Awful Political Ads

[Rageaholic]

It's that time again (at least in Michigan with Rick Snyder up for re-election). Political ads are running rampant and god are some of them awful. The worst has to be Terri Lynn Land, who's running for senate. This ad is particularly irritating. The "tough mom" cliche is just laughable, like something Sarah Palin would pull.

But the crem de la crem of shitty political ads has to be this one (DISCLAIMER: HIGH LEVELS OF ANNOYANCE). This was apparently Hilary Clinton's campaign ad during 2008, but there are a lot of people who are skeptical. In fact, some believe this was done purposely by Obama supporters to discredit Hilary. Considering how awful this ad is, it wouldn't surprise me.

[MadMike]

It's that time here in PA as well. Our POS* governor is also up for re-election. He's taking a real beating in the polls, and rightly so. So instead of trying to actually do something constructive, he's ramping up the attack ads against his opponent, which are full of half-truths and outright lies.

* In this case, POS does not stand for "Point of Sale."

[fireheart17]

We had two VERY annoying rounds of ads over here in about the last 20 years or so.

The first one was around the time of the Goods and Services tax being introduced. What made it annoying was the fact that it was played so many times and each time was accompanied with "Unchain my heart." Can't remember if it was pro or anti-GST though.

The second one was a bit more recent and was state-based. Basically there was a guy running for senate on a single platform (It's been done before and it's worked) but what made this guy annoying was that he took the spamming of campaign posters up to the extreme. EVERY second streetlight, stobie pole, you name it, had one of his posters up. The kicker? His entire platform was based on abortion and ONLY abortion. And no, he didn't get in.

(The guy who got in on a single platform only used said platform as a campaign piece, but this guy was actually approachable, relevant and had other ideas that he would also talk about when questioned by people)

[Gravekeeper]

This was apparently Hilary Clinton's campaign ad during 2008, but there are a lot of people who are skeptical. In fact, some believe this was done purposely by Obama supporters to discredit Hilary. Considering how awful this ad is, it wouldn't surprise me.

No, its the product of a demented Hillary fan. Its not a campaign ad. One ( really creepy ) guy wrote the song and directed the video. Not content with his initial awfulness, he also followed it up with a Hillary rap. Fortunately for us, it was released as audio only. >.>

Also, demon sheep.

[mikoyan29]

Personally I like the Not Terry Lynn Land which says that her opponent is beholden to special interests. As if, special interests weren't responsible for the ad in the first place.

[Panacea]

In our recent Congressional primary, the favored candidate is the son of the President of the State Senate.

All his ads dropped the "Jr." from his name, leading people to think it was his powerful father (who is increasingly unpopular) who was actually running.

He lost to a tea party candidate.

[s_stabeler]

to be fair, I think if he HAD kept the Jr, he would have lost due to the association with his father.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

One of the most infamous attack ads in Canadian history came out over 20 years ago. The PC (Conservative) party ran an attack ad in which they mocked their Liberal opponent (Jean Chretien) for his facial deformity. A deformity he was born with and in no way impeded his ability to lead a nation.

Now, say what you will about the man and his politics but he did NOT deserve to be attacked like that.

The story does have a kind of happy ending. Incensed Canadians absolutely OBLITERATED the Conservatives on Election day and reduced to them to a grand total of two, yes TWO seats.

Video and news story at youtube

[Jetfire]

Yup, two seats.

One won by a woman in Saint John who was so popular she could've run under the Canadian Satan and Nazi party and still probably have won.

The other won by Jean Charest who went on to take over the Quebec provincial liberal party and win premier of Quebec.

While I don't think any party would be stupid enough to run an attack ad like that any more, some of the ones Harper's run since then have been inching as close to that line as they can get, and it's pissing me off.

At least with Trudeau, for better or for worse, those attack ads are bouncing off of him almost harmlessly. The same style that worked well against Dion and Ignatiaf have so far failed to gain any traction and seem to be having blow back similar to Chretien's, though on a smaller scale.

[wolfie]

After that election, the Rhinoceros party (extreme fringe party whose main purpose seemed to be making fun of the political establishment) boasted that they finished only 2 seats behind the Tories nationwide, and matched them seat-for-seat in Ontario.