Two stories from the Moonie Times. If both are true, how pathetic can the opposition party be?
Example #1:
Democratic Rep. Ted Strickland is running for governor of Ohio, vacating his seat representing Ohio's 6th District. Republicans have targeted the seat as one of their best chances for a pickup this year -- President Bush twice carried the 6th District.Can you imagine the other party making such a disastrous mistake? (Insert "They don't even leave the voting to chance" joke here.)
Democrats had hoped that state Sen. Charlie Wilson could keep the seat in their column -- the wealthy candidate had contributed more than $250,000 to his own campaign -- but owing to a mix-up, Mr. Wilson won't be on the ballot for the May 2 Democratic primary.
"Wilson failed to make the ... primary election ballot this week after submitting just 46 valid signatures to the Columbiana County Board of Elections," the Wheeling (W.Va.) Intelligencer reports. "A total of 50 of the 96 signatures he submitted -- obtained in Belmont and Scioto counties -- were ruled invalid largely because addresses were listed improperly or because the resident signing Wilson's petition didn't live in the 6th District."
Mr. Wilson told the Intelligencer that he will run in the primary as a write-in candidate, but only four men have been elected to Congress as write-in candidates in the era of printed ballots, the Associated Press reports.
Example #2:
Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich wasn't in on the joke.So politicians are busy. They don't watch a lot of snarky late-night television. But you mean to tell me that nobody on his staff had heard of The Daily Show? Nobody thought to look into this obscure show before allowing interview the Governor? "Obscure" being relatively subjective since the anchor of The Daily Show is going to host the friggin' Oscars.
Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, says he didn't realize that "The Daily Show" was a comedy spoof of the news when he sat down for an interview that ended up poking fun at the sometimes-puzzled Democratic governor.
"It was going to be an interview on contraceptives. ... That's all I knew about it," Mr. Blagojevich laughingly told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week. "I had no idea I was going to be asked if I was 'the gay governor.' "
6 comments:
Ugh. I saw that Blaj. interview, and he looked clueless.
I'll look at it this way: we'll get rid of our dead weight. Better, smarter candidates can be the only result.
The MI Winter Beer Fest was amazing. I'm still hung over.
There are many, many times when I watch one of those interviews and wonder how the hell the subject can seemingly have no idea what they are in for.
But those people are usually obsure "experts" or small-town mayors and the like. Governors, Senators, etc. really should have heard of "The Daily Show" by now. Certainly their press people and/or staff should know…
Unbelievable. If Blagojevich was a Republican, I'd find this immensely amusing. Since he's a Democrat, I find it annoying and disappointing. Wake the hell up, people.
I mean, this isn't like getting blinsided by Stuttering John (from Howard Stern) or some other crank on the phone or at a news conference. You are sitting down for a scheduled interview with a televison show. Does nobody on your staff do anything interms of research or preparation?
I'm not saying that Blagojevich should be watching the Daily Show or know who the hell Jon Stewart is, but getting blindsided in an interview like that speaks of incompetence at some (even if merely staff-) level.
At this rate, if he went on "Hannity and Colmes" would he know what to expect?
This was a bad job, not a judgement of him as a governor. I don't need my governor to be cool, hip or witty. But they need to know what the hell is going on. And if it's an area they are unfamiliar with, it needs to be somebody's job to know for them.
Rule of thumb for all Democrat politicians. When The Daily Show calls, you want to be going to New York to be in the studio with Stewart. If they're coming to your office, then Ed Helms is going to be playing you for a fool.
From what I've heard, TDS folks only tell interviewees that they work for a "cable news show." But you're all right, a smart staffer should be able to recognize the correspondents (there are only a handful) and they should certainly know Colbert.
Wait a sec, Ohio is home of the infamous sec of state (and master of elections) Ken Blackwell, right? The guy who everyone was worried was pulling shenanigans during the '04 pres election, trying to disqualify tens of thousands of democratic voters because they submitted their voting registration on paper of improper thickness? You're surprised that, in the Ohio race targeted as a pickup by republicans, Wilson got disqualified - on a technicality?
I guess you could say Wilson should have been ready for Blackwell's slimeball tactics, but I fail to see how this reflects poorly on the democratic party.
As far as the daily show thing goes, who cares? It's fun to imagine the staffers are all just like us, only living politics instead of blogging it, but that don't make it so. I have no problem with a bunch of professionals, who probably work long hours and have their TVs permanently set on the news networks, not knowing who Ed Helms is.
Congressional dems are afraid to file ethics complaints gains repubs. That's a problem. A new governor doesn't recognize a minor player from a late-night cable comedy show? not so much.
By the way, do we even know how accurate these descriptions are, or is it just another Gore invented the internet thing?
Great point, Thrillhous. I doubt there's any way to prove it, barring a thorough review of the names by the campaign. But that would give a "sore loserman" air to it all.
I can't wait to watch the Ohio GOP implode this fall. Hmmm. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing schadenfreude!
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