Character Flaws
by digby
If anyone thought that it would be possible to re-run the flip-flop campaign against the Massachusetts politician in the race this time, think again:
STODDARD: You know, I really think this is not a big deal. I think that he is entitled to his quirky tastes. I think that he is a habitual flip-flopper, and has religious conversions on everything that comes out of his mouth, and he changes his mind so much now that people don’t even notice. He is on campaign finance reform right now. He is after everyone in the Washington political back-scratching class that wrote McCain-Feingold.
If you look him up in the Massachusetts newspapers, he wanted to abolish political action committees and tax political contributions. He changes on everything. And so his bedside reading is no big deal to me.
That's Mitt, of course, about whom I predict the CW will gell just that way. He flip-flops so much that people don't even notice it! Why it's not even an issue at all.
The reporter who made those comments, A.B.Stoddard, is often on MSNBC these days. My first introduction to her, however, was on The Daily Show. She may be a perfectly lovely person, but on TV she has a rather irritating supercilliousness about her and Stewart showed a series of clips on some issue or another ending with Stoddard making one of those patented DC insider comments about Democrats, leading with "they have to...." or "they need to get over...." to which Jon deadpanned, "well who the fuck are you?"
AB was featured in that fascinating article in the WSJ last fall about the "B" pundits:
A.B. Stoddard, 39
Day job: Associate editor of the Hill, a newspaper about Congress
Claim to Fame: Getting revelations from Capitol Hill insiders.
Maybe you've seen her: Telling MSNBC's Chris Matthews that Rep. Mark Foley's fixation on young pages was "a known fact" in the halls of Congress.
Punditry perspective: Appearing on the pundit circuit is "great for me with my sources. More people will talk to me if they see me on TV," she says.
Call me crazy but this sounds like a person we can depend on to keep us apprised of all the latest beltway CW. Mitt's flip-flopping is not going to be an issue.
But never fear that the political press is going to get carried away and stop with the tabloid, armchair psychoanalysis and character semiotics.
STODDARD: No, and I also think that this is just one of those stories that people remember. I don`t think that they are going to remember Battlefield Earth as much as you and Peter [Fenn] think. But I actually think that 400 dollar haircuts and having too many airplanes waiting for you on the tarmac and preferring one cabin configuration over the other is excessive, and people remember it. It’s really, really hard to explain.
Changing your position on the right to abortion and gay rights is easily understood, but a millionaire getting an expensive haircut and a constantly travelling politician having a preference of cabin is really hard to explain. I can only assume that's because when Republicans prove themselves to be unprincipled whores it isn't news while Democrats who don't live like animals are hypocrites.
Those would be the Clinton Rules. It looks like the press corps is really intent upon partying like it's 1999. Get out your glow sticks kids.
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