A Call for a Positive Campaign.
By Jim Fryar
One of the frustrations of living in Australia and being very interested in US politics is the time difference between us.
Here I am in the late afternoon of 5 Feb 08, ‘Super Tuesday, and some of you are not even out of Monday yet. Patrick Joubert Conlon is probably still out on the veranda in Oregon with a glass of wine and a cigar ending the day, while I have to wait till Wednesday for you to do Tuesday.
Hey, I want to see some results. Just kidding.
One of the problems I see with the campaign on our side of politics is the extreme amount of negativity I am seeing, especially with such things as the ‘Dump McCain Now’ symbol on blogs. I am not being one eyed here as I felt that the Rudy one which is disappearing now was also a bad idea.
If I were a Democrat, (give me a minute to wash my mouth out) I would collect all of these for use later on.
Another idea which tends to be a bit short sighted, is the down and dirty stuff where the efforts to attack another Republican, only benefits the Democrats. An example of this is the posts that appeared a day or so ago, pointing out that Huckabee was at *6 on Judicial Watch’s 10 most corrupt politicians list.
I quote: - Governor Huckabee enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls in December 2007, which prompted a more thorough review of his ethics record. According to The Associated Press: “[Huckabee’s] career has also been colored by 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor’s office.” And what was Governor Huckabee’s response to these ethics allegations? Rather than cooperating with investigators, Huckabee sued the state ethics commission twice and attempted to shut the ethics process down.
A visit to the site reveals some much more interesting facts, such as: -
*1 on the list is Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY),
*2 is Rep. John Conyers (D-MI),
*4 is Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA).
I am not sure of the validity of the site as at number four is Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) whose only act approaching an actual ethics violation was apparently attempting to use his position to bluff the police officer, the rest comes under sheer stupidity. He should probably be tossed out of the Senate for lack of judgment.
I am reminded by all of this of an election in Australia around the late 70s where the Liberal Party with Malcolm Frazer as PM was up against Labor with Gough Whitlam as opposition leader. Both sides stank in the eyes of all but their most sycophantic followers, to the point where about the only thing they could do to look good was to talk about the other side.
This lead to the bizarre phenomenon where all Liberal Party advertising was headed with a photograph of Gough, while all Labor adds were headed by a photo of Frazer. To avoid keeping you in suspense, the Liberal party had deeper pockets and was able to print more photos of Gough than Labor could of Frazer, and so won the election.
I hope we can do better.
Hey, I want to see some results. Just kidding.
One of the problems I see with the campaign on our side of politics is the extreme amount of negativity I am seeing, especially with such things as the ‘Dump McCain Now’ symbol on blogs. I am not being one eyed here as I felt that the Rudy one which is disappearing now was also a bad idea.
If I were a Democrat, (give me a minute to wash my mouth out) I would collect all of these for use later on.
Another idea which tends to be a bit short sighted, is the down and dirty stuff where the efforts to attack another Republican, only benefits the Democrats. An example of this is the posts that appeared a day or so ago, pointing out that Huckabee was at *6 on Judicial Watch’s 10 most corrupt politicians list.
I quote: - Governor Huckabee enjoyed a meteoric rise in the polls in December 2007, which prompted a more thorough review of his ethics record. According to The Associated Press: “[Huckabee’s] career has also been colored by 14 ethics complaints and a volley of questions about his integrity, ranging from his management of campaign cash to his use of a nonprofit organization to subsidize his income to his destruction of state computer files on his way out of the governor’s office.” And what was Governor Huckabee’s response to these ethics allegations? Rather than cooperating with investigators, Huckabee sued the state ethics commission twice and attempted to shut the ethics process down.
A visit to the site reveals some much more interesting facts, such as: -
*1 on the list is Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY),
*2 is Rep. John Conyers (D-MI),
*4 is Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA).
I am not sure of the validity of the site as at number four is Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) whose only act approaching an actual ethics violation was apparently attempting to use his position to bluff the police officer, the rest comes under sheer stupidity. He should probably be tossed out of the Senate for lack of judgment.
I am reminded by all of this of an election in Australia around the late 70s where the Liberal Party with Malcolm Frazer as PM was up against Labor with Gough Whitlam as opposition leader. Both sides stank in the eyes of all but their most sycophantic followers, to the point where about the only thing they could do to look good was to talk about the other side.
This lead to the bizarre phenomenon where all Liberal Party advertising was headed with a photograph of Gough, while all Labor adds were headed by a photo of Frazer. To avoid keeping you in suspense, the Liberal party had deeper pockets and was able to print more photos of Gough than Labor could of Frazer, and so won the election.
I hope we can do better.
I guess American politics is dirty. I know I fight dirty and will try to destroy an opponent. The Dump Rudy and Dump Huck and Dump McCain campaigns were because a lot of us felt that they were inferior and were simply fighting for someone else. However the Dump McCain thingy has gotten out of hand among the far right.
ReplyDeleteRegarding "I am not sure of the validity of the site as at number four is Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) whose only act approaching an actual ethics violation.." ..the site may be valid, but note that it is self-defined as "conservative non-partisan".
ReplyDeleteIf you follow US politics, you will
realise that as an oxymoron, or a
site with a bias-skew. If a US politician is outside the law, they will be prosecuted, such as
Tom Delay. Anything else is typically unfounded political innuendo. As for our Senator from
Idaho..we just expect a little more dignity and decorum.
I wasn't having a shot at you Patrick, essentially I was making the point that in going after a candidate too hard we can damage the cause as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI was going to post tonight but got caught up reading Dr Sanity who has some interesting stuff on the subject of anti-McCain sentiment and as result am up too late and answering comments tired.
I feel that the far right and their allies are prepared to ensure the party looses if they don't get their way.
bb-idaho; Validity of the site aside, it seems pointless going to number 6 to criticize a Republican, when if you take it seriously there are plenty of Democrats ahead of him. They are after all the ones to beat no matter who we end up nominating.
As for our Senator from Idaho..we just expect a little more dignity and decorum. I agree, the man has made a complete fool of himself, and deserves the consequences.
While I am not aware of his record in the Senate, some people have pointed out that it is good, so it is probably a shame that he has to go, but that sort of behavior is stupid at the best of times, never mind whether or not you are seen as the representative of a state.
Thank you both for your comments.