[Rhodes22-list] Politics - Obama Speechwriter Quits

[Brad Haslett]

Bet you didn't see this on the MSM.  Brad

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 Obama Speechwriter Switches to McCain; Ignored by MSM
By P.J. Gladnick
Created 2008-10-29 10:56

Imagine if a speechwriter for John McCain had switched sides and
announced she was going to vote for Barack Obama. Would she not be
featured bigtime in the mainstream media complete with new thrills
running up Chris Matthews leg?  Well, this did happen except that it
was an Obama speechwriter, Wendy Button, who became disillusioned with
The One and switched to supporting McCain. Here are the highlights of
Wendy Button's explanation [1] of why she made the switch:

    Since I started writing speeches more than ten years ago, I have
always believed in the Democratic Party. Not anymore. Not after the
election of 2008. This transformation has been swift and complete and
since I'm a woman writing in the election of 2008, "very emotional."

Young lady, only when the switch is made from Republican to Democrat
will it be mentioned in the MSM. They search the country for "lifelong
Republicans" who are going to vote for Obama but when an Obama
speechwriter switches over to the "Dark Side," all you will hear from
the MSM is the sound of crickets chirping.

    When we first met, Obama and I had a nice conversation about
speeches and writing, and at the end of the meeting I handed him a
pocket-sized bottle of Grey Poupon mustard so he wouldn't have to ask
staff if it was okay to put it on his hamburger. At the bottom of the
bottle was the logo for "The South Beach Diet" and he snapped, "Oh so
you read People magazine." He seemed to think that I was commenting on
his bathing suit picture.

    I helped with his announcement speech and others. I worked in the
Senate when he was in D.C. One day after a hearing on Darfur, we were
walking back to the office. I was still hobbling from a very bad ankle
injury and in a very kind and gentle way he offered his arm when we
approached the stairs. But later in debate preps and phone
conversations and meetings, I realized that I had made a mistake. I
didn't belong. No matter how hard I tried, my heart wasn't in it
anymore.

    ...The final straw came the other week when Samuel Joseph
Wurzelbacher (a.k.a Joe the Plumber) asked a question about higher
taxes for small businesses. Instead of celebrating his aspirations,
they were mocked. He wasn't "a real plumber," and "They're fighting
for Joe the Hedge-Fund manager," and the patronizing, "I've got
nothing but love for Joe the Plumber."

    Having worked in politics, I know that absolutely none of this is
on the level. This back and forth is posturing, a charade, and a
political game. These lines are what I refer to as "hooker lines"—a
sure thing to get applause and the press to scribble as if they're
reporting meaningful news.

    As the nation slouches toward disaster, the level of political
discourse is unworthy of this moment in history. We have Republicans
raising Ayers and Democrats fostering ageism with "erratic" and jokes
about Depends. Sexism. Racism. Ageism and maybe some Socialism have
all made their ugly cameos in election 2008. It's not inspiring.
Perhaps this is why I found the initial mocking of Joe so offensive
and I realized an old line applied: "I didn't leave the Democratic
Party; the Democratic Party left me."

    The party I believed in wouldn't look down on working people under
any circumstance. And Joe the Plumber is right. This is the absolutely
worst time to raise taxes on anyone: the rich, the middle class, the
poor, small businesses and corporations.

    ...Not only has this party belittled working people in this
campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been
part of tearing down two female candidates. At first, certain
Democrats and the press called Senator Clinton "dishonest." They went
after her cleavage. They said her experience as First Lady consisted
of having tea parties. There was no outrage over "Bros before Hoes" or
"Iron My Shirt." Did Senator Clinton make mistakes? Of course. She's
human.

    But here we are about a week out and it's déjà vu all over again.
Really, front-page news is how the Republican National Committee paid
for Governor Sarah Palin's wardrobe? Where's the op-ed about how Obama
tucks in his shirt when he plays basketball or how Senator Biden
buttons the top button on his golf shirt?

    ...Governor Palin and I don't agree on a lot of things, mostly
social issues. But I have grown to appreciate the Governor. I was one
of those initial skeptics and would laugh at the pictures. Not
anymore. When someone takes on a corrupt political machine and a
sitting governor, that is not done by someone with a low I.Q. or a
moral core made of tissue paper. When someone fights her way to get
scholarships and work her way through college even in a jagged line,
that shows determination and humility you can't learn from reading
Reinhold Niebuhr. When a mother brings her son with special needs onto
the national stage with love, honesty, and pride, that gives hope to
families like mine as my older brother lives with a mental disability.
And when someone can sit on a stage during the Sarah Palin rap on
Saturday Night Live, put her hands in the air and watch someone in a
moose costume get shot—that's a sign of both humor and humanity.

    Has she made mistakes? Of course, she's human too. But the
attention paid to her mistakes has been unprecedented compared to
Senator Obama's "57 states" remarks or Senator Biden using a version
of the Samuel Johnson quote, "There's nothing like a hanging in the
morning to focus a man's thoughts."

    ...I was dead wrong about the surge and thought it would be a
disaster. Senator John McCain led when many of us were ready to quit.
Yet we march on as if nothing has changed, wedded to an old plan, and
that too is a long way from the Democratic Party.

    I can no longer justify what this party has done and can't dismiss
the treatment of women and working people as just part of the new kind
of politics. It's wrong and someone has to say that. And also say that
the Democratic Party's talking points—that Senator John McCain is just
four more years of the same and that he's President Bush—are now just
hooker lines that fit a very effective and perhaps wave-winning
political argument…doesn't mean they're true. After all, he is the
only one who's worked in a bipartisan way on big challenges.

Wow! Pretty strong stuff. However, Wendy, don't expect any accolades
from the MSM for making your political switch in the "wrong
direction." Oh, and I highly doubt you will ever again be permitted to
post to your Huffington Post blog [2].
Source URL:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/p-j-gladnick/2008/10/29/obama-speechwriter-switches-mccain-ignored-msm