Don't even tinkaboutit...
March 9, 2004 8:26 AM   Subscribe

"Just consider what you're doing now. You don't want to have the freakin' president of the United States mad at you for the rest of your life...If you step off this cliff, gravity never goes up, it goes down." Those were the words of, Larry Telford, of the National Republican Congressional Committee threatening a Texas citizen who dared to run in the Republican primary for the US House of Representatives.
posted by EmoChild (23 comments total)
 
Dammit. I used the search feature but I didn't see until just now that this was posted in a discussion thread here.
My bad. Sorry.
posted by EmoChild at 8:33 AM on March 9, 2004


I'm a hardcore progressive, but I want to donate to this kid.

Well, maybe not.
posted by jennak at 8:55 AM on March 9, 2004


EmoChild, I don't think you need to be sorry. The search feature wouldn't catch it, and it's not technically a double post anyway.

That said, behind-the-scenes strongarming has been going on since the birth of politics, and Democrats aren't exactly amateurs at the practice. The only noteworthy thing here is that this guy decided to make it public.

I'm not condoning the practice -- I personally find it unseemly. And I'm also a registered Democrat. I'm just saying you're mischaracterizing this issue as "the evil things Republicans do," rather than "the evil things politicians do."
posted by pardonyou? at 8:58 AM on March 9, 2004


Damn. If you look at the last two FPP's, don't they both have possible RICO implications? Isn't this racketeering?
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 9:01 AM on March 9, 2004


pardonyou? -- I also agree that the Dems are not blameless. But I wonder if intimidation of this kind would occur from the Dems?

I don't think it's necessarily because one group is more moral than the other -- it seems more because the Repubs have gotten a free pass on so many questionable issues and as a result, have stopped playing by the rules because they don't have to. I'm sure the Dems would do the same thing if the media was giving them the walk.
posted by jennak at 9:05 AM on March 9, 2004


For an example on film, go see The War Room -- at the end, Stephanopolous strongarms somebody (can't remember who or why) over the phone, including words to the effect of "He's going to be President, and you'd never work in Democratic politics again."
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:08 AM on March 9, 2004


People should on the whole just stop defending and believing in politicans and we'd all get along much better.
posted by xmutex at 9:13 AM on March 9, 2004


Wow, he has a big hat.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:15 AM on March 9, 2004


Is the National Republican Congressional Comittee different from the Republican National Committee mentioned in the post immediately below this one? The acronyms run amuck. It's like the People's Front of Judea around here!
posted by jonson at 9:16 AM on March 9, 2004


As Mr. Dooley reminded us: "Politics ain't beanbag."

It's about power. Only fools and children think otherwise.
posted by mojohand at 9:32 AM on March 9, 2004


Mike's blog!
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:36 AM on March 9, 2004


Jonson --

The RNC (and the DNC on the Dems side) are the national party offices.

The NRCC (the Dems have the DCCC) are in charge of congressional races.

The NRSC (and the Dems' DSCC) ensure they win senatorial races.
posted by jennak at 9:38 AM on March 9, 2004


You don't want to have the freakin' president of the United States mad at you for the rest of your life

I beg you pardon ? Even if Bush gets re-elected he can have only another mandate, then it's over (that was a good idea, prevents formation of dictators like Saddam)

After that, Bush will have the weight of zero : exactly like Clinton and the other prez before him.

Ohhh but I forgot in politics meritocracy has no weight : piss the boss son and you're history, even if he's no longer the boss.
posted by elpapacito at 9:47 AM on March 9, 2004


I'm surprised that the NRCC hasn't tried to have Murphy prosecuted for making a surreptitious recording of the phone conversations.
posted by bz at 10:06 AM on March 9, 2004


president of the United States mad at you for the rest of your life

Good thing, then, that Bush is not going to be president for the rest of Murphy's life.

Unless that's a veiled threat, of course, and he's implying that Murphy isn't going to survive the campaign season...
posted by Mars Saxman at 10:08 AM on March 9, 2004


bz: Texas only requires consent from one party to the conversation. Murphy didn't break the law.
posted by Mars Saxman at 10:14 AM on March 9, 2004


Damn. If you look at the last two FPP's, don't they both have possible RICO implications? Isn't this racketeering?

I don't know from RICO...but if this isn't illegal, it sure should be. That's disgraceful.
posted by dejah420 at 10:29 AM on March 9, 2004


"Good thing, then, that Bush is not going to be president for the rest of Murphy's life.
Unless that's a veiled threat, of course, and he's implying that Murphy isn't going to survive the campaign season..."

Or that Bush IS going to be Il Presidente for the rest of his life.

A fascist state is possible, even here.

Especially with those bozos.
posted by geekhorde at 10:31 AM on March 9, 2004


president of the United States mad at you for the rest of your life

Oh man, don't open this can of worms. Jimmy Carter has been mad at me since 1977 and it's no picnic. The 1995-2000 period was particularly bad. The man never forgets.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 10:53 AM on March 9, 2004


I have to agree with pardonyou. This is simply a feature of politics. It is common practice in both parties.

For those wondering how Bush might extend his reach past his time in office take a moment and think what kind of people pack the party's ranks. Right now the DNC is like a who's who of Clinton supporters. If you made enemies with Clinton while he was president it's a pretty good bet your political pain and suffering is still being felt. Bush will still command a great deal of power within the party long after he leaves office.

What was that flick, The Contender. When the president tells Christian Slater's character what a shame it will be when Slater brings his family on a tour of the White House and has to tell them he could have been here but he decided to go against his president.

In some ways this is the problem with our current two party system. I'm not against "a" two party system but this one has seemed to morph into such a monopoly on power that anybody who refuses to tow the party line is quickly taken out back and shot.
posted by billman at 11:07 AM on March 9, 2004


Who ever said the Democrats don't do this? Straw men, straw men everywhere.
posted by jpoulos at 12:48 PM on March 9, 2004


It's a staw man, but not a big one. I think there is the implication in the text of the post that this is an especially evil tactic perpetrated by especially underhanded people, when of course, in actuality, it's probably pretty commonplace.
posted by Hildago at 3:07 PM on March 9, 2004


Yeah, but how commonplace? If it was indeed so very commonplace, how come this is one of the very few reports to hit the news in recent years?

(My intent is not to feign naivety, but to ask a serious question - how much "dirty pool" is REALLY going on, and how can it be more readily exposed?)
posted by FormlessOne at 8:50 AM on March 10, 2004


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