Mudcat Saunders

Mudcat on Obama and the rural vote

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:08:05 -0500

Mudcat Saunders says Barack Obama will do better in rural America than Al Gore or John Kerry.

In an interview with Dome, the Democratic political consultant and self-described redneck said that Obama will still lose the rural vote, but only by 10 percentage points or so. By contrast, Gore lost it by 16 points and Kerry by 19 points.

The reason? He's beat the elitist rap that sank them.

"A redneck'll vote for a black guy before they vote for a white elitist," he said.

Saunders said that rural voters dislike pedigreed Northeasterners. Though Republicans tagged Obama with the same label, he said it didn't stick.

"When you think of elitism, you think of a white guy from Boston, Washington, New York," he said. "You don't think of a black guy from Chicago."

Saunders said the improvement in the rural vote would make a substantial difference, lowering the barrier to an Obama win. But he declined to speculate on whether it would hand Obama North Carolina.

"I have absolutely no idea," he said. "Anybody who says emphatically that he's going to win North Carolina is a fool. Or they've got a 50-50 chance of being a fool. Or 55-45. I don't believe in even a one-percent chance of being a fool."

Saunders is speechless

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:49:27 -0400

A one-time advisor to John Edwards was speechless.

Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, a former rural strategist for the former North Carolina senator, had nothing to say to one of what he sardonically estimated as 200 reporters to call him this afternoon about Edwards' admission of an extramarital affair.

"You can put this: Mudcat Saunders for the first time in his life says 'no comment,'" said the normally voluble strategist.

Saunders cited his personal relationship to the Edwards family.

Mudcat on Edwards endorsement

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:38:05 -0400

David "Mudcat" Saunders has his own take on John Edwards' endorsement.

A chief adviser to Edwards' presidential campaign on rural affairs, Saunders said the timing of the loss couldn't be better given Obama's resounding loss in West Virginia Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

And, being a man named Mudcat after all, he put it in his own inimitable way:

"For Barack Obama, I think he ought to kiss Johnny Edwards on the lips to kill this 41-point loss," he said. "The story is not going to be the 41-point loss. It's going to be Edwards' endorsement."

Edwards changed mind this week

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:37:03 -0500

John Edwards decided to drop out over the last several days.

After finishing third in South Carolina, he came back home to Orange County and had a family conference with his wife, Elizabeth. He decided not to keep running through the convention.

"Love for Elizabeth had a lot to do with it," said Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, a campaign adviser who said he was speaking for himself. "I think he wanted to be with his family."

As late as 11 am. Tuesday, the campaign sent out an e-mail message to its finance team. But later that day, Edwards called Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton suggesting that he was about to leave the race.

So far, he has not made an endorsement. For it to be effective, however, he'll have to make it between now and Feb. 5, the so-called Super Tuesday. (N&O)

Cooter stumps for Edwards

Michelle_Valenzuela — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:48:30 -0500

SPENCER, Iowa—Democrat John Edwards has a new traveling companion as he stumps through rural northwest Iowa today: "Cooter."

Former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones, who played the tow-truck driving "Cooter" on the old "Dukes of Hazard" TV show, joined the campaign for its swing to small towns spaced between the snow-covered fields of this part of the state, Jim Morrill reports.

Jones is part of the campaign's concerted effort to appeal to rural voters, who because of the particular calculus of Thursday's caucuses, could have a disproportionate impact on the outcome.

Here, as at other stops, voters watched a DVD that features Jones and Edwards' rural adviser "Mudcat" Saunders as well as Edwards' parents from Robbins, N.C. It taps into Edwards' background in rural North and South Carolina.

"As we say back home, he ain't got above his raisin'," Jones told about 200 people packed into a community college room.

"We're supposed to be the people's party," he told another audience this morning. "John Edwards understands that. He comes from the heartland."