The big argument in the Democratic party is usually written as far left versus the center, but in fact that has little to do with the disagreement. What many of us want (seen in Crashing the Gates and other books) is for the Democratic party to fight. Simply, fight. I don’t care if you’re a Kucinich liberal, a Landrieu conservative or anything else inbetween – the Republican party is waging war while the Democrats are holding a cotillion.
The latest salvo, in the form of a direct mail piece sent to district residents by the Republicans House campaign unit, was so harsh that it not only infuriated Busby, but spurred Bilbray s campaign to distance itself from the broadside.
The NRCC mailer, sent out at the end of last week, has a cover illustration that appears to compare Busby a former college instructor and school board trustee to teenage drunk drivers. The montage shows the faces of two teenage boys next to an overturned car that has a glass of beer superimposed on it.
The allusion, as it turns out, is meant to be symbolic. Teenagers can be irresponsible . . . even dangerous, reads the top of the flyer. Politicians are even more dangerous. And sadly, Francine Busby is so irresponsible she is dangerous.
The inside of the mailer contains harsh characterizations of Busby s actions as a member of the school board in the San Diego suburb of Cardiff, accusing her of fiscal mismanagement, mishandling of teacher layoffs, and lavishing praise on a teacher who was arrested for attempted child pornography possession.
No kidding.
Slimy Republican glossy mail adverts? This is news? You should see some the spew in my mailbox from Tom Delay about Richard Morrisson in late 2004 in Delay’s last (in both senses of the word) electoral race.
But on to something much more important! I just watched the Colbert Report earlier and Stephen Colbert is advertising for the position of black best friend! Oliver, I think you need to apply immediately! Go to colbertnation.com to apply! (Though you may wish to hide the fact that you’re a Democrat… just copy a few quotes from Frank and dugger in your application and you’ll be in like Flynn!
)
Hey man, they’re the Party of Ideas.
As far as I’m concerned, that can of worms was opened by Johnson with the “Daisy and the Atom Bomb” commercial, during the Goldwater / Johnson campaign. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200108u/pp2001-08-08
Another dirty tactic was when a group of psychiatrists got together, and declared Goldwater to be psychiatrically unfit [see §7.3] to be President, based on his speeches and writings.
So, as usual, the Democrats started it*, and the Republicans caught up to them, and bested them at it. Remember how everyone raved about Dean’s “computerized campaign”? Well now, Mehlman has Republicans running their own their pre – formatted web sites.
You liberals / Democratics are being beat at your own game.
* Who asked for, and got, the first ever “Special Prosecutor”?
I had to look up cotillion. Good word choice!
I have now learned something new today, and can go home happy.
And your point is what, exactly, Mike?
Did Oliver say anywhere that such things are unique to repubs?
But any tactician will tell you, if one side is going to use a new weapon, the other side had better have them too or else have some superior countermeasure or they’ll get creamed. I love this repeated Repub meme, “Negative campaigning is bad, and the Democrats should stop doing it.”
No, Mike. Y’all aren’t supposed to believe that Democrats never resort to such tactics.
What you should know, however, is that the far-too-right republicans and their conservative, evangelical-vigilante posse are so much better at it than Democrats.
It would be comedy… if it wasn’t only so tragic, so very tragic.
But we’re supposed to believe that Democrats NEVER resort to such tactics about their Republican opponents?
I seem to recall a certain radio commercial produced by Democrats that accused Newt Gingrich of wanting to see America’s elderly citizens “wither on the vine.” The spot was such a gross misrepresentation of Gingrich’s quote (he actually said that he wanted to see the massive government bureaucracy that runs Medicare “wither on the vine”) that the Democrats had to pull the ad — but only because they were forced to do so by a court order.
Posts like this one should be filed under “comedy.”
Here’s the thing – while I find lying based attack ads reprehensible, I think that Dems are too afraid to use attack ads – which work. Nobody wins a race based on positive ads.
And Goldwater, like members of the current administration, argued for the use of nukes in the course of normal combat – the Daisy ad, while emotional, was based in fact.
It’s like that time the Democrats ran an ad on TV with their opponent’s face morphing into Osama bin Laden’s face.
Oh, that’s right, that was the Republicans in the Saxby Chambliss campaign.
Remember that time when the Democrats ran ads questioning a candidates Purple Hearts and Medals of Honor?
Oops, that was the Republican-sponsored Swift Boat Liars for Slander.
Then there was that time when Democrats distorted a presidential candidates words to make it seem like the candidate said he invented the Internet, and was the model for Love Story.
Never mind, strike that one too.
I will never forgive the time when Democrats ran that ad showing an African-American criminal, to demonstrate that the Republican has a revolving-door policy on prisons, when in fact, it was a Republican that signed the furlough plan into law.
Nah, it couldn’t be George Bush Sr. that did that, could it?
Oliver, in the last decade we’ve seen the Democrats pull some all-time nasty bits like the James Byrd “Chains” and and the “If you vote Republican, another black church burns” ad. Heck, the trailer for An Inconvenient Truth practically calls Bush a murderer for unleashing Katrina.
Are these tactics not despicable enough for your tastes?
It appears from his post that Frank is more immoral than we thought.
Any truly moral Republican would say “what happened to Goldwater is so wrong, that we as a Republicans must never, ever, EVER, do the same thing back at Democrats, for that would be the wrong thing to do.”
But of course, Frank lacks any morals at all. Either that or he has a moral code and chooses to intentionally break it.
“Are these tactics not despicable enough for your tastes?”
We’re learning, just not fast enough to keep pace with the opposition.
Sundown: Maybe if the Democratics stopped soing it, the Republicans would stop doing it.
Fat chance that’ll ever happen.
And who said that what the Democratics did to Goldwater was “immoral”? It was just “dirty pool,” and the Republicans just got better at it than the Democratics.
No one has commented as to whether this female democrat perhaps IS irresponsible…
would the ad be ok then Ollie?
Saying that you are better at flinging poop than the other guys is a pretty dubious distinction, dontcha think?
It’s such a loopy comparison, though. Let’s compare Francine Busby to a teenager. Because some teenagers drink…and then drive. Which is irresponsible. Like Francine Busby.
Because no adults are known for being irresponsible…even dangerous.
But if this is all it takes to write an attack ad, sign me up.
“Harry Reid: His name contains vowels and consonants…just like Osama bin Laden.”
Negative ads completely turn me off. Republicans ARE better at being sleazy, even Frank admits that. Could it be that hatefulness has found its home in Republican hearts? I’m sure gays think so since they’ll probably be used again to anger all those Christ-like Christians out there. “I’m voting because I hate my neghbor and want to limit his right to pursue happiness,” sayeth the conservative church-goer. Amen!
……or maybe Hispanics will be the next target of hate.
Our honored host wrote:
Really? You don’t care for what the party stands? You’d be happy with Zell Miller Democrats if they’d just fight and win?
Republicans ARE better at being sleazy
a) I didn’t say “sleazy” — I said “fighting dirty”. Two very different things.
b) “Better at” means Democratics are, too. Republicans are just more successful.
Could it be that hatefulness has found its home in Republican hearts?
Are you kidding?
No one, but no one, hates anyone or any group of someones, more than Bush haters hate Bush!
No one.
Not any one.
Haters of Christians come a real close second.