Talk Elections

"Pearls of Wisdom", now in SD ... ;):

"I've ridden an ostrich": US candidate tells public why they should vote for him

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Candidate Jeff Barth passes a female mannequin, possibly meant to represent Republican incumbent Kristi Noem.

Not many people would consider riding an ostrich as a qualification to be elected to a congressional seat, but ostrich-riding is just one of the bizarre facts a candidate has shared in his attempt to win votes.

Jeff Barth, bidding to be the Democratic candidate for South Dakota, has released a video the US media dubbed "the most bizarre campaign ad of the year."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST2K4U_XQ5Y

In his wacky campaign ad he walks down a tree-lined country lane, accompanied by fiddle music and passing weird props including a mannequin, a dead rubber chicken and a snow-white horse.

While telling the viewer why he is the best candidate, he includes a varied list of achievements including the fact he plays chess, lived in Lesotho and has two daughters “with straight teeth.”

Barth emphasises his international experiences as the son of a diplomat, travelling around the world.

"Along the way I learned chess in Iceland," he says, pausing to move glass chess piece on a board conveniently perched next to the dusty track.

“I’ve ridden an ostrich, I’ve done a lot of stuff.”

“I have a lifetime of experience. From Eisenhower to Obama. From Vietnam to Afghanistan," the former telecoms engineer says, before picking up a nearby gun firing two shots into the air.

A few seconds later, a plastic dead chicken falls from the sky behind him.

The props are used to demonstrate his opponents failings too; at one point Barth says Republican opponents, “have their horses in the race but they’re headed north and all we see is their south end.”

“Those horses asses aren’t even going to try to fix it,” he says, standing beside a horse whose actual ‘south end’ is on show.

Barth, who is currently a county commissioner, will face rival Matt Varilek in a primary next month to choose the Democratic party's candidate for November's election.

He told a South Dakota political blog ArgusLeader.com the ad was shot on May 15 in a Sioux Falls park, and volunteers had set up the props along the way.

But the ad had to be filmed in several takes. "I had originally tried to memorise the whole thing," Barth said. "Then when we were unable to shoot it the first time, I lost some of my edge on that." Some of the effects were added later, including the horse's swishing tail.

The Argus Leader noted that Barth's campaign has so far failed to attract the big bucks, while Varilek has already built a political profile, and Republican incumbent for South Dakota Kristi Noem has more than $1 million in her war chest. "Let's face it, that's my best chance," Barth said. "I can't compete dollar for dollar with a candidate that's tapped into a United States senator's fundraising machine. I have to try to use my imagination.”

Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/world/ive-ridden-an-ostrich-us-candidate-tells-public-why-they-should-vote-for-him-20120526-1zbqg.html#ixzz1w3GTewb7

This guy is awsome!

my favorite part is when the sign corrects his pronunciation.

This ad might, just might, be better than even Mike Gravel's.

He lost the primary by 28-72 ... :(

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2012/by_state/SD_US_House_0605.html?SITE=CSPANELN&SECTION=POLITICS

'I lived in Germany before they built the Berlin Wall. I lived in Germany when they built the Berlin Wall.'

Great American, obviously.