Let’s see now, I’ve forgotten….which one of the candidates in Wisconsin in the fall election is Nancy Pelosi? I think I’ve seen TV ads in Madison that Ron Kind is Nancy Pelosi. And I can’t recall – is Tom Barrett also Nancy Pelosi?
It’s so hard to keep all this straight.
Ron Kind isn’t running in Madison; this is Tammy Baldwin’s Congressional territory. (And I’m sure Tammy is also Nancy Pelosi.) The TV ad is designed to reach voters in the northern and western parts of the Madison TV market, where Ron Kind, a Democrat from LaCrosse, is up for re-election in the 3rd district. The TV ad makes it clear that he’s Nancy Pelosi and he’s wrong and bad. I don’t know who’s running against Ron Kind; the ad never even mentions a name. But I know that Ron is Nancy.
The ad in question is being run by some “60-plus” coalition or group or PAC or whatever. It has a number of angry senior citizens (and one woman in particular who is a VERY angry lady, to the point of being Halloween-scary) telling us that Ron and Nancy are thick as thieves and they’re going to take away our Medicare by cutting it to death.
Or something of the sort.
Every election cycle, the ads get dumber, nastier, and more annoying in their attempt, at the cost of anything resembling the truth, to be so scared by the opposing candidate that we can’t possibly vote for them. And every election cycle, nothing is done to change this. Once in a while the politicians talk about it, but nothing is ever done.
Why don’t they just do an ad that says Ron Kind is Hitler, and that he and Nancy Pelosi are trying to impose Obama’s European Socialist Agenda on us to take away our guns and make drugs legal and encourage more “abortion on demand” (is there another kind of abortion?).
By the way, the person running against Ron Kind is a fellow named Dan Kapanke. He’s a Marine Corps veteran and has been in our state legislature for two terms. He seems like a nice enough fellow and he even owns the LaCrosse Loggers Northwoods League Baseball team. Marine; small businessman; ties to organized baseball. Sounds like the all-American combination to me.
You’d think they’d mention that in the ad that says his opponent is Pelosi.
Colonel,
ReplyDelete>> Every election cycle, the ads get dumber, nastier, and more annoying in their attempt, at the cost of anything resembling the truth, to be so scared by the opposing candidate that we can’t possibly vote for them. And every election cycle, nothing is done to change this. Once in a while the politicians talk about it, but nothing is ever done. <<
Personally, I can't think of what could be done even if I thought that something should be done, which I don't.
As for the ads getting DNA (Dumber, Nastier, and more Annoying), I remain blissfully unaware of their grating qualities. As to measuring the DNA quotient, I'd be interested to see that. I'm a figures-oriented kind of guy; statistical evidence that political ads are getting DNA would be more interesting than the ads themselves.
You're just gonna have to grit your teeth through November 2nd, old son. Maybe several shots of whiskey and a wooden stick to bite into might help.
The Town Crank
Neenah
Why don’t they just do an ad that says Ron Kind is Hitler, and that he and Nancy Pelosi are trying to impose Obama’s European Socialist Agenda on us to take away our guns and make drugs legal and encourage more “abortion on demand”
ReplyDeleteTHAT would be "truth in advertising." (only slightly in jest.)
By the way, the medical term for a miscarriage is "spontaneous abortion." So yes, there ARE such things as 'not voluntary' abortions.
I looked under the bed. Accompanied by my Duplex Corgi Security System I warily opened every closet in the house. I even armed myself with an old Tee-Ball bat, set the lights ablaze and ventured into the basement. To my immense relief, Nancy Pelosi was nowhere to be found.
ReplyDeleteNancy Pelosi is one of 53 votes from California - a fact that should, it seems, dilute the potency of the GOP's long and concerted (and a bit baffling) effort to demonize her.
Remember, unlike the Republicans, who like to make a show of marching in lockstep, you'll sooner herd cats than coax Nancy and the Democrats to unanimity on anything.
Frankly, woozy John Boehner, who, his colleagues like to joke, has the blood-alcohol level of a drowned skunk in a mash barrel, scares me more than Nancy Pelosi ever will.
As a follow-on to the whole negative ad thing, I read a nice column by Peggy Noonan in the WSJ. In it she had this to say:
ReplyDelete"Negative advertising tears everything down. It contributes to the cynicism of the populace, especially the young. It undermines the faith in government Democrats are always asking us to have, by undermining respect for those who govern, or who seek to. It wears everyone down. And in the long term, though this can never be quantified, it keeps from electoral politics untold numbers of citizens who could bring their gifts and guts to helping solve our problems. I will never forget the visionary real-world entrepreneur who sighed, when I once urged him to enter politics, 'I've lived an imperfect life. They'd kill me.' "
Almost as sad as Al Smith's immortal, "Let's look at the record."
The Town Crank
Neenah