I was living in Louisville, KY in 1998 when Jim Bunning was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Bunning ran against a former Democratic congressman named Scotty Baesler. In that race, Bunning ran a series of the nastiest political ads I have ever seen. One of the spots used footage of Baesler delivering a fire-and-brimstone stump speech, converted to black and white, with Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries playing in the background. Bunning denied the ad was intended to compare Baesler to Hitler.
The worst of them, however, targeted Baesler for having supported NAFTA when he was in congress. It featured a dark-skinned hispanic man in a wide-brimmed hat and weatherbeaten clothes, standing in a mock agricultural field. When the voice-over was finished, the man gave a thumbs up to the camera, and said with a big, toothy grin, "Muchas Gracias Senor Baesler!"
It remains one of the worst political ads I have ever seen.
This one, however, is in a category by itself. [Via Marc Ambinder]
If this ad, part of a Republican primary challenge to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), has a point beyond hatred of Hispanics, I can't figure out what it is. It has all the race-baiting offensiveness of the Bunning spot and none of the substance. It doesn't even accuse Graham of anything, except being "too liberal for South Carolina."
The ad really consists of nothing but images of dark-skinned Hispanics and heavily-accented voices prounouncing "Lindsey Graham" (Leeeen-See Grayamm) over and over again, thanking him in Spanish for some unspecified act or gesture. These images are followed by pictures of candidate Buddy Witherspoon and his wife.
And then there are the graphics:
- TO SEE THIS MESSAGE IN ENGLISH, PRESS 1;
- ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
All we learn is that Buddy Witherspoon is a "proven conservative" who will fight for "us" and for "South Carolina values." The spot doesn't bother to tell us what those are, but it isn't hard to guess.
And beyond those broad assurances, we are left to wonder as well exactly what ol' Buddy would do about the problem... whatever the problem is.
If this is how the 2008 senate race is South Carolina is starting, I'd hate to see where it goes from here.
2 comments:
i guess i didn't realize that stupid, rednecked, hillbillies could read english- let alone vote. i guess i learned me something today (heh heh). i mean i think it is going something when english is the second language of the current president- and they talk about folks who speak spanish. please.
I am SO sick and tired of the arguments against those who don't speak English and who weren't born in the country. English was not the first language of this country; there wasn't ONE language. Cherokee was spoken, Creek was spoken, Spanish was spoken long before there were a lot of British on these shores. If a person could trace his/her roots 100% back to the Native Americans he/she should be for THAT language not English. The rest of us should just shut it.
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