While I love a spirited debate, it amazes me how there is a distinct double standard when liberals misbehave. Personally, I have no problem with Democrat candidate Frank Kratovil busing in folk to pack the debate hall to his advantage. It's good politics. My quarrel is with the Obama / Kratovil contingent (you should have heard the cheers whenever "The One" was mentioned) shouting down GOP candidate Andy Harris whenever he pointed out a flaw in Kratovil's record as prosecutor or when Kratovil misstated Harris' record.
While Kratovil whined about negative campaigning and attacks on his record, he's the one running negative ads on TV. Last night he went so far as to encourage the Obama / Kratovil crowd in their rude behavior on at least two occassions.
To the debate -
While Kratovil whined about negative campaigning and attacks on his record, he's the one running negative ads on TV. Last night he went so far as to encourage the Obama / Kratovil crowd in their rude behavior on at least two occassions.
To the debate -
52 comments:
Sir:
It was plain to see that Kratovil took the cake last night, thanks largely to Dr. Harris "bedside manner."
Spin it all you want, but your Dandy Andy bombed.
Most of the rude behavior where I was sitting was by the Harris supporters.
G.A--when did the crowd start to get out of control? It was precisely when Harris answered a question about oil by claiming Kratovil takes it easy on murderers and rapists! It was a ludicrous answer, pandering to the lowest form of politicking, and the crowd called him on it. Now, i agree that everyone should have calmed down, but it was pretty difficult when both Kratovil and Harris tore into each other. They set the tone (and you have to agree that Harris started it with this bizarre answer about oil), and the crowd fed into it. Harris did not look good at all in this debate, and even his most ardent supporters have to admit that!
Mr. Harrison:
The Libertarian candidate -- Dr. Davis (from Denton-?) -- got my vote last night. He's a conservative with a conscious and lots of candor cand common sense.
Previously, I was going to vote for my party's candidate.
Are you happy now?
Pot, kettle, black. G.A. wouldn't shut up the whole time. He was standing about 3 rows behind me and all I could hear was his big mouth. Don't throw stones there, big guy. You were every bit as immature as everyone else.
A pox on both their houses -
VOTE LIBERTARIAN!
Kratovil didn't imppress me much yesterday. Him & his radical crowd, were just abnoxious. I am equally disapointed in the moderator, who either couldn't or wasn't willing to control the crowd. Thanks but no thanks Frank.
GA:
It was obvious that Harris was deliberately making statements that he knew would enrage the Kratovil supporters, trying to get them to make a scene that he can use to revitalize his conservative base by portraying them as the barbarians at the gate. SU is the perfect place to try that tactic because of the students in the audience.
But his buffoonish behavior at the podium completely backfired, and he lost his cool at several points. Anyone in the General Assembly, if they speak off the record, will confirm that is how he "performs" there.
He's "not ready for prime time" pal.
I thought the debate was good. The differences between Harris and Kratovil were clear. Harris supports a regional approach to bay clean-up and less goverment in our lives while Kratovil believes bigger goverment can fix anything as long as they have enough of our tax $ to do so.
Sir:
Was Saddam H. a "theocrat"?
If so, then Harris may be a "Dixiecrat"!
I hope he does much better when he's on the job in an operating room than he did at SU last night.
Does anyone know who is on the Commission for Presidential Debates? I wanted to voice my opposition to Gwen Ifill as moderator. This is just so over the top to allow her to moderate a very important debate with her pro-Obama book heading to the printing press. The media's handling of this whole campaign has just been sickening but this is over the top.
anon 9:50
Sir,
Are you still on the bus?
As a Kratovil supporter, let me first say that I was embarrassed by the behavior of many of the other Kratovil supporters at the debate. I wish the crowd had been more respectful to all the candidates.
That said, Kratovil clearly won the debate. His answers were clear, concise and direct and, unlike Harris, he refrained from non-sequitur attacks on his opponent. Kratovil rightfully attacked Harris' voting record on environmental, health care and education issues when those issues were brought forth.
Harris, on the other hand, acted like he was addressing a Republican fundraising dinner rather than a room full of college kids. Yeah, big surprise when bringing up Obama negatively doesn't go over well. Also, LOL at calling Saddam Hussein a theocrat. How uninformed can you be?
There you go again.
Let's make the discussion about people in attendance.
Stick to the candidates.
And negativity is in the eye of the beholder.
You have bashed Kratovil so much on everything, he can't zip his fly or tie a tie to suit you.
And yes, 9:54 a.m. I've sat near Mr. Harrison in a meeting and he frequently talked during it. Very distracting. I do like what he says when he goes to the podium, but I'm not a fan of his national rhetoric.
Question for Harris:
What was Saddam Hussein's religious office that made him the ruler of Iraq?
FYI: theocracy - a form of state political organization in which the government is based on religious offices.
Thanks Dr. Harris for making Gov. Palin appear to be a quick study.
WOW 9:56! Smack Down!!
The contrast couldn't have clearer, one spoke from experience the other had talking points and cheering squad.
The 1st District contest is close enough that the "lower shore" vote could make the difference. Harris blew an opportunity to reach out beyond the conservative part of the Republican Party in this area that is now rapidly vanishing and will continue to shrink as the Bush mess continues to grow while his term and political career burn out.
Harris may have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory last night.
It was all I could do to prevent myself from laughing out loud when Harris said Iraq was a theocracy and Saddam Hussein was a theocrat.
Someone get that man a Middle East 101 textbook.
On substance, Harris carried the debate.
All anyone needs to know is that Kratovil is from P.G. County and is supported by peoplle from that area like Steny Hoyer. While I would mhave preferred someone fron the shore at least Harris is from a much more conservative part of the state than Kratovie. After the fine job our worthless governor has done we dont need someone from such a liberal part of the state as our lone congressional delagete.
11:30, you had me at "Steny Hoyer."
11:20 -- WRONG!
11:30 -
We will be better off if Harris continues to represent the folks in his conservative state senate district on the Western Shore.
11:30,
No. Kratovil is from QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY. He's the State's Attorney there. He is from the Shore. Care to change your opinion, now?
11:20,
On substance, Harris had NONE. All he did was not understand how Iraq was run, try to smear Frank, and act like a petulant child. The only "substance" I heard out of his mouth were Club For Growth talking points.
10:57, I love it. Harris snatched DEFEAT from the Jaws of victory.
Yes indeed. Per this very website, I thought Harris had Salisbury under wraps. Guess Joe got that one dead wrong. The winner was most definitely Mr. Kratovil last night.
Why did Andy mention drug dealers and child molesters (not the previously mentioned murderers and rapists)? Because understanding that Kratovil likes to plead out cases involving molesters and drug dealers shows that he is not willing to put in the time to make us safe. He could prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, but he doesn't because plea bargaining is easier. Just another lawyer tryin to get ahead...
I think what last night showed is that Kratovil supports are more passionate about their candidate and willing to travel further to see him speak. It's great to see people willing to make the effort. As far as boos and cheers from the crowd, like I said it just shows who's supporters are more passionate. Harris needs to know when he makes a mistake in talking to his future constituents. We should let our candidates know how we feel and not everyone gets one on one face time. Hopefully Harris learned a lesson from last night.
If you look at their answers, you will realize that Andy actually had answers for questions. Frank merely talked around the issue like he usually does. Look at his answer about the bailout...he talks about "root causes" and "oversight" but never actually talks about the bailout.
Dandy Andy...that's cute...did you think of that yourself, or was that on the Kratovil internal memo you get?
I'm glad to see the Kratovil campaign has nothing better to do that sit around and defend their candidate on this blog...way to work hard guys!
LMAO! Didn't you see my earlier Post about Democrats not working but Republicans do. That's too funny!
I'm glad to see that the comments by the pro-Kratovil people have nothing to do with his comments. I wasn't at the debate, but from reading this, I would gather that what Kratovil said was not very popular, as his people are only attacking Harris.
Passionate? I think it just shows how immature and ignorant Kratovil's supporters are. Also, how rude. I'm glad to see Harris' supporters followed the rules.
Yeah, if you consider having a blog 'work'.
I'm a Harris supporter and he certainly could have done a little better. His demeanor wasn't all that great, for one, and his certainly flubbed it by calling Hussein a theocrat.
That being said, he did do a lot better jobs actually answering the questions. Kratovil tried to have it both ways. When asked if they would have supported the bailout bill in Congress, Harris answered "no." Kratovil didn't give a clear answer. When asked about whether people should be able to carry concealed weapons, Harris answered "yes." Kratovil said it was up to the states. I think Frank missed the point that the question was asking his personal view on the issue, not a legal question about jurisdiction. That kind of refusal to take a stand is typical of Kratovil. He wants to play up his moderate image (and it's only an image) but not alienate the hardcore liberals who were populating the audience last night.
Harris took the debate on substance but he could have performed better style-wise.
anon 1149 My bad, i just assumed everyone knew that Kratovil now lives on the Eastern Shore. My point was that he is a native of P.G. County and much of his support comes from that part of the state, thus my reference to Steny Hoyer in case you are not aware he is also from that part of the state. Calvert Co I think. And if you wonder Hoyer was born in New Yourk City so I guess that explains his left wing leanings
Saddam H. = theocrat
Andy H. = plutocrat
Ya gotta love it!
While I wasn't thrilled about the attack on Frank Kratovil's work record coming at an odd point in the debate, the crowd was already making catcalls on Harris from the very first question:
Harris also chastised the “fat cats of Wall Street” who didn’t play by the rules, but drew derisive laughter from some in the auditorium when he blamed the “failed liberal policies of the past.”
And Kratovil played along:
On rebuttal...Kratovil opined that the audience should “count how many times Andy Harris says liberal” during the evening and hammered on the familiar mantra of Harris being supported by the Club For Growth with $1 million of bundled contributions while also stating again about not wanting “tax breaks for CEO’s.”
Emphaais in both cases is mine for the comment and if you don't believe me I still have the notes I took for the debate. PAC14 is supposed to rebroadcast beginning Friday if the tape came out all right.
Who is the "liberarian" candidate?
Here's a summary of last night:
ADA - 1
AMA - 0
If you weren't there, you probably should watch it before making comments. Harris clearly lost this debate, big time. Kratovil did give detailed answers, and Harris seems to think Iraq was a theocracy. His biggest problem, though, was his demeanor. Harris came across as an arrogant bully--maybe he was the doctor who wrote the obnoxious note on here yesterday! Harris supporters were cheering and yelling (including G.A), there just weren't as many of them there. Here's my challenge to Harris supporters: if you really think he won that debate, ask Joe to publish the times it will be replayed, or perhaps even link to it. You'll be very surprised by what you see.
Here's the info on the re-broadcast so far on PAC-14's website: "The first replay of the event, providing no technical failures or issues, would likely occur Thursday 2nd or Friday Oct 3rd. Please visit our on-line programming schedule - after 3PM on Thursday - for an updated look at PAC 14's schedule." Everyone who reads this blog and wh wasn't there needs to watch and judge for yourself.
Hey now, Harris supporters, albeit a minority last night, were just as involved in the hollering!
Also, I never knew Harris was so big, he looked gigantic on stage! I also noticed he is quite a bobblehead.
The Name Calling Ends NOW!
You people need to start growing up. If someone does this again your comment will be rejected. Discuss the topics without name calling or you'll see that you've wasted your time. That goes for everyone.
Joe:
Please invite Dr. Davis to post on your blog. He was the only candidate that spoke candidly and made much sense last night. The two biggies mostly did mud wrestling.
While I would agree Harris' demeanor was not the best, he was responding to the attacks from Kratovil...of course you would be upset if someone was attacking you. He had every right to get angry...I would too. He still dropped the massive knowledge on Kratovil...
Baloney--who started the attacks? It was Harris and his weird answer to the question on oil.
I respect honest political debate. As a matter of fact it is great, it is stimulating, and it is good for Democracy. The Harris Kratovil debate will be settled at the voting booth. Not by partisan jabs.
However, the jabs at the Kratovil "busing” are wrong, and show a total tunnel vision that has not expanded beyond route 13...
It is my experience that it is very common for supporters to board buses...(saves energy too) and go to candidate forums, events, rally's, speaches,fundraisers; visit Annapolis, etc.
Obviously not one of the commenter’s has met at a headquarters or a parking lot and boarded a bus to go 20 miles away go to an event.
What Kratovil did was "smart" saved gas, and had his supporters from other places in the district were able to attend the event.
I have been on political buses many times, for many different kinds of events, marches, candidate events, fundraisers, protests in Annapolis on Monday nights. My most memorable was a bus ride to Clinton Maryland with 40 or so other Democratic leaders to play base ball with Governor Bill Clinton. No bus, no baseball.
So, commentators do not speak without knowledge, and especially since you obviously (by your own comments) have never been outside the environs of Salisbury.
6:50 KRATOVIL didn't DO anything to get those people there. They came of their own volition, to support their candidate. I can assure you that the Kratovil campaign had absolutely NOTHING to do with those people showing up, and I think that really says it all.
11:40,
As someone who volunteers for the Kratovil campaign, I KNOW that the Kratovil campaign had everything to do with getting as many supporters to this debate as possible. We worked hard to get our folks out there, just like the Harris campaign worked hard to get their people to the event. So, don't speak about things on which you have no knowledge.
And, on the other hand, let's pretend that the campaign didn't publicize the event or try to get people out there. Does that make the fact that all those supporters came out any less of a ringing endorsement of Kratovil on the Shore? No, it makes it MORE of an endorsement.
Last, if Harris had the support in Worcester County that Frank does, then why didn't HE bus them in, hmmm?
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