Is something wrong with Ed Rendell's brain? Why the hell was he on MTP TOUTING the MittTwit???

[RBInMaine]

Good Christ, is there something wrong with Ed Rendells very mind? He went on Meet The Press today and said "Romney was a good governor." He was giving him advice on how to IMPROVE his campaign. He was talking about what a great debater he was and that he would get a "huge bump" from it.

RobMe was a ROTTEN governor who ended his term running so bad in the polls (in the freaking 30's) that he would not run for re-election. And Rendell said next to nothing about great Obama is.

For Christ sake, is Rendell a Democrat or a RePUKElican????

[msongs]

1. because in too many cases current dems are really closet repubs nt

[hrmjustin]

2. well you know that they pat each other on the back

[awake]

3. It is called raising the bar

So if there is not a "huge bump" then Mitt will be seen to have lost.

[RBInMaine]

5. I can understand that tactic, but Rendell went far beyond that. He touted the MittTwit too much.

[Lisa D]

4. He's raising expectations for Romney's debate performance

while the Romney campaign is striving to lower them as much as possible.

[RBInMaine]

6. I understand that part, but he went beyond that, talking about what a great gov he was...

[Lisa D]

7. You may be right.

I didn't see that particular segment, although I've seen some of his recent TV appearances. I think he might be angling for a paid TV consultant gig and is trying to look like a "middle of the road" guy to expand the potential employer base.

[lillypaddle]

19. He is already a political consultant

for MSNBC. I think he sucks and should be taken off.

[smorkingapple]

8. Always remember Rendell wanted Hillary to win...

His Obama support has always been lukewarm at best.

Of course he can't be seen as favoring Romney, but trust me, he and the rest of the Hillary boosters that went against Obama in 2008 will not shed too many tears if Romney wins, setting up a Hillary return in 2016.

There is some concern in that camp that the next 4 years could be sluggish as well and Democrats will suffer in 2016 from fatigue, making her chances at winning even harder.

[awake]

10. Hillary will do better if Obama wins

Your logic does not ad up if Obama wins Hillary can step down next year as the S.S. and be seen as part of a winning team.

[unc70]

12. Absurd TP - Another "Dems unenthused, disappointed" meme. HA!

Your concerns are absurd. You might not have noticed, but Bill Clinton gave a speech at the Convention that destroys your TPs completely. Do you seriously expect any of us to believe that BS about worries regarding Clinton in 2016.

Dems are united, focused on this election, and your suggestion of Clinton camp selfish motives 2016 is a persistent theme on RW sites.

[smorkingapple]

13. Both of you are missing the point..

First of all, who said anything about Dems unenthused. I'm speaking specifically about certain folks who were firmly in the Clinton camp before Obama defeated them. Rendell has never had the pom poms out for Obama like other surrogates. I mention this to put the OP post in context.

If economy doesn't improve or God forbid does a double dip, Democrats will be in very bad shape in 2016. You can explain away 4 sluggish years after Bush and the financial debacle. You aint getting away with 8. It's just not happening. Clinton himself said he needed 4 more to finish the job. If it's not finished in those 4 Democrats will pay. You can't blame Bush for 8 years of a sluggish economy and get away with it.

There's a concept called party fatigue. Democrats suffered in 2000 after 8 great Clinton economy years. Even without the financial collapse, Republicans would have suffered from it in 2008. No reason to think we wouldn't suffer after 8 sluggish to tepid Obama years even if he's not completely to blame for how the economy behaves.

Denying this is foolish. You can keep the blinders on if you wish.

I'm not predicting this nor rooting for it but if you don't think this is a major concern for those in the Clinton camp who are dying for her to run in 2016 with the best chance at winning, you're fooling yourself.

[unc70]

15. Not missed point at all

"but trust me, he and the rest of the Hillary boosters that went against Obama in 2008 will not shed too many tears if Romney wins, setting up a Hillary return in 2016"

You are alleging that Clinton supporters are not in full support of Obama, they are only in it for them themselves and concerned about Hilary in 2016. These talking points of Dems distancing themselves from the failed Obama Admistration and that Bill Clinton's actions were all about power for him and Hilary, plus usual attacks on Dem big three, were being pushed strongly by RW everywhere before and during our convention. Remember about our enthusiasm gap, moving Obama's speech because of empty stadium not storms, troubles with fundraising, Dems dispirited and heading for a loss, and that Bill would be all about himself and about starting her run for 2016. This was widely in the media, not just on Fox, and even Clinton's actual speech barely affected this alternate reality.

For several weeks after the convention the TPs mostly were mostly silent on Clinton's, then have switched to ones mostly positive on Bill and how poor Obama is by comparison (e.g. meeting leaders at UN, working with Repubs, dealing with deficit). A number of newer DUers and a few longtime ones have brought these memes to DU.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. Both Rendell and Bill Clinton praised Mitt Romney's business career.

And Rendell was one of the Democrats who admonished the Obama administration regarding the Bain commercial.

I do not trust Ed Rendell. I agree that he has always been a lukewarm supporter of the president, hence why he's always invited on these Sunday talk shows. They always get these milquetoast Democrats on these shows. You'll never see an enthusiastic supporter of the president, other than Martin O'Malley, on these shows.

[BluegrassDem]

9. Rendell is still fuming from the Hillary loss

Yes was a HUGE Hillary supporter and he didn't like Obama much in 2008, so everything regarding Rendell has to be seen through that prism. Yes, I think he was partially building up Romney, but let's face it, if Hillary was the incumbent president he wouldn't have been so effusive in his praise of Romney. The guy is still pissed that Hillary lost in the primary.

[Rowdyboy]

11. Rendell is MUCH overrated as a Democratic spokesman....he's a "good ole boy"

They use him on the talk shows because they know what they can expect from him-a strong defense of centrism, not the Democratic party.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

18. EXACTLY!!!!

[HopeHoops]

14. I was shocked that he didn't step in to save The Spot on 2nd street in HBG.

He ate there all the time. WTF is WRONG with him now?

[NCLefty]

16. Something about ER has always irked me.

It could just be that he kinda looks like the cartoon mob boss from Bugs Bunny though >.>

[WI_DEM]

20. Rendell has always been an ass when it comes to Obama

[vinny9698]

21. Rendell was touting the moderate Romney, not todays Romney

Rendell was talking about Governor Romney, who is the grandfather of Obama Care. Voted to regulate guns, but now he is pandering to the tea party morans.

[brooklynite]

22. As much as I hate to rain on people's Conspiracy Theories...

...Ed Rendell was on MTP -not- as a Democratic Surrogate, but as a sasvy political analyst. His argument was that Romney could have done a number of things up to now to be competitive AND HAD NOT; he wasn''t making suggestions for the future, since, as he pointed out, Romney's Tea Party pandering made it impossible to pivot at this point.

Look: Rendell isn't a progressive, but NEITHER is Pennsylvania. He IS a Democrat and probably one of the smartest political tacticians we have.