cost the Republicans both Houses of Congress.

None of the above. The worst political blunder was Karl Rove's insistence on making the war the central issue of the political campaign. He believed the press clippings that said he was a genius. From a political standpoint, saying the war was going fine was a disaster, and it cost the Republicans both Houses of Congress.

I'd almost agree. I'd say it was Bush and co's inability to realistically address the problems of Iraq and the US public's failing support of it. If they'd done so, even at this late date, they might have held congress.

I'd almost agree. I'd say it was Bush and co's inability to realistically address the problems of Iraq and the US public's failing support of it. If they'd done so, even at this late date, they might have held congress.
They'd have at least had a shot at the Senate--it might have saved DeWine and perhaps Chaffee, and would have probably have kept the Dems from having a larger margin in the House than the Republicans ever did following the 1994 "revolution."

as a new orlenean, the whole Nagin thing was just stupid. Most people from New Orleans are pretty proud of the fact that it was so mixed. Nagin wasn't saying anything we didn't say to each other--I'm white btw--

As a kid my neighbors on either side were black. We called ourselves the oreos. (I was the creamy goodness in the middle and they were the black crackers on the outside) No I am not joking. We were relaxed enough that we could tease each other and know that we were special. Yes there was racism. But in general the middle class whites and blacks I knew would kick your ass if you talked or acted racist. We were family dammit!
In the rest of the world that would be an insult. For us it was a way of standing up to that whole ideology. Today Matt lives in DC and is a lawyer, and Trey is an officer in the navy. They both make more money than me and we still send each other xmas cards.

If you're FROM there you got the joke. If you weren't from there you generally thought he was a racist. Also, his comments about "uptown or wherever" were also not racist comments about the rich white folks living uptown. I lived uptown as well as a kid--teh same place I had black neighbors. It was one of the MOST integrated places in the city, and Nagin was actually refering to them because they were mostly the ones whose homes survived the flooding and were actually there to say anything at all.
I loved New Orleans for that. It was the only city I have ever lived in in America where the black people really were the city's cultural and moral strength. Honestly most whites were pretty morally empty if you asked me. Most WHite culture in NO was just riding the coattails of black culture there.

Just stupid commentary by know nothing namby pambies.

as a new orlenean, the whole Nagin thing was just stupid. Most people from New Orleans are pretty proud of the fact that it was so mixed. Nagin wasn't saying anything we didn't say to each other--I'm white btw--

As a kid my neighbors on either side were black. We called ourselves the oreos. (I was the creamy goodness in the middle and they were the black crackers on the outside) No I am not joking. We were relaxed enough that we could tease each other and know that we were special. Yes there was racism. But in general the middle class whites and blacks I knew would kick your ass if you talked or acted racist. We were family dammit!
In the rest of the world that would be an insult. For us it was a way of standing up to that whole ideology. Today Matt lives in DC and is a lawyer, and Trey is an officer in the navy. They both make more money than me and we still send each other xmas cards.

If you're FROM there you got the joke. If you weren't from there you generally thought he was a racist. Also, his comments about "uptown or wherever" were also not racist comments about the rich white folks living uptown. I lived uptown as well as a kid--teh same place I had black neighbors. It was one of the MOST integrated places in the city, and Nagin was actually refering to them because they were mostly the ones whose homes survived the flooding and were actually there to say anything at all.
I loved New Orleans for that. It was the only city I have ever lived in in America where the black people really were the city's cultural and moral strength. Honestly most whites were pretty morally empty if you asked me. Most WHite culture in NO was just riding the coattails of black culture there.

Just stupid commentary by know nothing namby pambies.
Yeah, I grew up on the northshore, and while racism was a problem there, I never thought twice about Nagin's comments. You know, if you look at that list, you realize something--the Democrats on that list are there to provide some semblance of balance, but their "political blunders" are nowhere near the scale of the Republican ones, and like I said a few posts back, they didn't even list the biggest one, in my opinion, which was miscalculating just how bad the voting public hates the Iraq War.

Worst political blunder was Harper's remark vis-a-vis Quebec. That was just...dumb.

mmm hmmm!

None of the above. The worst political blunder was Karl Rove's insistence on making the war the central issue of the political campaign. He believed the press clippings that said he was a genius. From a political standpoint, saying the war was going fine was a disaster, and it cost the Republicans both Houses of Congress.

Not that that's a bad thing...

:D

Not that that's a bad thing...

:D

Heh. Never said I minded it, now did I? ;)

Mark Foley's blunder, I think, only reinforced the already proven image of Republican incompetency. I think, however, we have already begun to see the beginnings of the worst blunder of 2007: Democratic assumption that their victory means the American public thinks they are extremely competent. They may not be. They were voted in as a change of pace, to see what they would do, and mainly because the American public is too propagandized to understand that there are more than two choices, more than Democrats or Republicans.

Let's be realistic for a moment, shall we? The Democrats know very well the circumstances surrounding their election to the majority. They KNOW they cannot go to the extremes that the Republicans did and expect to hold the majority or gain the White House.

I find it odd that no one seems to want to give the Democrats credit for running a pretty strong national campaign in the both the House and Senate races. Everyone seems ready to believe that the Republicans LOST this election rather than the Dems won it.

The truth of the matter is, as always, somewhere in between. Some seats were just flat lost, nothing the Republicans could do to keep them. Santorum was a goner 8 months before the election, TX House 22 (DeLay's seat), FL House 18 (Foley's seat)...and despite comments to the contrary; very little would have saved Mike DeWine from losing, he was too cosy with Governor Taft by half and Taft "enjoyed" a 17% approval rating on election day. But other seats were won in the trenches, with hard campaigning.

Just like other elections, it's time for the winners to put up or shut up. The Republicans overextended and made the mistake of thinking they were invincible (you can give Rove the blame for that). The Dems have to make sure they do NOT make the same mistake.

None of the above. The worst political blunder was Karl Rove's insistence on making the war the central issue of the political campaign. He believed the press clippings that said he was a genius. From a political standpoint, saying the war was going fine was a disaster, and it cost the Republicans both Houses of Congress.

Could be. When someone starts believing his own press, he's usually riding for a fall.

Perhaps denying that the administration had ever said "stay the course" did it for a lot of people. The President looked very "deer in the headlights" on the war in the run-up to November 7th.

Well, I don't know about the worst, but over on this side of the pond my favourite was definitely George Galloway - who has NOT BEEN CONCLUSIVELY PROVEN TO HAVE taken money from Saddam Hussein - going on Celebrity Big Brother, delivering an incoherent anti-American rant to an uncomprehending Dennis Rodman, dressing up in a leotard and pretending to be a cat.

Well, I don't know about the worst, but over on this side of the pond my favourite was definitely George Galloway - who HAS NOT BEEN CONCLUSIVELY PROVEN to have taken money from Saddam Hussein - going on Celebrity Big Brother, delivering an incoherent anti-American rant to an uncomprehending Dennis Rodman, dressing up in a leotard and pretending to be a cat.

Erm ... while we did have several people who did convincing imitations of asses, I have to say, we did not have any of our politicians in the US go on TV in a leotard and pretend to be a cat. ;)

Erm ... while we did have several people who did convincing imitations of asses, I have to say, we did not have any of our politicians in the US go on TV in a leotard and pretend to be a cat. ;)

The Scot wins!