Ridiculous ads

[NorthSideSox72]

I don't know where to put this, but I feel it needs attention. I was reading up on some political races today, and it was just mind-boggling how awful the ads are that people running for high office are running. Just a few examples...

 

--Sharon Angle's campaign puts out a ridiculous ad about Reid being busy in a conga line with supermodels while Nevadans suffer through unemployment. They show a picture of Reid holding the outstretched arms of a woman, unseen other than her arms. Problem? The pic is a doctored image, and the woman in the original picture is the First Lady, showing off her arms at a speech about physical fitness. Even stranger, the ad was pulled because of copyright infringement. More hilariousness of advertising here.

 

--House Rep Cory Gardner runs an add hitting their opponent, Betsy Markey, for voting for a huge Obama budget, that they characterize as disastrous. Problem? She in fact voted against it, but Mass rep Ed Markey (another Markey unrelated) voted for it. Nice research.

.

 

--Jack Conway, in his race against Rand Paul, published the now infamous "aquabuddha" ad, digging up an obscure statement Paul made 30 years ago, says he's not really a Christian. Watch the video here.

 

Now, combine these ads with the utter stupidity of O'Donnell and other candidates we've seen lately, and one thing seems clear to me. These candidates aren't insulting each other.

 

They are insulting me. And every other voter.

 

I realize, obviously, this isn't really new. Its just worse, every cycle. And now there is so much more money flowing into these campaigns, thanks to Congress' inaction on campaign finance and SOCTUS's bizarre decision that coprorations are voters... its just making me ill.

 

Again, I realize, not really new - just worsening.

 

So... I ask my fellow Busterites... and let's see if this can stay non-partisan for a bit... what to do about it? What's the solution here?

 

[southsider2k5]

The ads in the Donelley/Walorski race actually have me considering a third party or not punching anything in their race. It has been embarrassing.

[lostfan]

I hate this time of year... I only casually follow Maryland politics and I can spot the heroic stretches of the truth and distortions in the Ehrlich/O'Malley ads (call me biased but Ehrlich does it more). There's SO many of them though, that's the thing I hate.

 

The most ridiculous ad isn't for a candidate though, we have a question on the ballot whether to allow slots at Arundel Mills or not, the biggest mall in this region (we had this on the ballot whether to allow slots in the state in 2008 and it passed easily). The "anti" slots are funded by groups who aren't so much worried about slots in principle but stand to lose money if they end up at the mall and not where they want them... anyway most of their arguments against are silly. One of them had a girl who looked to be about 9 they had saying "I just don't think it's a good idea." Really? What the f*** does she know? She's 9!

[NorthSideSox72]

The ads in the Donelley/Walorski race actually have me considering a third party or not punching anything in their race. It has been embarrassing.

Last Gov election in IL, I made the one and only "message" vote I've ever entered for any election. Blago vs Baar-Topinka, I just couldn't bring myself to vote for either one. I voted Green, and so did almost 10% of IL, as I recall. I may have to do the same again this year.

 

[lostfan]

Is Quinn really that bad? He punked out on the Blago thing but he inherited a pretty f***ed up situation... I mean it's hard to follow arguably the worst governor in your state's history.

[southsider2k5]

Is Quinn really that bad? He punked out on the Blago thing but he inherited a pretty f***ed up situation... I mean it's hard to follow arguably the worst governor in your state's history.

 

He is completely 100% spineless. The things he could do and fix, he ran away from.

[mr_genius]

He is completely 100% spineless. The things he could do and fix, he ran away from.

 

totally agree

[lostfan]

I could buy that, but I honestly don't know, I don't follow Illinois politics as closely as I used to.

[StrangeSox]

I don't know where to put this, but I feel it needs attention. I was reading up on some political races today, and it was just mind-boggling how awful the ads are that people running for high office are running. Just a few examples...

 

--Sharon Angle's campaign puts out a ridiculous ad about Reid being busy in a conga line with supermodels while Nevadans suffer through unemployment. They show a picture of Reid holding the outstretched arms of a woman, unseen other than her arms. Problem? The pic is a doctored image, and the woman in the original picture is the First Lady, showing off her arms at a speech about physical fitness. Even stranger, the ad was pulled because of copyright infringement. More hilariousness of advertising here.

 

--House Rep Cory Gardner runs an add hitting their opponent, Betsy Markey, for voting for a huge Obama budget, that they characterize as disastrous. Problem? She in fact voted against it, but Mass rep Ed Markey (another Markey unrelated) voted for it. Nice research.

.

 

--Jack Conway, in his race against Rand Paul, published the now infamous "aquabuddha" ad, digging up an obscure statement Paul made 30 years ago, says he's not really a Christian. Watch the video here.

 

Now, combine these ads with the utter stupidity of O'Donnell and other candidates we've seen lately, and one thing seems clear to me. These candidates aren't insulting each other.

 

They are insulting me. And every other voter.

 

I realize, obviously, this isn't really new. Its just worse, every cycle. And now there is so much more money flowing into these campaigns, thanks to Congress' inaction on campaign finance and SOCTUS's bizarre decision that coprorations are voters... its just making me ill.

 

Again, I realize, not really new - just worsening.

 

So... I ask my fellow Busterites... and let's see if this can stay non-partisan for a bit... what to do about it? What's the solution here?

 

Perhaps the problem is the electorate.

[StrangeSox]

Last Gov election in IL, I made the one and only "message" vote I've ever entered for any election. Blago vs Baar-Topinka, I just couldn't bring myself to vote for either one. I voted Green, and so did almost 10% of IL, as I recall. I may have to do the same again this year.

 

I'll be voting green but I genuinely believe he's the best candidate of the three.

[lostfan]

I'll be voting green but I genuinely believe he's the best candidate of the three.

If I was running I'd probably be the best candidate of the three. lol. That's how I feel about the Maryland governor's race

[StrangeSox]

Hey man I watched 20 minutes of the SIU debate so I'm informed now.

 

perhaps the problem is the electorate

 

oh wait damnit.

[hawksfan61]

I hate this time of year... I only casually follow Maryland politics and I can spot the heroic stretches of the truth and distortions in the Ehrlich/O'Malley ads (call me biased but Ehrlich does it more). There's SO many of them though, that's the thing I hate.

 

The most ridiculous ad isn't for a candidate though, we have a question on the ballot whether to allow slots at Arundel Mills or not, the biggest mall in this region (we had this on the ballot whether to allow slots in the state in 2008 and it passed easily). The "anti" slots are funded by groups who aren't so much worried about slots in principle but stand to lose money if they end up at the mall and not where they want them... anyway most of their arguments against are silly. One of them had a girl who looked to be about 9 they had saying "I just don't think it's a good idea." Really? What the f*** does she know? She's 9!

 

The slots ads are some of the most obnoxious I have ever seen. I laugh every time they show the one with that little girl on it, are we going to ask that little girl what she thinks about the budget or who to vote for in the county executive race too?

 

One of the ones that really cracks me up nowadays is the new Dutch Ruppersberger one with his Mom. Dutch will never forget where he came from! LOL

 

I have no idea what the solution is to some of these ridiculous ads that appear every election, but I do know they are getting stupider and more ridiculous every year.

[Texsox]

I was in San Antonio this weekend and could not stand the ads. The b.s. that is tossed around is just embarrassing. And yes, it is from both sides. And I've sent letters to a couple campaigns telling them how insulted I was about their ads, but I assume they just figure I wasn't going to vote for their candidate anyways. Which is somewhat true.

 

NPR just did this story yesterday and highlighted the "cookie cutter" ads that both sides are using.

 

 

 

I believe when a campaign makes a false statement like that they should be liable to run and pay for an equal number of ads setting the record straight.

 

 

[Balta1701]

I believe when a campaign makes a false statement like that they should be liable to run and pay for an equal number of ads setting the record straight.

The problem, Tex, is that the way around that is very simple...instead of running an inaccurate ad yourself, you just have the Chamber of Commerce do it.

[lostfan]

I was in San Antonio this weekend and could not stand the ads. The b.s. that is tossed around is just embarrassing. And yes, it is from both sides. And I've sent letters to a couple campaigns telling them how insulted I was about their ads, but I assume they just figure I wasn't going to vote for their candidate anyways. Which is somewhat true.

 

NPR just did this story yesterday and highlighted the "cookie cutter" ads that both sides are using.

 

 

 

I believe when a campaign makes a false statement like that they should be liable to run and pay for an equal number of ads setting the record straight.

So and so says he/she cares but he/she raised your taxes

So and so voted for/had a part in Legislation X that raised your taxes

So and so is responsible for our deficit

So and so is responsible for X that made you have to pay more for Y

So and so is singlehandedly responsible for job losses during the recession that every state had to deal with across the board

[NorthSideSox72]

He is completely 100% spineless. The things he could do and fix, he ran away from.

 

 

totally agree

 

Yeah, I get the impression that Quinn is probably pretty clean, but he just seems to be in a job he's overwhelmed by. He doesn't have what it takes to be effective at it.

 

Brady is probably a smarter, tougher guy, but he's also scary-extreme on the right.

 

Whitney it is.

 

[StrangeSox]

I just saw a fantastic ad here in Minnesota. Not sure what race it was for, but it was the typical "gay boogeyman coming for your children" scare ad, complete with "2nd graders in Maryland are taught gay marriage!!!!"!

 

Here's an article on it:

http://wcco.com/realitycheck/anti.gay.marr....2.1936452.html

 

The problem is that these sorts of ads work. They shouldn't, but they do.

[Balta1701]

The problem is that these sorts of ads work. They shouldn't, but they do.

There ya go.

 

We complain about them every year, and then they keep working.

[southsider2k5]

The problem, Tex, is that the way around that is very simple...instead of running an inaccurate ad yourself, you just have the Chamber of Commerce do it.

 

I don't know about you, but I associate it with the other side anyway.

[NorthSideSox72]

There ya go.

 

We complain about them every year, and then they keep working.

I'm not sure that's universally true.

 

There are some races that are tightening up that didn't look like they should, and it seems like the behavior of the front-runners, including their ads, is having an effect. Its happening in Alaska, Kentucky, and other states.

 

[StrangeSox]

It would require amending the Constitution, but these ads aren't going away until the money goes away from campaigning.

 

I also think that candidates spending up to $100M to get a job that pays a few hundred thousand at most says a lot about our system.

[Balta1701]

I'm not sure that's universally true.

 

There are some races that are tightening up that didn't look like they should, and it seems like the behavior of the front-runners, including their ads, is having an effect. Its happening in Alaska, Kentucky, and other states.

You refer to Kentucky...but Rand Paul is the legitimate front-runner in that race, and Conway has actually closed the gap if anything. He certainly hasn't been hurt by his ads.

[NorthSideSox72]

You refer to Kentucky...but Rand Paul is the legitimate front-runner in that race, and Conway has actually closed the gap if anything. He certainly hasn't been hurt by his ads.

Actually, I didn't mean Kentucky, that was my tired brain. And now I cannot recall the state where I saw an article that made me think of this, it may have been TN, I'd have to go find it again.

 

Also, it will be interesting to see if the trend in KY changes after this aqua buddha ad.

 

[Balta1701]

Also, it will be interesting to see if the trend in KY changes after this aqua buddha ad.

Pretty much all of the available polls in the past week in KY have shown a tightening race, even the GOP-leaning Rasmussen.