Conservatives Run Ad Parody Against Kerry

[ncjake]

Here's an article from the AP. Its pretty funny,

Massachusetts Senator John Kerry.
-Hairstyle by Christophe's: $75.
-Designer shirts: $250
-Forty-two foot luxury yacht: $1 million.
-Four lavish mansions and beachfront estate: Over $30 million.

Another rich, liberal elitist from Massachusetts who claims he's a man of the people: Priceless

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&ncid=536&e=6&u=/ap/20040308/ap_on_el_pr/anti_kerry_ad_2

[Wakie]

I'm amused by this ad ... but not for the reasons the RNC wants me to be amused by it.  They blast Kerry for not "being a man of the people" ... but honestly Kerry is a lot closer than Bush to being a man of the people.

Also, isn't this the exact sort of attack on an individual ad that the RNC was warning broadcasters not to show?  Citizens United is just a conservative version of moveon.org.  If you're gonna ban the ads from one, you gotta ban 'em from both.

[ncjake]

I disagree with you there. Kerry is out of touch. Most Americans have principles, Kerry's principles are whichever ones that help him get more power

[Wakie]

I disagree with you there. Kerry is out of touch. Most Americans have principles, Kerry's principles are whichever ones that help him get more power

I believe I could make that same argument about Bush.

Let's be honest here ... both of these guys came from privileged backgrounds.  But it isn't about where you came from .... it's what you did with it.

Both guys went to Yale.  Afterwards Kerry went to war and Bush jumped the waiting list to get into the National Guard.

Kerry won several medals, came home, and worked to end a war which was clearly a mistake.  Bush worked on some campaigns for his father's friends in FL and AL, and sunk into alcoholism.

Kerry went to law school and became an effective prosecutor.  Bush went to B school (after being turned down by U of TX Law) and ran a few businesses into the ground.

Kerry went on to serve in the Senate.  Bush went on to own a baseball team and, pretty much on the strength of his last name, to be Gov of TX.

While in the Senate Kerry sponsored the Violance Against Women Act, took up numerous environmental causes, was a champion of veteran's rights, w/ John McCain he helped to normalize relations with Vietnam.  While Gov of TX Bush executed dozens and helped to make TX the most polluted state in the nation.

[ncjake]

" While Gov of TX Bush executed dozens and helped to make TX the most polluted state in the nation."

Yeah he also won re-election with 70 % of the vote. The people of Texas still love him. Texas is now one of the best places to live in the country. Its now extremely rich. It has a massive upward moving economy that is thriving. Texas is full of opportunity. They were lucky to have him as governor
 
 
 
 

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ncjake... using the "big house" argument to disqualify Kerry as being a "man of the people", would mean that FDR and Huey Long weren't either.

BTW after your "hillbilly" remarks I don't think you have a right to call anyone an "elitist".

[Wakie]

" While Gov of TX Bush executed dozens and helped to make TX the most polluted state in the nation."

Yeah he also won re-election with 70 % of the vote. The people of Texas still love him. Texas is now one of the best places to live in the country. Its now extremely rich. It has a massive upward moving economy that is thriving. Texas is full of opportunity. They were lucky to have him as governor

Yeah, he won big in his re-election.  But I don't know if I would characterize it as "one of the best places to live".  I spent some time there for work and the smog of Houston is overwhelming.  My GF (whose family is from TX) said it didn't use to be that way.

How can you characterize TX as being "full of opportunity"?  Check out the state by state unemployment #'s ...
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/state_unemployment/

Texas is the 6th WORST state for unemployment!  I have a hard time thinking that Texans were lucky to have Bush.

[Ben.]

Didn’t think too much of the add myself saw it as below the belt and cowardly... "this man not fit to be president because he's rich"... well lets just pray that we never have a rich president like McKinley, T.R, FDR, Kennedy, Reagan, Bush I or Bush II... what is the point these people are trying to make?

Bush and Kerry are both very wealthy men and come from wealthy New England families... Kerry is no hypocrite, people suggested he has flip flopped now I'm a moderate Dem and sure I disagree with him on some issues but he's a hell of a lot more strait talking than Bush... How is Texas better off because of Bush?... the office of governor in TX has very little power having said that Texas doesn’t really level that much taxes so in many ways you get what you pay for very little... unemployment is estimated at around 6.6 and is probably more, large numbers of people live without health insurance, massive numbers of immigrants from Mexico pour over the border every day and live in squalor in southern Texas with little or no state provisions to care for them and finally little or no measures are enforced by the state government with regards to protecting the environment and more often than not these companies ride rough shot over what ever laws there are on the statutes designed to protect the environment….        

[ncjake]

BTW after your "hillbilly" remarks I don't think you have a right to call anyone an "elitist".

Just because somebody is poor doesnt mean they are a hillbilly. I'm poor, and I'm not a hillbilly. That just shows your elitism. To you poor=hillbilly

and as for Texas, you all are going to argue that it isnt a place that has grown into one of the biggest financial centers in the country? Because of Texas' laissez faire economics, it has become an industrial power. Whithout the Republicans it would not be such. And the smog in Houston isnt that bad. I go there often, and I havent keeled over yet.

And in regard to Wakie's poll, Oregon, Michigan, Washington and D.C., some the most Democratic areas of the country are 2,3,4, and 5.

[zachman]

Bush hopefully will be beaten for calling Kerry an elitist. Its hypocrisy.

[Nation]

Politicians aren't meant to be able to be perfectly in touch with Americans. That's not their job.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Just because somebody is poor doesnt mean they are a hillbilly. I'm poor, and I'm not a hillbilly. That just shows your elitism. To you poor=hillbilly

You WHAT?!!
I have NEVER said that poor=hillbilly.
And calling me an elitist is insane (FYI, I'm a Christian Socialist from a poor rural area and am a populist in American political terminology)

However, on another thread you made some elitist remarks about Bill Clinton.
The words: "hillbilly" and "trailor park" were used.

[ncjake]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I have NEVER said that poor=hillbilly.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Neither did I. I called Clinton a hillbilly. When did I make fun of him for being poor? Never, but this is what you said:

BTW after your "hillbilly" remarks I don't think you have a right to call anyone an "elitist

Don't dish it out if you cant take it.

And FYI my family makes about 12,000 a year with 4 kids
 
 
 
 

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The phrase "hillbilly" is a derogatory term for someone (typical white and deemed "uncouth") from a poor, rural area.
If you know another usage, please tell me.

BTW I couldn't care how many kids there are in your family.
4 isn't a lot anyway

[Wakie]

ncjake, I'm trying to figure some things out here and they don't add up.  You say your family makes only $12k per year yet you imply you travel frequently to TX.  One would assume that travel is for work, but what traveling job only pays $12k annually?

As for the economic position of TX, how can consider the state w/ the 6th highest unemployment rate in the country as being in good shape?  Due to the oil industry, TX is naturally positioned as an economic power, but clearly Bush didn't leave the state better than he found it.  The positions of Washington, Michigan, Oregon, and Alaska are nothing to write home about.  But none of the Gov's of those states are running for President.

[ncjake]

ncjake, I'm trying to figure some things out here and they don't add up.  You say your family makes only $12k per year yet you imply you travel frequently to TX.  One would assume that travel is for work, but what traveling job only pays $12k annually?

As for the economic position of TX, how can consider the state w/ the 6th highest unemployment rate in the country as being in good shape?  Due to the oil industry, TX is naturally positioned as an economic power, but clearly Bush didn't leave the state better than he found it.  The positions of Washington, Michigan, Oregon, and Alaska are nothing to write home about.  But none of the Gov's of those states are running for President.

I travel to Texas to see family. I'm only eighteen( I have a part time job) and have not graduated high school. Because of my age and the fact that I have not yet graduated high school I collect Social Security from my fathers death.

As for the economic stuff, Bush turned the Texas economy around from where it was when he took over from Richards. As far as the oil industry is concerned, thats hardly whats driving the state. Whats driving the Texas economy are the manufacturing jobs and the new businesses that have moved to Texas due to the favorable business climate and low taxes.

[Wakie]

Jake, do the research.  Check out where TX ranked on a national level BEFORE Bush became Gov and where it is now.  Back up your blind claims with facts and figures.  Hopefully you will go to college because you seem like a smart kid.  If you write a paper and don't back up your statements with facts and figures you will be destroyed by your prof's.

Being almost a full 1% over the national average in unemployment is nothing to be proud of.  Being the "most polluted state" is nothing to be proud of.

You were 8 when Bush became Gov of Texas.  Do you really feel qualified to talk about what the state was like at that time?

[12th Doctor]

Ncjake... using the "big house" argument to disqualify Kerry as being a "man of the people", would mean that FDR and Huey Long weren't either.

BTW after your "hillbilly" remarks I don't think you have a right to call anyone an "elitist".

Huey Long a man of the people?  (chuckle) Tell me another one.

[zachman]

Most of our Presidents haven't been Men of the People. Clinton, Carter, and the original Reagan were the only such presidents in recent time.

[12th Doctor]

Most of our Presidents haven't been Men of the People. Clinton, Carter, and the original Reagan were the only such presidents in recent time.

Who is the 'original' Reagan.  Was there a Ronald Reagan v2.0 that I haven't heard about?

[zachman]

Reagan, before he went to hollywood.

[ncjake]

Reagan, before he went to hollywood.

Reagan was a Democrat even after he left Hollywood to do work for GE. He campaigned for FDR

[Ben.]

Ncjake... using the "big house" argument to disqualify Kerry as being a "man of the people", would mean that FDR and Huey Long weren't either.

BTW after your "hillbilly" remarks I don't think you have a right to call anyone an "elitist".

Huey Long a man of the people?  (chuckle) Tell me another one.

Hey!!!... sure Huey Long was a radical and a socialist... but the guy did a hell of a lot for his state... he was corrupt yes, he bulldozed anything that looked like opposition  and was ever keen to cling to power and strengthen his grip on it, but still he dragged LA out of the mud of the bayou and forged t into a modern state... and that’s why the people of LA loved him… as he lay dying in his hospital crowds gathered in the streets and called out to him so that he could here them calling for him to get well and return to the senate... he was a great speaker a rabble-rouser and a populist and one of the most gifted speakers of his generation quite an achievement if you consider the other great orators his generation thrust up… he replaced mud tracks across the state with paved roads that soon meant that LA had more road per-square mile than any other state in the US, he made sure all the schools in the state had books and equipment and slashed illiteracy in the state which had previously had the highest illiteracy rate in the entire US and furthermore he built bridges spanning the Mississippi and supported farms and small businesses while tacking the big corporations to task such as the rail companies which had effectively run previous administrations in LA… he was one of the great Populist of American political history and achieve far more than many Governors could every dream of…sorry but you take on one of my heroes I’m going to bite…  

[StevenNick]

Most of our Presidents haven't been Men of the People. Clinton, Carter, and the original Reagan were the only such presidents in recent time.

I don't understand why a president needs to be "a man of the people."  I'd rather have a president who knows what he's doing that one who can feel my pain.  I respect people who go to Yale.  That takes some smarts.  I don't have any problem with politicians who are rich.  They have as much right to be rich as I do.  I just don't understand why anybody cares whether a candidate for a president is "a regular guy."  Do you think the founding fathers were a bunch of poor good ole boys who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps?  I don't think so.

[zachman]

I agree that the president should have complete focus on their job. You must note however that Bush likes to portray himself as a man of the people, and he grew up in one of the most powerful, well connected families of the time. Kerry's connections frighten me as well.