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TOPIC: "Obama's Fire Sale by Gail Sheehy" (Gail Sheehy, TheDailyBeast.com 9/27/10)


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"Obama's Fire Sale by Gail Sheehy" (Gail Sheehy, TheDailyBeast.com 9/27/10)
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Read @ TheDailyBeast.com

Obama's Fire Sale

by Gail Sheehy


Six weeks before the election, President Obama couldn’t fill the ballroom at the Roosevelt Hotel, despite cheap tickets on offer. And then he was met by hecklers.

Who would have thought that six weeks before a cliffhanger election, President Obama would have to reach down to the D list to fill a room to listen to him? Most of us low rollers arrived early to see President Obama up close and personal. Our tickets for the general reception at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York were only $100. Some thought the email invitation was a joke. Some bought tickets for $50 from their desperate Democratic committeeman. Some bought the same day.

[snip]

Only after I received four email invitations and two personal calls imploring me to come did I call Speaker Pelosi’s office to check the admission price.

“You mean, to be in the room with the President of the United States is now on fire sale for $100?”

”Yup.”

“How long do we get?”

“Half hour.”

“How many $100 givers have rsvp’d?”

“Mmmm 250.”

“Do we need to line up early to get in?”

“That’s not necessary. Everybody  will get in.”

And everybody did—450 people in a room that holds 650.  Even Obama’s fire sale didn’t sell out.

[SNIP]

Don't ask, don't tell!” hollered the female heckler.

“The incomes of middle-class families –“

“Don't ask, don't tell!”

“…fell by almost 5 percent—“

“Don't ask, don't tell!”

“…fell by almost 5 percent –“

Our crowd tried to push the hecklers back.

“No, no, it's all right,” said the president, curbing the fury in the room. “We don't have to—it's OK.  You don't need to yell,” he reasoned with them. “Listen, my most urgent task as president was to prevent a second Depression.” (Applause.) “We've been through war and Depression and struggles for equal rights and civil rights. In each instance, we have made progress. Progress took time. Progress took sacrifice…”

There it was, the forgotten word: Sacrifice. That was the mantra of the Greatest Generation, buried under tens of thousands of American GIs whose families sacrificed their greatest treasure to fight for our ideals. The Bush mantra was Shop.

“Now, 19 months later…people are frustrated with the pace of change—and so am I,” the president confessed. “But I'm also here to tell you this: We cannot lose heart. We cannot give up.” (Applause.).

“These folks [Republicans] spent a decade driving our economy into a ditch. And so me and Nancy [Pelosi] and Bob [Menendez] and Chris [Van Holland], we all put on our boots and we went down into the ditch. It was muddy. It was hot. We're sweating. There are bugs. We're down there and we're pushing on this car. We're slippin’ and slidin,’ but we know we've got to get it up there.”

The crowd identified. We've been slippin' and slidin', too

“And the Republicans are standing on level ground and they're watching us. They're sipping on a Slurpee”  (laughter) “and they're saying, “You know, you're not pushing hard enough” …And every once in a while, we'd look up to them and say, “Do you guys want to help?” They said, “No, no—no, we can't.”

Laughter built.

“And so finally, finally we get that car out of the ditch. Now, it's a little banged up… It needs a tune-up." (Laughter.) "It's not moving as fast as we wanted, but it's on level ground and we're ready to move forward. And suddenly we get a tap on the shoulder and we look back, and it's the Republicans.”(Laughter.) “They said, 'Excuse me, we want the keys back.' ”

Delicious anticipation. “You can't have the keys back. You don't know how to drive!” (Wild applause.)

Later that night, another crowd had shelled out $15,000 to sit for dinner with the president.  Think that’s a lot?  It’s a 50 percent markdown from a recent invitation to dinner with the president at the home of Linda Douglass and John Phillips, costing $30,000.

[snip]

The Clintons are still gracious to their supporters from 1992. Bill often takes whole delegations on his overseas speaking trips, including some former supporters. When the Hillary and Obama presidential campaigns merged in July 2008, members of Obama’s National Finance Committee were anxious to know how the Clintons held most of their loyal contributors from ’92 to 2008. The Clinton people divulged the secret of long-term loyalty—feed their brains as well as their egos, continually. It now appears the Clintons’ formula has been steadily ignored by the Obama team.

[snip]

And so the question is, how many Obama fire sales does it take to raise another record-shattering $770 million for 2012?

Continues @ TheDailyBeast.com
=======================

I have mixed emotions in reading this. On the one hand, I really do not want the President of my country to have to reach this point.. and it is lower than I had expected even. 

On the other hand, my goodness! Does he not know that politics is small favors, connections and introductions.. and involvement of the stakeholders?

Involvement does not require dolling out money or giving/assuring a share in the game. It is more about taking input. It does not mean that everyone will be satisfied with the decision/outcome, rather than they will be satisfied their viewpoint was heard and integrated somewhere along the way in decisionmaking.  Involvement was key to Pres.Clinton's success.

When he (Pres.Obama) makes decisions unilaterally and hands them down, he denegrades the other person. It is an important life lesson that he needed to have learned that he has not.  Those who do not involve key stakeholders in decisionmaking build up bad karma and loose good relationships.

Typo fixed

-- Edited by Sanders on Monday 27th of September 2010 10:00:53 PM

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Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com
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I think the quicker he hits bottom and is out of the WH, the better for the country, and for him. This man was worshiped by young people, placed on a pedestal by the national media, treated like a god by the Hollywood crowd. He received nothing but positive reinforcement - and for what? Certainly not his stellar record as a senator. His book? Well, we now know that quite a bit of that was not accurate. His personal life as church-going father and family man? We already know about his racist church. His wife admittedly was anti-American. And his friends - Ayers, Dorn, Rezko, and Blago - not exactly paragons of character and integrity. He was elevated to super-star status for doing nothing except reading a speech and appearing to be cool, and being bi-racial. No wonder he's having difficulty with the actual job of president. Being criticized for real mistakes and real ineffectiveness must be hard, when you've received so much praise for just showing up.

There was absolutely no reason to think that Obama would do any better than he has done. The media and others with some influence did a number on the American public - already sick to death of Bush, and ready for "change". (good luck with that - lol).

I just don't think Obama has any idea of how to utilize the Clintons' formula for inspiring loyalty because he lacks the ability to put himself in the position of another person. He lacks the ability to feel empathy. He can understand how people can THINK as they do - and expects them to change the way they think when he tells them to do so. But, he can't understand how people feel as they do - and how to respond to their feelings. That's not something easily learned, especially by someone so extremely self-focused as Obama.

BTW - I'm so damn sick of that car analogy. It's lame and means absolutely nothing.

It is good to get this bit of insight about the fundraiser. Thanks for posting, sanders.

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It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.  ~Susan B. Anthony



Diamond

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freespirit wrote:

I think the quicker he hits bottom and is out of the WH, the better for the country, and for him. This man was worshiped by young people, placed on a pedestal by the national media, treated like a god by the Hollywood crowd. He received nothing but positive reinforcement - and for what? Certainly not his stellar record as a senator. His book? Well, we now know that quite a bit of that was not accurate. His personal life as church-going father and family man? We already know about his racist church. His wife admittedly was anti-American. And his friends - Ayers, Dorn, Rezko, and Blago - not exactly paragons of character and integrity. He was elevated to super-star status for doing nothing except reading a speech and appearing to be cool, and being bi-racial. No wonder he's having difficulty with the actual job of president. Being criticized for real mistakes and real ineffectiveness must be hard, when you've received so much praise for just showing up.

There was absolutely no reason to think that Obama would do any better than he has done. The media and others with some influence did a number on the American public - already sick to death of Bush, and ready for "change". (good luck with that - lol).

I just don't think Obama has any idea of how to utilize the Clintons' formula for inspiring loyalty because he lacks the ability to put himself in the position of another person. He lacks the ability to feel empathy. He can understand how people can THINK as they do - and expects them to change the way they think when he tells them to do so. But, he can't understand how people feel as they do - and how to respond to their feelings. That's not something easily learned, especially by someone so extremely self-focused as Obama.

BTW - I'm so damn sick of that car analogy. It's lame and means absolutely nothing.

It is good to get this bit of insight about the fundraiser. Thanks for posting, sanders.



STAMP!!  I am so sick of that car analogy too.. It was like, oh, give me a freaking break! LOL.

You captured the entire situation very well, right from the get go in 2008. Yep, one speech and he so needed those 8 flags behind him to convey that he is American and likes... ahem.. the US Flag! hmm And, if you saw the article link... repeat with 8 flags! LOL

A big pre-requisite for empathy is listening. It requires someone to suspend their belief, and even what they think they know as folks at least temporarily to absorb from the other person with total concentration... this is something that requies one to focus on the other and blank out the rest of the world... It is intensive.. and it takes effort if you do not do this habitually.  A great listener is often mistaken as agreeing, but that is not necessarily what they are doing, rather, they are absorbing and encouraging you to share more so they can get into your shoes and experience the set of facts and world you are trying to communicate... and only after they feel they have enough of the gist of what is being communicated will they add in THEIR knowledge of the facts, and slowly.... and in the meanwhile, they are careful to emote with the other to ensure that they bring the other peron along if needed.  It takes effort if you do not do it habitually.

I have seen for a very long time.. even as early as in 2006... that the then new Senator Obama does not listen nor relate well.  It was clear in one of the early interviews that aired in which he talked about his book.. (cannot recall which channel nor find the clip; I have looked). He was really good at not getting into any pot holes and traps in the interview... he managed to wow the interviewer with his finesse, words and mannerism... but he did not connect with the interviewer.



-- Edited by Sanders on Monday 27th of September 2010 10:10:10 PM

__________________
Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com
Project Vote Smart - Stay informed and engaged!


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The Clintons are still gracious to their supporters from 1992. Bill often takes whole delegations on his overseas speaking trips, including some former supporters. When the Hillary and Obama presidential campaigns merged in July 2008, members of Obama’s National Finance Committee were anxious to know how the Clintons held most of their loyal contributors from ’92 to 2008. The Clinton people divulged the secret of long-term loyalty—feed their brains as well as their egos, continually. It now appears the Clintons’ formula has been steadily ignored by the Obama team.


biggrinbiggrinbiggrinbiggrin

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Amy Dugan


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It does this old heart good to read of the lack of interest in zero's appearances. heh heh

He will never have what the Clintons have. I believe he is insanely jealous of them both.

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