Joe Bodell over at MN Campaign Report (first stop on my daily MN blogosphere tour) has a post up detailing the flubs in Erik Paulsen’s first TV ad. For starters, the ad misspells “Rebublican” in the disclaimer text (image from MN Blue). I know he’s trying to avoid the Republican brand (the frontpage of his website doesn’t have the dreadful “R” word anywhere), but misspelling it to avoid the connection seems a bit extreme.
In all seriousness, the misspelling is a humorous (if amateur) flub. The really awkward move in the ad is citing a satirical astrology report from the StarTribune as fact. Check the portion of the article Paulsen cites from in his ad [emphasis mine]:
Suspense surrounds the opening of the 2005 legislative session. How will two evenly matched and contentiously partisan camps ever get the state’s business done? Calling in psychologists or anger-management counselors doesn’t seem appropriate. Imposing legal arbitration or U.N. peacekeepers is out of the question. In desperation (and in jest) we turn our eyes to the stars. Building on groundbreaking research by jokesters at the Minnesota Business Partnership, here is a horoscopic analysis of the leading Capitol characters and their relationships, drawn from the Web site astrology.com.
It may be pure bunk, but that would make it resemble a fair amount of political commentary.
…
- House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen (Taurus, the bull) vs. House Minority Leader Matt Entenza (Libra, the scales)
Real world background: These two most often square off in debate on the House floor. A financial adviser in real life, Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, is a fiscal conservative, cool under pressure. Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, is an urban liberal, former prosecutor and ready debater. He has recently come under fire by Republicans who accuse him of exercising undue influence in contributing $600,000 to election-year efforts that they say may have helped increase his caucus by 13 members.
The stars say: Paulsen likes to “debate and argue,” thinks quickly and is impatient with opposition. “You’re not awfully good at being disagreed with,” the star chart says.
Joe hits the nail on the head:
“Not awfully good at being disagreed with,” huh? Let’s keep in mind here that the ad in question was funded by the NRCC. The national party organizations are allowed a relatively small amount of money - about $82,000 - to spend in direct coordination with a candidate’s committee on various projects - positive advertising, field, direct mail, whatever. It looks like the NRCC spent its entire budget line item on this one ad that misspells their own party’s name and tries to spin a three-year old satirical astrology report that said Paulsen is “not awfully good at being disagreed with.”
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Erik Paulsen is a Rebublican? This would have been a much better ad! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9on54P8My0
More of that Rebublican re-branding?
The NEW face of the same old noise that got us where we are, or in the case of Paulsen - worse?
A losing ad for a losing candidate from a losing party.
Contrast the bumbling, misspelled ad from Paulsen with the sharp, professional ad’s from Madia and you get one more huge difference in the candidates….Madia is smarter, works harder, has clear concise policies and ideas on all the issues (and can actually articulate them), and has a staff and volunteers that are second to none in the entire country! We want Change in our government, not more of the same old conservative spin and meanness and Madia offers us this. Whether it’s Iraq, the economy, the energy crisis, health care, education, immigration, constitutional rights, women’s rights, gay rights, etc.,etc.,etc. Madia has presents the kind of fiscal conservative, moderate social leadership we expect in Minnesota’s 3rd. There is only one clear choice…Madia the Patriot for Congress!
What a moran!
“Madia has presents the kind of fiscal conservative, moderate social leadership”
I keep hearing this. I know that those words are what the 3rd CD has typically voted for, but is that really an apt description of Madia? Because if it is, I’m going to expect him to vote exactly as Ramstad has. Something tells me that if Madia goes to Washington and votes exactly as Ramstad has, he is going to hear about it from the Democratic base back home.
But hey - if Madia goes to Washington and votes in what “fiscal conservative / social moderate” means to me, which is one step to the right of center, I’ll be the first to jump on the bandwagon.
dantheman….get ready to jump! He’s has stated that balancing the budget is one of his top three priorities and he believes we need to go over the budget line by line and dime by dime. The only way we authorize new spending is to show that everything we’re spending on now is legit, and if not, then we cut something unnecessary before we add new spending. That sounds like a fiscal conservative, and I have heard him and talked with him so many times on this issue…yes I believe he’s a man of his word! Thanks for your support.