Has post-election infighting among folks in the losing campaign ever been this bad?

I would guess it was similarly bad, though we didn't hear about it as much because we didn't have the saturation of internet coverage we have today.

 

I've heard it's coming from a lot of Romney guys who are trying to clear the way for their guy in 2012.

 

well Joe is not even welcome into his own party anymore so that tells you something.

 

There has been serious infighting in past, losing campaigns. But the stuff doesn't usually come out until months or even years later. Plus this time, the amount of hatred some of McCain's people seem to have for Palin is over the top. Of course, if half of what they've leaked out is true, it's understandable even though she shouldn't have been selected to start with.

John Kerry's people complained that John Edwards never took the attack-dog role they wanted because he was more concerned about himself as a future candidate than winning in 2004.

The "heart and soul" of the GOP is at stake. A chunk of the party sees Palin as the future and others think she's an over-ambitious, divisive, anti-intellectual "diva" and "whack job" that is a "cancer" that must be excised. Her future in the national party is one of the major issues Republicans need to settle. Some of the people that don't like Palin see an opportunity to kill her national future right now and get it over with early. She's battling back to maintain future viability.

rimrocker, if most of this stuff is coming from Romney's people, I don't think she can survive. Romney is even dirtier (more negative) than she is but he's a whole lot less clumsy about it (which isn't saying much). IMO, her appeal is similar to that of Huckabee except his demeanor is completely different. She has little chance to win over the other members of the GOP core groups outside of the of the Religious Right leaders. And when the GOP moneymen decide to anoint a front-runner in two years, it won't be Palin. I'm guessing Romney is the most likely because he paid his dues this time around.

fmullegun, in case you forgot, there are obvious reasons Lieberman is about to leave the Dem caucus. #1: He is not even a Dem. #2: He backed the GOP nominee for president and had some very harsh things to say about the president-elect. Why would he be welcome back?

 

I am just saying he was a leader in the party and after a losing election it is some obvious fighting.

seems pretty bad.

everyone takes anything said about their "side" as an attack around here.

 

Gore thought the Clintons dicked him over by promoting Hillary's Senate campaign at his expense.

 

The Romney sour grapes thing seems to be a little bit of a myth:

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/11/rumor_patrol_romney_camp_sprea.php


Rumor: Aides and advisers to Mitt Romney are responsible for spreading most of the anti-Palin stories that have been going around; during the campaign, they pressured reporters to look into reports of tension between McCain and Palin factions.

Analysis: As one of the first reporters to sense these ill-winds, I don't see an organized conspiracy. The first people with whom I spoke had no connection to Romney's campaign whatsoever -- they were longtime McCain advisers and aides... so...they didn't much like Mitt Romney. When Palin was first selected, of the five Romney aides/advisers I remember contacting, three had positive impressions and two had mixed impressions.

Now, as the campaign progressed, there were people who can be fairly described as being Romney advisers who began to criticize Palin and pass along what their Republican friends were telling them. But so did consultants, strategists and activists representing every potential 2012 candidate. And other Romney advisers continued to praise her.

Trendy, self-exonerating flip: Now -- it bothers Team Romney that this idea has spread so widely. Take the truth out of it for a moment; Palin is the most popular figure in the Republican Party right now, and if you want a future in that party, you can't be seen as spreading gossip about her.

Metaflip: Bottom line: Mitt Romney's world is big. Many Republicans consider themselves to be part of it. That's a credit to their faith in the guy. But it's not too big; that is -- if the anti-Palin fires were being spread mostly by Romney folks, political reporters would know about it, and they'd write about it. Objection: Many reporters are in the tank and want to protect Romney and their sources: Overruled: since when are reporters in Mitt Romney's tank?

 

Gore dicked himself by not carrying his home state of TN which would have put him over.

 

It's because your example is bad. Yes, Joe Lieberman is an outcast in the Democratic Party. What does that have to do with post election infighting in the Gore Lieberman campaign?

Lieberman is not an Independent because former Gore staffers bashed him for being outdebated by Cheney. Furthermore, he is not an Independent because he was on a losing ticket.

 

I thought it was the opposite and that Bill blamed Al for not allowing him to campaign for Gore in the South (for fear of being overshadowed).

 

Certainly true, but on the other hand, you've never had a VP that didn't know that Africa was a continent and whatnot. So it may be that it appears more ridiculous because more ridiculous things were going on behind the scenes.

 

in the thread with insight into the campaigns that came out after election night, there was the mccain aide, "wasilla hillbillie" insult.

obermann made the interesting point, that it just goes to show you how the heiarchy of the republican party use their base to get in power but don't really respect them. palin was brought out to appeal to the base, so they think the base is a bunch of hillbillies? party in turmoil