Libtalker Questions Importance Of Crowd Estimates

'SIZE QUEENS'

Libtalker Not Backing MSNBC Host's Rally Claims







This may be a first, but we believe libtalker Randi Rhodes may have a valid point. Why the obsession with crowd estimates at political rallies held in Washington?

At first, heavy participation was seen as evidence of a strong political movement, but now, the whole rally concept has degenerated into a silly pissing contest between dueling cable hosts. Holding such an event has become a virtual job requirement for these guys and turnout is equated with ratings success.

That need for survival explains at least in part the desperate assertions of MSNBC's Ed Schultz, who's on a crusade to sell the idea that last weekend's One Nation event was more successful than Glenn Beck's.

But he's running into unexpected opposition from fellow libtalker Randi Rhodes, who is far from convinced. During her show, Rhodes blasted "size queens" who are fixated on these estimates.

First, from Schultz's syndicated radio program, then from Randi's:

ED SCHULTZ (01:59): What a day on Saturday! We beat Beck's numbers! You idiot righties out there, send all the emails you want, make all the nasty phone calls you want. (laughs) I love it!

SCHULTZ (02:20): I want to thank all of you who were there and know exactly what went down on Saturday. It is amazing how the right-wing media is trying to spin the numbers. But I predicted this. You knew this was going to happen. It's like animals in a living room walking around, urinating on furniture, marking territory. That's where the righties are in this country.

SCHULTZ (02:52): First of all, the One Nation rally was all about America, and not about a personality. The One Nation rally was, what, was it five and a half hours long? I know what I saw when I stood up on the Lincoln Memorial. It was packed all the way down to the monument. Well, let's just go back and do some numbers here for you idiot right wingers. You know, it's getting to the point now where I don't even talk to conservatives. I don't want to talk to 'em! They're idiots! I can broad-brush them, they're the ones that have screwed this country up.

SCHULTZ (04:37): So somewhere in between there, that's a pretty good crowd! But it's no big shakes, after how many months of promotion? Since January? (laughs) Now let's go to the tens of thousands attend (sic) the progressive One Nation Working Together rally in Washington. More than 400 groups endorsed the One Nation Working Together. That was advertised beforehand, how many groups were involved.

There was one politician that spoke and that was Congressman (Luis) Gutierrez (D-IL). No major figure, you know, somebody like, that's in the news every day like Sarah Palin, none of that. What about FreedomWorks and Dick Armey, did he have anything to do with Beck's rally at all? Probably nothing. What about the Koch brothers and how they paid for buses for people to come in? No wonder you got a free ride.

More than 400 groups endorsed the One Nation Working Together rally which organizers say drew a crowd of 175,000 people, about what they expected. So somewhere between CBS's news report of 87,000 and 300,000 by NBC News, two news organizations, somewhere in between there, we were kind of equal at 175,000.

You think I'm spinning this? Oh no I'm not spinning this. I will show you the pictures tonight of the full house and we'll compare them to the Beckster's crowd. It's about the same! And besides that, what difference does it make? This is why conservatives are in reverse. They think that if they can outdo somebody at a rally by another 10,000 nutjobs, that they're going to turn the country around. This is why you're fundamentally flawed. You don't have your eye on the ball. You're idiots!



RANDI RHODES (19:10): Now, I'm not even going to argue about whether or not Glenn Beck's rally was bigger, Glenn Beck's rally was bigger, there's no question Glenn Beck's rally - well I don't even know why are these people in the news - why are they size queens? All of them!

It's all about the size, want to know about the size! Want to know- apparently, the Koch brothers are better about organizing buses than ordinary people from 400 different groups!

RHODES (20:47): The press ignored the rally, to the mainstream media, it's obviously not a gathering unless you have powdered wigs, backwards swastikas, and a lot of really misspelled signs with you know, the president and a witch doctor with a bone through his nose!

While Rhodes quickly reverted to form, but the key point remains: the idea of dueling rallies is an absurd waste of time with key elections less than a month away. Neither side should have the luxury of expending considerable resources necessary for this silliness.