Donna Brazile @ CNN: SOTU as Prom

Always insightful, author, strategist, and professor Donna Brazile talks about the sudden, good-natured "civility" exhibited by Congress for tonight's State of the Union in an OpEd column today at CNN - How State of the Union became a prom. There remain two problems she's glossing over as she concludes, charitably...

"We don't all have to agree with each other, but for the good of the country, it's important that we sit together as Americans. After all, this could be good for the country, too."

Professor Donna Brazile, CNN Conributor

25 Jan 2011

First, it's patently political posing -- plain old posturing -- a ploy for the attention and implied praise of the pundits that probably won't impact one Congressional debate or vote, but will probably garner that holy grail, media coverage for most of the players.

Secondly, focus on the mechanics, or logistics, or whatever you want to call this staging of seating arrangements, inevitably detracts from time people spent reflecting on the President's actual message. Granting that GOP strategists are delighted to direct public attention to anything but President Obama's hour in the limelight, particularly in the wake of his speech dealing with the tragedy in Tuscon, it seems curious that their Democratic counterparts are being pulled in.

The narrative of tonight's State of the Union speech is fast becoming "they played so nicely together." Count the minutes in the coverage leading up to the State of the Union and particularly the post-speech dissection, bearing in mind that every minute spent on how members of Congress arranged their seats is akin to watching the royals - "Congress-watching" lacks substance, although it's probably easier for most pundits on the spur of the moment than genuine analysis.

I don't need to relive Joe Wilson's "You lie!" moment, but I've watched politics too long to fall for this pre-planned mugging for the cameras and the echo-chamber media, either. When they control the information the GOP wins the messaging battle; who wins if they can distract from the President's powerful post-Tuscon message by getting the media to talk about who sat with whom, and possibly draw a few extra eyeballs to the dueling GOP/Tea-Party responses?

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, former Democratic Campaign Manager, journalist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. You can follow him as @kabiu on twitter.

CNN's Donna Brazile Comes To SF For Obama Fundraiser July 15th, Palace

Donna Brazile, originally uploaded by AFSCME.org.

CNN's Donna Brazile Comes To SF For Obama Fundraiser July 15th, Palace Hotel

CNN's Donna Brazile is coming To San Francisco For a Fundraiser for the "Obama Victory Fund" July 15th from 12 noon to 1:30 PM at The Palace Hotel, (2 New Montgomery, downtown San Francisco and just off Montgomery BART Station), and you can join us with a $150 contribution or a $1,000 contribution for a VIP reception to host Ms. Brazile. To join us, just click on this link:

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/BrazileJuly15

And as you sign up and donate, type in "Zennie Abraham" in the field "PLEASE LET US KNOW WHO ENCOURAGED YOU TO MAKE THIS CONTRIBUTION:"

About Donna Brazile

Donna Brazile is Founder and Managing Director of Brazile and Associates, LLC and is the first African-American to direct a major presidential campaign, having done so for Gore-Libermann 2000. Brazile is perhaps best known as the weekly and at times daily contributor to CNN's "The Situation Room" and other CNN programs.

Recently, Brazile made news again as an active member of the DNC Rules Committee, where she told then-Clinton supporter and former Governor Jim Blanchard "my mama told me you gotta play by the rules."

Donna Brazile is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including Washingtonian Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington, D.C. and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Award for Political Achievement.

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Brazile earned her undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She's also the author of Cooking With Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics

Please join us for this lunchtime discussion from 12 noon to 1:30 PM, Tuesday, July 15th.

Donna Brazile Tells Jim Blanchard You Gotta Play By The Rules At DNC Rules Committee Meeting

CNN Contributor and undeclared Democratic Superdelegate Donna Brazile tells Clinton supporter and former Governor Jim Blanchard that her "mama told her you gotta play by the rules" in response to his speech on seating delegates in a way that favors Senator Clinton.

It was long believed that Brazile favored Hillary Clinton but any movement by Brazile in Clinton's favor was destroyed long ago by the antics of Clinton supporters sending nasty emails to the Dem power-broker regarding an assumed pro-Obama stance. Moreover, Brazile has not been pleased with some of the racially charged campaigning by Clinton and her staff.

Given the mic, Brazile reminded us all that the reason this meeting of the DNC Rules Committee was called is that both Florida and Michigan did not play by the rules set for by the DNC Rules Committee last year.