MSNBC anchor Lisa Daniels touted Bush "likeability factor": "[P]eople still relate to his character"
On the September 18 broadcast of NBC's syndicated The Chris Matthews Show, MSNBC News Live anchor Lisa Daniels repeatedly defended President Bush's widely criticized response to Hurricane Katrina, predicting "that this is actually ... going to be a win for President Bush." Citing Bush's purported ability to overcome low expectations in presidential debates, Daniels described Katrina as "the perfect storm for him" and suggested that it was "actually going to work to his advantage." In addition, Daniels touted Bush's "likeability factor" and told viewers, "He's the same guy that was on 9-11 with the bullhorn. He hasn't changed. And people still relate to his character." She added that "the white folks" in the French Quarter "told me directly" that "[t]hey're blaming New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin" instead of Bush, because "[t]hey think he [Bush] cares."
From the September 18 broadcast of The Chris Matthews Show:
MATTHEWS: Lisa, you're the new kid on the block this week, but let me ask you about this thing. You were down there. I was down there with you. We were covering the hurricane down there -- the whole clean-up mess with all the water. By the way, it's still all there. That city is in terrible shape. Amidst all the smells down there and the water down there, did you get a sense that there was more cracking up here than just a little delayed response? What did you get a sense of the president's leadership down there?
DANIELS: I actually, I was struck that people did not blame President Bush. They like this guy. I think we're forgetting that -- the likeability factor. He's the same guy that was on 9-11 with the bullhorn. He hasn't changed, and people still relate to his character.
MATTHEWS: Which people are you talking about? The white folks still in the Quarter, or who are you talking about?
DANIELS: The white folks still in the Quarter, in the French Quarter. They are not blaming President Bush. They told me directly. They're blaming New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. But they are not blaming this man. They think he cares.
[...]
DANIELS: See, we're undermining him once again. It's a perfect condition for President Bush. We said it with Al Gore, we said it with John Kerry: This guy can't debate. This is the perfect storm for him, because it's actually going to work to his advantage.
[...]MATTHEWS: Lisa, you first. You were down there. Will George Bush be haunted by New Orleans to the last day of his presidency?
DANIELS: Absolutely not. He's actually going to do better because there are such low expectations. You're all writing him off in Newsweek. He's gone.
[...]
MATTHEWS: Lisa, tell me something I don't know.
DANIELS: All right. Being down in New Orleans for two weeks, I think it's actually worse than the TV pictures actually show. But that said, expectations are so bad right now -- that it's going to take so long for the water to be pumped out, that there are 10,000 dead bodies there -- that this is actually, Howard [Fineman, fellow panelist], going to be a win for President Bush.
MATTEWS: Because there won't be 10,000 bodies?
DANIELS: Right. It's going to be much better.
MATTHEWS: They've lowballed it brilliantly.
DANIELS: And that's exactly what President Bush does best.
The other right-wing media mogul you should worry about
Palin's book and Obama's bow: a media week to forget
Media Matters: The Palin chronicles
Christ and that is what we should be happy about Bush has lowered the expectations of the Presidency to such a degree that Katrina is a "win". As the song goes, "...I'm proud to be an American..". I'll say it again, if you voted for this administration and you have not repented, please quit voting your lack of judgment is destorying a great place to live.
What's really upsetting is that this female keeps referring to Bush's likeability. As a woman, I'd rather have a smart man like Bill in there than a -- jeeze. I don't know anymore. I see people give Bush a pass because he rises above his low expectations. Destroys this country and these damn GOPhers still excoriate Clinton. It makes me tense. I'm biting my nails again, don't sleep at night, have headaches. One of the things that make me the craziest is that these so-called "journalists" don't care who's right or who's wrong. It's game to them. It's a way to get in with the "big guys." What happened to patriotism with these "journalists." They don't have any. They just like to be invited to the parties and the dinners, etc. I'm old enough to remember Murrow and Savereid and Cronkite and Edwards. Their jobs were to inform and to report and to dig. There is not one journalist out there who does that now. Woodward sold out. Bernstein is teaching somewhere and has no use for Woodward. Those were the last two "mainstream journalists." All I can say is -- THANK GOD FOR THE INTERNET.
This is really sad. A natural disaster of biblical proportions that destroys a major US city along with untold thousands of lives and it's being talked about in terms of how it will be a "WIN" for Bush. Have these people no shame? Sorry, rhetorical question.
When a president has to rely on national disasters to try and appear "presidential" and "likable" in order to increase the public's perception of his leadership capabilities, we have come to a sorry state of affairs indeed.
"When a president has to rely on national disasters to try and appear "presidential" and "likable" in order to increase the public's perception of his leadership capabilities, we have come to a sorry state of affairs indeed."
BINGO!
I actually TIVO'D his because it was mind boggling. The other panelists were shocked. So let me get his straight.
Bush=White People=OK Less dead= Bush Okay
Leave it to this administration, the most incompetent in 25 years to make political hay out of this.
Risght wing talk show are now starting to repeat stories of people using FEMA cards at strip clubs. Let's see they give out 10,000 cards and 1 knucklehead does this and now this and the Louis Vutton story will be on all the time. By the way, if the RNC had the FEMA cards how would GOP members use them?
"That's what George Bush does best"
If overestimating the degree to which Bush failed the Katrina disaster is a political boon, I just don't know what our great nation is coming to.
I can not believe I am hearing this, GWB is good because we all think he's an idiot, and when he pulls a complete sentence out of his mouth we all shout horray! He's not a idiot! Well it's obvious what is wrong with Iraq, they should have said it was going to take 20 years and hundreds of thousands of Americans dead, then instead of complaining about Iraq we'd be saying wow, only 3 years in and 2000 deaths, boy are we doing a great job!! Keep up the good work!
So glad Media Matters caught this one.
But *THAT'S NOT ALL SHE SAID!.
Lisa Daniels also commented on the Roberts nomination, that "most people are worried he's going to turn out to be a moderate like Judge Souter." (not an exact quote)
Clearly she was only expressing the view of the right wing and presenting it as if it was the view of most people. Since polls show Americans support Roe v. Wade by a 2:1 margin (thank you Media Matters for this factoid also), her statement was both biased and false.
If Osama bin Laden told Bush he was going to nuke Los Angeles in 3 days, and we thought there would be 500,000 dead but there were only 250,000, would Daniels still think Bush was going to come out ahead?
Or, more specifcally, if the bomb went off in Compton so only black people were killed, would Daniels say that she talked to the white people in Beverly Hills and that they still believed in Bush?
How, in the name of god, do idiots like her get on television. Oh wait, she is attractive in that news anchor sort of way.
Anyone else want a constitutional amendment that resticts free speech in the following way: no television anchors ever. Just picture and voice overs.
Apparently she gets her talking points from Barbara Bush.
Maybe Lisa Daniels can e-mail her alleged "thoughts" to the loved ones who lost relatives in the Gulf States. Meanwhile could someone please inform her that not all events are judged in terms of political gains and losses.
Just for a "blast from the past" about Lisa Daniels, she's also the woman the Doctor from the Terri Schiavo case called "stupid" for her ridiculous, misleading questions (such as asking if a CAT scan was ever done on Terri Schiavo to prove a persistent vegetative state).
[link to mediamatters.org]
That video clip is a classic.
This is comedy at its best. I listened to her comments and just couldn't stop laughing. Its just awful how she turned this disaster into a pep rally for the president. No matter all the evidence pointing to how badly this administration incompetantly handled Hurricane Katrina, the right-wing of this country is now rooting for him because of his "Character" and "Likability?"
And another thing...Why is President Bush's popularity more important than investigating/debating what went wrong with the local and federal governments response to the Hurricane?
C'mon people! Stop playing games and acting like drama queens concerned more with what "He Said, She said" as opposed to what really happened and what we can do to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Sigh...
It would be funnier still if it weren't so tragic. It's getting harder and harder to think these "journalists" believe their BS and are able to separate it from actual factual news. There's some desperate, heavy duty spinning going on here.
The scary thing is that so many people don't see this kind of stuff as funny at all. They all just nod their heads and chant "that's our president and isn't he doing a bang-up job?".
Come on now, we all know that it's "hard work".
Daniels is nearly as nausiating as the shrub himself. At least we can switch her off and deny her existance. As a proud Lefty Texan, I cannot help but harbor a particular sense of misery during this never ending nightmare. You've no idea how gutwretching it is to still hear that phrase uttered - "likeability factor" -in association with that entire wretched family.
So white people who didn't wait seven days on their rooftops for help to come still think Bush is "likeable." Woot.
I got a kick out of how so many took this person's comments as a reflection on all things Bush and people who voted for him.
Obviously this woman is acting as pundit. It looks like to me she is deliberatly tossing out very politcally INcorrect statements in order to make a name for herself or to provide fodder for the others so they can react.
You can get all worked up in a lather if you want, but I wouldn't take her comments seriously.
Hey, you're right. I get such a kick out of listening to all this light, obviously tongue-in-cheek punditry and bantering. It's such a stitch. I'm so glad our big networks are gracious enough to encourage this 'say whatever's on your mind' commentary.
Take her seriously?, Aw shucks, not me pardner! I wouldn't believe anything this this ignorant bimbo said if my life depended on it. It's the (apparent) millions in our country that don't see it as politically incorrect and are actually validated by her BS. I think many proudly see this kind of crap as reflecting their support for Bush.
The only things she's tossing out here are her integrity, intelligence and the truth .
How blatantly biased can a reporter get here? I read these quotes and if we took away the names I would think this was Rove or Bartlett speaking. I mean who does she think she is fooling? So the "white folks" that she bothered to seek out still love Bush? What's the matter Lisa? Couldn't find any black folks running around? Oh... maybe because they have all been shipped out?
I think Nancy Pelosi had it right when she told that other Bush cheerleader shrill from CNN to get on the White House payroll if she insists on carry their water the way she does. The same applies for this Lisa Daniels character. Come to think of it she probably IS on the White House payroll!
Personally I am sick and tired of having to shake my head at the incompetence of this president and his team. I am supposed to be happy that just because there is not 10,000 dead but ONLY 3,000 that Bush is back to his unearned demigod status?
Is it to much to ask to have a president who is at least a little coherent and in-tune to what is going on around him?
The tragedy that was 9/11 soon became not about the thousands that died but about Bush, who used the tragedy for purely partisan political purposes. Because Bush is in the tank the way he is Rove is desperate to turn the tragedy of Katrina in any way shape or form for a repeat.
Bimbos like Lisa Daniels are doing their part to make that happen. Screw the people who lost everything. It is all about Bush.
what likeability ? 58 freaking percent of the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll respondants disapprove of bush's job performance ! a new high !
atheist - Monday September 19, 2005 06:29:32 PM EST
What CHARACTER. I have seen no indications of character from Bush, inveterate lying, world class spinning, incompetence on a Galactic level, but I have seen no evidence of character whatsoever
Does daniels look at the latest polls out on bush?? He had the lowest numbers of any president and is absolutely not liked or trusted and is totally incompetent. We need bush out of office to finally restore integrity and honesty again in the White house with a democrat.
Daniels: "All right. Being down in New Orleans for two weeks, I think it's actually worse than the TV pictures actually show. But that said, expectations are so bad right now -- that it's going to take so long for the water to be pumped out, that there are 10,000 dead bodies there -- that this is actually, Howard [Fineman, fellow panelist], going to be a win for President Bush."
Katrina is "a win for President Bush"? In Daniel’s pretty little young head cocked nicely for the camera, Katrina is all about the President first, not the hundreds of thousands of real people, the victims who perished, the tens of thousands left homeless, the hundreds of thousands displaced, or those who have lost friends or loved ones. She is deluded. She doesn't see the real world. In Daniel’s little head, it's all just arguments to be recited about people she thinks the public cares about. Not surprisingly, she's a former junior associate at a white shoe law firm with a pretty face who apparently preferred not to keep pulling all-nighters when she could be doing something more glamorous while posing for the camera with lots of people paying attention to her.
These are the type of low quality scum people that are clogging up the airwaves right now. They are hurting America. All they do is argue gibberish. How do we get rid of them? Please Jon Stewart, please keep talking about these people, keep calling them to the carpet. We need a debate about the news, and what it should be. We need an overhaul. Many of these news broadcasters and pundits like Daniels aren't human beings. They are just dressed up, fancy salespeople selling us damaged goods. They are like all those drug reps on whom the drug companies spend more than they spend on research. They are peddling COX2 inhibitors, or in this case idiotic, irrelevant statements like Katrina is a win for the President because of lowered expectations. Daniels can’t even say her point concisely: everyone thinks Bush is even more of a moron than he actually is. But who cares. The main point is that this is a disaster made far worse by the President’s irresponsible crony appointments and his incompetence. We deserve more from the President on this and his numerous other screw ups. Where is the accountability? Oh, the President is stupider than people think so that means he’s off the hook, a winner in fact! Nice point Daniels. You are even stupider than I thought, so that must make you – in the real world – a complete and total loser. I am sick of people like you. I can never sleep after reading this site. But we have to keep the sunlight on this crap like Daniels until it dries up and washes away. Smart people have to keep challenging Republicans or they will have the stage to themselves to keep convincing the American to buy their BS.
I just sent a nasty gram to MSNBC asking if they were trying to compete with Fox News. Chris Mathews has sunk to their level. Perhaps Lisa Daniels is trying to land a job with Fox or she was being paid by Karl or one of Karl's propaganda organizations, but no sane rational person would spout out such nonsense. Maybe that's it! She's not sane! She could be a member of the Robertson/Farwell crowd which means, well, insane.