Maddow Annoyed by Dems, Flattered by Groupies (and she bought a TV)

[babylonsister]

Maddow Annoyed by Dems, Flattered by Groupies

by Joe Garofoli


Rachel Maddow was unknown outside of progressive circles when she began her nightly cable show on MSNBC in September. Not anymore.


Rachel Maddow didn't own a television until last week. (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)

Catching the wave of interest in political news and commentary, the Rhodes Scholar's mix of smarts and snark and girl-next-door approachability caught ratings fire. Almost immediately, the Castro Valley native was frequently beating CNN's Larry King in the nightly ratings (although King had more overall viewers in February). Not bad for somebody who didn't own a television until last week. It still hasn't been turned on, said Maddow, who fears once she starts, she won't be able to stop watching.

That hasn't prevented her from appearing on late-night TV shows over the past month (Stewart, Letterman, Fallon). The Stanford University graduate and former activist is back in San Francisco tonight to headline a fundraiser for Mother Jones magazine that is expected to raise $100,000.

We caught up with Maddow, 35, to talk about everything from what Democrats are doing wrong to how she deals with groupies. Here are excerpts from the conversation.

Q: You are a proud progressive, yet you regularly take on the left. What has the Obama administration done wrong so far?

A: Oh, tons of stuff. State secrets? That was in a San Francisco courtroom, wasn't it? The judge was so incredulous that the Obama Justice Department folks were going to continue with the Bush administration's argument that one of these horrible terrorism rendition cases should be dismissed on the basis that the whole idea of it was secret. Not that a specific piece of evidence was secret, but that the whole idea of the case was about a secret thing. (And the administration) dropped the enemy combatant designation, but kept all of the meaningful things about making somebody an enemy combatant. So there's been a bunch of important national security/constitutional things where the outcome is confusing at best and a continuation of the Bush administration policy at worst.

Q: How does the president sell his budget, not only to Republicans, but to people in his own party?

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/29-1

[LWolf]

1. Interesting:

"You are a proud progressive, yet you regularly take on the left."

Sounds like what I've been saying for a few years now: "Progressive" is not synonymous with "liberal" or "left." It IS firmly connected to the dlc and the PPI.

Which is why I don't consider myself a "progressive." I'm a liberal leftist.

I don't really know anything about Maddow, since I don't do tv or radio talk shows. I would have thought, just from reading subject lines at DU, that she was ON the left. This statement seems to suggest that she is a dlc progressive.

:shrug:

[NYCGirl]

2. If you actually read on in the article, you may change your mind.

She blasts Evan Bayh, for instance.

[LWolf]

3. I did read, and saw that.

I don't really have a mindset one way or the other; I'm just commenting on what that statement by the interviewer suggested to me. SHE didn't say it, lol.

[omega minimo]

16. Good catch, good interview.

:hi:

[ChiciB1]

4. I Find Here Pretty Much To The Left, As I Am... My Daughter Who LOVES Obama

and thinks he can do NO WRONG, often spars with me about this. I AM a LIBERAL... NOT a PROGRESSIVE!

I try VERY hard each day to understand what is going on, still there are times I become agitated about the state of politics even now. JMHO!

[PassingFair]

5. Funny, I look at it oppositely....

I see Progressives as the "left" and
"liberals" as the DLC, PPI people.

Howard Dean = Progressive
Hillary Clinton = Liberal

Obviously, these terms are
NOT defined!

:hi:

[hfojvt]

13. Howard Dean was not that progresive though

Still a fiscal conservative as Governor, and as Presidential candidate.
I would say this

Howard Zinn - socialist
Paul Wellstone, Eric Alterman, Jesse Jackson - Progressive
Kennedy, Mondale, Dukakis - liberal
Obama, Clintons - DLC, socially liberal, economically conservative
Carter, Bayh - conservative (centrist) Democrats (although Carter has perhaps gotten more liberal since he left office)

Those terms are not universally defined though, but the DLC started as an alternative to liberals like Dukakis and Mondale, and the Clintons call themselves progressives.

[PassingFair]

22. But Dean BECAME the "Progressive" standard bearer...during the 04 elections...

by espousing the "anti-centrist" viewpoint.
He picked up the mantle of Wellstone at that point.

He may not have been "that progressive" as Gov. of Vermont,
but he helped to define the Progressive Movement.

It was such a money attractor amongst the party's
grassroots, that the DLC types have worked hard
to wrest the name in the vacuum left when Dean
was taken down.

The Clintons can call themselves what they like,
but I don't think ANY progressives get behind
NAFTA and job outsourcing/H1B visas like the
Clintons champion.

I agree that there is a distinction between liberals like
Kennedy and Mondale and liberals like Clinton and Stabenow.

The split occurred with the IWR.

I think that Bayh fits COMFORTABLY in with the DLC crowd!

Individuals are rarely all one thing and none of another, but
the "New Dems" and "Blue Dogs" who identified with the
DLC throughout the Bush reign are NOT
Progressives in ANY sense of the word.

[Citizen Worker]

37. The Clinton's, Gore's and the DLC

Please remember that when Clinton ran in '92 he had just
resigned his position as chair of the DLC as did Al Gore, who
was vice-chair.

When Hillary Clinton first ran for the senate in New York she
proudly proclaimed, "I am a new democrat."  Code for
DLC.

The DLC used to publish their membership list online but when
I looked a few months ago the membership list had been taken
down but there on the DLC website was Hillary's health care
plan.

The DLC is the right wing of the Democratic party and there
are alot of members.  The DLC is the pro-business
anti-Democratic wing of the party and until we rid the party
of this anti-people element we're going to have more of the
same.  One need only look at the "new" Afghanistan
policy to understand that it's just more of the same in a
different wrapper.

Peace

[PassingFair]

41. They are why I am constantly apologizing for Democrats.

I sometimes cannot refute the money-grubbing,
lobbyist sucking profiteers in our own party.

They were handed their asses in the primary,
but they apparently gained (or retained) much
of their power under this new administration.

I puke when I open e-mails from the DSCC, only
to have James Carville's BatBoy-like visage appear
to ask me for money.

:puke:

[LWolf]

17. Another example of why I'll just stay

a "leftist." ;)

:hi:

[PassingFair]

25. Until the DLC has accomplished their mission of co-opting the Progressive meme,

I'll continue to call myself a Progressive.

In my mind it separates me from the Corpos.....

but I'd rather be called a leftist than a
corporate shill!

:hi:

[beac]

6. TV-free here too.

MSNBC does make her show available online (divided into short clips), if you are interested:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/

[beac]

7. TV-free here too.

MSNBC does make her show available online (divided into short clips), if you are interested:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/

[AlbertCat]

38. Or you can podcast the entire show for free.

[hfojvt]

8. the question was poorly worded and those terms poorly defined

"You are a proud progressive, yet you regularly take on the left. What has the Obama administration done wrong so far?"

The question kinda assumes that Obama and the Democratic Party ARE "the left". I don't think of DLCers as "progressive" although they may try to co-opt that word, just as Hillary calls herself a progressive when I think she is, in many ways, a centrist. But when the questioner said "you regularly take on the left" that was meant as "you regularly take on Obama, Clinton, and Pelosi (not to mention Bayh)" not "you regularly take on Chomsky and Zinn".

[PassingFair]

10. I agree with you.

The title of "Progressive" is being
co-opted by DLC types who don't want
to identify as "liberal".

AND you correctly tag them as "centrist".
I like to call them "Corpos".

The true "left" is represented NOWHERE
within our party.

We haven't seen a true leftist hero
since Eugene Debs, and we KNOW what
happened to him.

[LWolf]

18. And, of course,

this leftist doesn't consider Obama, or the Democratic Party as a whole, to be "left." ;)

Say it often enough, though, and that makes it so.

[Garbo 2004]

12. Maddow's been criticizing conservo Dems:

Q: How does the president sell his budget, not only to Republicans, but to people in his own party?

A: The thing that is sort of pathetic and funny is that the people he has most to sell it to is these conservatives who have decided to assert their own power by siding with the Republicans against the president. If progressives and Democrats want to gnash their teeth about anything right now, don't waste it on the Republicans, save it for (Sen.) Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

Conservative Democrats decided to wait until there was a Democratic president to say that we insist there be fiscal responsibility and no additional deficit spending. They waited through the entire Bush administration and didn't say anything like that. Meanwhile, Bush turned a hundreds-of-billions surplus into a trillion-dollar deficit and Evan Bayh didn't say beep. He had to wait until there was a Democrat in there so he can feel that he can get in opposition.

Q: Why is that? Is that a lack of political courage? Is it opportunism?

A: I think it's a defect in the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party doesn't feel pressured enough by its base. They feel like the way to show cojones, the way to really to show that they are tough guys, is to take on their party from the right. So that's how Evan Bayh is trying to make people remember how to spell his name - is by seeking to be the opposition to Obama in the Senate. Which would be great for him if he were a Republican. But the fact that people elected him to go be part of the Democratic majority in Washington and now he's using that opportunity to essentially empower the Republicans and obstruct the president's agenda is sort of pitiful. I think that won't happen if the liberal base and if the people who voted in the giant Democratic majority in Washington let him hear about it.

[Luminous Animal]

28. The article originally came from

the San Francisco Chronicle, a paper which is not known for the ability to distinguish between "Black Bloc" disrupters and peaceful anti-war protesters.

I've not seen her on TV but I've regularly read the transcripts of her shows and I'm pretty sure she's not a DLCer.

"Progressive" doesn't have any use other than to run away from the word "liberal". A better way to have phrased that question would have been, You are a proud liberal yet you regularly take on the members of your own party.

[LWolf]

33. That is a MUCH better way to phrase the question. nt

[rhett o rick]

29. Some thing don't add up here. You don't do radio talk shows???

What do you do? Internet only? If so, you are missing a whole lot. I have listened to Ms. Maddow for years and have loved her radio show. but she moved on to MSNBC as one of the few progressives on any TV network. You don't watch Olbermann or Maddow? or Stewart or Colbert??? I find that very interesting.

Second, I don't understand your equating progressive with DLC. To me they are polar opposites.

If you are a good "liberal" you should watch Ms. Maddow. Just sayin'

[LWolf]

32. I don't do talk radio or tv at all.

I also don't watch tv news. I do listen to NPR for an hour every morning during the week; it's the station my alarm is set to.

I get my news from the internet and hard-copy newspapers. I form my opinions through reading, research, and discussion with others in real life, and on the internet when I'm avoiding chores.

Which I'm doing right now, lol.

I HAVE, at one time, supported, and even called in to one talk radio program on a regular basis. Because the show belonged to a fellow DUer.

To be honest, :blush:, I don't even like it when someone posts video instead of text. First of all, I don't like soundbites. Secondly, I can read and evaluate a page of text in a tiny fraction of the time it takes to sit through watching or listening.

Can Ms. Maddow write a column? I'd probably know more about her if she did. ;)

I equate "progressive" with the dlc because their think tank is the "progressive policy institute," and because they have successfully convinced many Democratic voters that "progressive" is a politically correct form of "liberal," while the "progressive" candidates that have been winning office are often less than liberal. They've co-opted and warped the term, in my opinion.

[rhett o rick]

34. Thanks for the informative response. I like to listen to Ms. Maddow because she is smart.

I also listen to Thom Hartmann because he is informative. He also has great debates on his show with conservatives and libertarians. I find that very informative. I like to read also but I really think you are missing something by not watching or listening to some (i qualify that) radio and tv.

I also don't watch much corporate TV. Olberman, Maddow, Daley Show, the Colbert Repoir, and maybe Judge Judy (jk).

[Anser]

35. Progressive

Progressives tend to be to the left of liberals.

At least in the common vernacular I've run across.

[LWolf]

36. A few people have said that.

And then, there's the dlc's "progressive policy institute."

Which simply means, to me, that when someone says "progressive," I'm not sure if they mean "liberal," or if they mean dlc "centrist."

So I just stick to "leftist," which is completely unambiguous.

:hi:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

43. You do know DLC and PPI purposely cooped the "progressive"...

moniker? When PPI first showed its ugly face it was outright laughed at here at DU -- there isn't a damned thing about PPI that is progressive in the traditional sense.

Progressive IS liberal/left -- always has been.

It is the likes of the DLC and PPI that is trying to muddy the political waters.

And Rachel is a classic, San Francisco progressive.

[butterfly77]

9. I don't agree with Rachel on lot of things but..

here is where I totally agree:


How does the president sell his budget, not only to Republicans, but to people in his own party?

A: The thing that is sort of pathetic and funny is that the people he has most to sell it to is these conservatives who have decided to assert their own power by siding with the Republicans against the president. If progressives and Democrats want to gnash their teeth about anything right now, don't waste it on the Republicans, save it for (Sen.) EVAN BAYH, D-Ind.

Conservative Democrats decided to wait until there was a Democratic president to say that we insist there be fiscal responsibility and no additional deficit spending. They waited through the entire Bush administration and didn't say anything like that. Meanwhile, Bush turned a hundreds-of-billions surplus into a trillion-dollar deficit and Evan BAYH didn't say beep. He had to wait until there was a Democrat in there so he can feel that he can get in opposition.

I don't think that the public is paying attention and these Dems like BAYH are counting on this. My main mission this week was to inform as many people as I could about what these Dems are doing and I have been emailing senators..

[Schema Thing]

11. She's wearing my shirt.

I guess I didn't just dream about our night together.


But seriously, I have that exact shirt.

[Cleita]

14. I've stopped seeing it as a left or right issue anymore.

I'm seeing it as smart or stupid. We on the left are smart and do smart things. Those on the right are stupid, they repeat stupid mistakes and don't learn from them. Rachel is smart and her politics go to the left because of it.

[Tutankhamun]

15. But the conservadems are trying to HELP Obama!

They just want to help strengthen his proposals and help him get votes in the senate by weakening his proposals and voting against them.

:sarcasm: (for the sarcasm-impaired)

[soothsayer]

19. neolibs are the same poison as neocons

Let's go lefter lefter lefter for gawd's sake (2012 we will----these are the last 4 yrs of facism, according to political cycles) Huzzah!

[Peregrine Took]

20. Not to be superficial but I love her hair. I wonder what she does to it to

make it do that?? Probably has great, thick hair and uses a lot of "products."

[Zuiderelle]

23. My hair looks nearly identical to hers, except for being a lighter color.

I use Aquage Transforming Paste... http://www.aquage.com/Default.aspx?tabid=94

You can get it online for $15 to $17 for 3.5 ounces. Expensive, but it lasts a long time and you only need a bit. I don't have thick hair, but it makes my fine hair appear thick, without looking like I have a lot of product in it.

[GreenTea]

21. Rachel : Best thing to happen to television news & commentary since Keith Olbemann's Countdown!

I'm probably much more liberal than Maddow...Still, I watch her (via TIVO) each night and adore her and her liberalness as well as Maddow's cleverness doing interviews...Maddow is truly a sweetheart and my darling of mine on the left!

[Zuiderelle]

24. Hear Hear

[babylonsister]

26. I feel the same way. She's become 'must watch' TV here. Love her! nt

[rhett o rick]

30. I miss her on the radio tho. I was an avid listener since the beginning.

I realize that it is good to have her on network tv, but I miss her on the radio. I can't handle big eddy.

[JI7]

27. by taking on Obama administration on the terrorism rendition cases, how is that

taking on the left ? she is taking on the Obama administration on things she considers to be too right wing.

[KoKo]

31. Disgusting...n/t

[JI7]

39. what's disgusting ?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

40. What?

???

[Jennicut]

42. I like Rachel, she is more to the left then me but I really really like her show.

Liberals, progressives, who cares?! We are all pushing to the left.

[espritjoie]

44. Sign this petition to try to remove the CONSERVADEMS

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/conservadems-you-should-be-replaced