Comments on: KARE11: Anti-Madia Ad Shows Skin Color “Noticeably Darker Than Reality”

By: Erik Paulsen Rips Off TPT Footage, Gets Legal Action | MNpublius.com

Erik Paulsen Rips Off TPT Footage, Gets Legal Action | MNpublius.com — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 03:11:30 +0000

[…] if the darkening of Ashwin Madia’s skin in a Republican ad wasn’t enough, Erik Paulsen refused to condemn it. On tape. In fact, he says he […]

By: southwestdem

southwestdem — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:23:55 +0000

Guess it is kind of like Madia having to win a grueling primary and Paulsen being annointed, wouldn’t you say?
What choice did the republicans of the 3rd Cd really have?

I’ll take Obama and Madia anyday over Palin and Paulsen. Madia and Obama have had to prove themselves over a long period of time, where as Palin and Paulsen were given their candidacy by party bosses behind closed doors.

And that ad is indeed racist. Between that ad and Palin inciting her audiences into a frenzy over racist and terrorist comments, the GOP has really proven themselves to be a desperate.

DTM — you seem like a stand up guy — you have a lot of work to do to help straighten it out. You can start with that group of white supremacists that was just arrested…

By: rainman

rainman — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:02:44 +0000

dtm…get real, this ad was Racist! End of story, and no, there is no defense! Find a topic where someone may actually take you seriously, this is not that topic!

By: DantheMan

DantheMan — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:01:46 +0000

All I’m saying is that if the exact same photoshop technique is used on two candidates, and in one case it is an outrage and the other case a non-issue, then it is highly subjective.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:40:27 +0000

DtM, you accuse Randy of splitting hair, and yet you compare apples to oranges. The experience issue between Obama & Palin is not the same question, because Obama was vetted thoroughly through the primaries and nominated by millions of people. Palin was selected by essentially one person. It’s not a double standard if the question isn’t the same.

Moreover, while Randy may be making a subjective judgment, it’s hardly an arbitrary one, based on the history of this country and the tone & tenor of this campaign. You may not like it, and you may want to believe that your favored candidate would never stoop to something as slimy and low as race-bating, but that doesn’t make it so. I don’t think you’re racist, and I think it’s great that you want to elevate things away from base discussions of race (that’s my impression, anyways), but it seems like the party you are supporting disagrees with you.

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 21:38:59 +0000

It is subjective, although I don’t think it’s arbitrary. Race, gender, ethnicity, and (to a lesser extent) class are going to play a big part in judging the fairness of a particular comment or portrayal. Do you remember the pictures of President Nixon (I’m not telling my age, either) with the exaggerated hook nose? It was no big deal at the time, but now suppose it were done to a Jewish candidate — suppose Norm Coleman’s nose was drawn that. It’s a different matter, isn’t it?

By: DantheMan

DantheMan — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:42:29 +0000

Randy -

You’re splitting hairs. You’re making the measure subjective and arbitrary, dangerous for one candidate but not for the other. Definitions of what are “taboo” are too often made on the fly.

The fact is, the exact same picture formatting was used on each candidate.

I don’t like nor do I want double standards. The completely inconistent treatment of Palin vs. Obama’s relatively similar level of inexperience is bad enough.

By: Randy

Randy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:25:13 +0000

DtM, don’t you think the shading issue is a little different when teh cadidate whose picture has been shaded is not a piece of white bread? How about if it has already been pointed out that he is not like the people in the district? Sauce for the goose is not always sauce for the gander.

By: DantheMan

DantheMan — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:14:30 +0000

So how do you all feel about the DCCC “Career Politician” ad against Erik Paulsen. Virtually the same resolution on the image of Erik as the one you guys don’t like about Madia — partially black and white, more pronounced shadows, fades into the background…

http://minnesotaindependent.com/12957/3rd-cd-video-roundup-madia-dccc-have-new-tv-ads-paulsen-has-fox-9-and-youtube

Should we ban that PhotoShop setting? Perhaps there should be a law.

By: Jer

Jer — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:52:27 +0000

This is going to go down as one of the worst ads of the season, the lowest blow. Shame. I’m shocked that the GOP couldn’t come up with a better response than “we stand by the ad.” Sheesh.