Some people call it Election Day ; I call it Christmas . connection word anchors nattering on with just anything substantive to report for hours , until they spin into the Realm of the Truly Weird around 1 a.m. ; eternal refreshes onTalking Points Memo , Drudge , andMystery Pollster ; inanimate phone calls to anyone who shares my excitement aboutthe probable upshot of Arizona ’s Eighth District– yeah , I ’ll say it : expert than sex .
Why ? Because Election Day , like coition , is all about the build - up , and Midterms ' 06 have been marked with a crimson round on many a political drug addict ’s calendar since November 2 , 2004 . We – the few , the moderately lofty , the socially embarrassing – have been pour over pate information for months , and before there were canvass , or even competitor , we were acting as if each outcome in the news cycle brimmed with the significance of the cosmos .
Strangest Channeling of a Movie Character for Electoral GainEasy : David Strathairn , as Edward R. Murrow , in support of House challenger Kristen Gillibrand .
I do n’t find oneself the ad to be in force – a little too put - on for my sense of taste – but this other advertizement for Gillibrand ’s campaign ( although notbyher campaign ) is a classic , mocking her opponent ’s appearance at a recent Union College fraternity party . ( Awesome photographic evidence of that , too . Check out the guyripping a jay - bird in the top right ):
This , however , is a very effective counterpunch from the campaign of Cardin ’s opposite , Michael Steele , who might just pull out off an upturned victory today . Keep an eye out …
The last ad I ’ll show that hits on stalk cell inquiry is different in that it utilize actors spelling out hypothetical situations – but it ’s no less powerful .
In fairness , though , Ford tailor an advertizing of his own that was so blatant in its devoutness ( it ’s in achurch , for chrissakes ! ) that , had a Republican aired it , all of Cambridge , Mass. , would ’ve put down their latte as one and send nasty , mean things on their blogs :
Most Thematically Disjointed Campaign PromiseThat would have to go to Cruz Bustamante , running for Insurance Commissioner of California . allow ’s get this straight , Cruz : because you ran in a battle of Marathon and lost weight , you ’re get going to lower policy rates . Riiiight …
Pol Whose Reputation Was Most Irrevocably damage By YouTubeGeorge Allen , senator and former governor of Virginia , and , until late , a go contender for the 2008 Republican nominating speech for president . Until recently , you say ? Yeah , mostly due to YouTube , Mr. Macacawitzis a joke . Here ’s how our favorite $ 1.6 billion website took down a political giant : in May , Ryan Lizza withThe New Republicwrote apieceexamining Allen ’s preference for most thing Dixie , despite a childhood pass on the tony edge of the west coast . Then , this go on …
… and then people come out of the woodwork saying that he used to drop the N - word into casual conversation , and then he said in a telecast argument that asking if his mother was Jewish was equivalent to " fix aspersions , " and now , it bet as if he might lose to Jim Webb today . And even if he does supervise to hang on , his future has blind importantly . The example to next campaigns ? As thisarticlepersuasively argues : do n’t rent YouTube clips reinforce previously hold minus beliefs about a candidate . Easier said than done … specially when your political leader is as skilled of a gaffe simple machine as Senator Allen .
Pol Whose Star Has Risen Almost Exclusively Because of YouTube ’s InfluenceYouTube does n’t discriminate based on actual certainty or moral uncloudedness ; it ’s a blank space where those who speak in the highest book give more eyeballs than they could ’ve ever hoped to before . Which bring us to North Carolina Republican House rival Vernon Robinson . He ’s been name in this columnbefore , and whew bow-wow , is he a en . But before YouTube , he would ’ve been a testis confined to the North Carolina 12th ; now , he ’s raked in a pretty centime from outside his territorial dominion and has become something of a rage hero because of hyperbolic and factually in question ads like this :
Yet YouTube has its own internal fact - checking mechanism as well , and this one , spearheaded most unbelievably by Sean Hannity , is a joy to ascertain :
Most Enjoyable political campaign Ad ( Intellectual Dishonesty Category)In this advertising aggress House candidate Michael Arcuri , the National Republican Congressional Committee suggests that , well , just watch …
Hot , proper ? A little strange for the GOP to be showing something so racy yield their frequent trace that smut like this is hurting our " American values ? " Sure , but I like silhouetted defenseless wench as much the next guy . Problem is , the phone call in head was a single misdial ( by a single act ) that cost New York taxpayer – wait for it –a vaulting horse and a quarter .
Strangest ApologiesNo shortfall here , this being the year of Mark Foley and the " botched joke " – but these two , from Reps . Thomas Reynolds and Don Sherwood , were particularly striking . Reynolds was accused of sitting on the Foley electronic mail for too long , hope that they would n’t put a safe seat in play . Oh , and Sherwood reportedly choke his schoolmistress during a back massage . This is his apology . Do these come near to being effective ? What say you ?
Best AdScrew material politicians . I ’m vote for Jimmy Jones :
