Thoughts on Club for Growth Ad in Iowa?

[IowaBiker]

My wife and I think it makes the people who made it look silly.

Some Republicans I know don't seem really pleased with it, either. And think it makes Iowans look stupid.

We have started to look forward to the spot, and even went out to the local Volvo dealer's in honor of it.

What are your thoughts?

And do you score yourself on each of of the hypenated copy points? We're not really big on sushi here in Iowa.

--Brian

[blm]

1. That ad was meant to declare Dean the inevitable winner of the nomination.

It's called playing the inevitability card.

[Eric J in MN]

4. are you saying that the Club for Growth was trying to help Dean? nt

nt

[blm]

7. Stephen Moore who heads Club for Growth has a friendship with Dean.

Didn't you notice how odd it was they would attack in a primary and not the general? Trying to assure the base rallies behind him.

Google Stephen Moore, CATO, and Howard Dean

[Eric J in MN]

11. I found this article in which

I found this article

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/003/073ylkiz.asp

in which Stephen Moore starts off saying that Howard Dean made a good impression at a Cato visit several years by saying he's for deregulation.

Stephen Moore proceeds to write:
"This is, after all, the former governor of the state that gave us Ben & Jerry's Rainforest Crunch and the nation's only self-proclaimed socialist congressman, Bernie Sanders. In Vermont, Euro-style tax-and-spend governmental activism is still in vogue and politicians like Senator Jim Jeffords pass as moderates. This is the second-highest taxing-and-spending state in the country, with collections about $600 per person above the national average. The state's regulatory climate, says John McClaughry of the Ethan Allen Institute, Vermont's sole dispenser of free-market views, "almost seems intentionally designed to chase employers away." Dean has boasted that he was "the most fiscally conservative governor in Vermont in decades," but that's like saying you were the most chaste woman in a Texas whorehouse."

Is this article why you consider Stephen Moore a friend of Howard Dean?

[Exgeneral]

12. Facts are not germane to the argument

its all a clever plot against Kerry
Even Clarks run is just for show I guess

[blm]

16. Moore on Dean, "we finally found a Dem we can work with."

The Appeal of Howard Dean
From the September 15, 2003 issue: Why he could be Bush's more dangerous opponent.
by Stephen Moore
09/15/2003, Volume 009, Issue 01


SEVERAL YEARS AGO an obscure Democratic governor from the politically inconsequential state of Vermont was the guest speaker at a Cato Institute lunch. His name was Howard Dean. He had been awarded one of the highest grades among all Democrats (and a better grade than at least half of the Republicans) in the annual Cato Fiscal Report Card on the Governors. We were curious about his views because we had heard that he harbored political ambitions beyond the governorship.

Dean charmed nearly everyone in the boardroom. He came across as erudite, policy savvy, and, believe it or not, a friend of free markets--at least by the standards of the Tom Daschle-Dick Gephardt axis of the Democratic party. Even when challenged on issues like environmentalism, where he favored a large centralized mass of intrusive regulations, Dean remained affable.

"You folks at Cato," he told us, "should really like my views because I'm economically conservative and socially laissez-faire." Then he continued: "Believe me, I'm no big-government liberal. I believe in balanced budgets, markets, and deregulation. Look at my record in Vermont." He was scathing in his indictment of the "hyper-enthusiasm for taxes" among Democrats in Washington.

He left--and I will never forget the nearly hypnotic reaction. The charismatic doctor had made believers of several hardened cynics. Nearly everyone agreed that we had finally found a Democrat we could work with. Since then, I've watched Dean's career with more than a little interest and we chat from time to time on the phone.
>>>>>>

[Eric J in MN]

18. Does Stephen Moore want Howard Dean to win and raise taxes?

Does Stephen Moore want Howard Dean to win and raise taxes?

Are you saying that even though the theme of the Club for Growth is lower taxes, Stephen Moore doesn't really care about taxes?

[Eric J in MN]

2. John Stewart said he never though of Vermont as a place

John Stewart said he never though of Vermont as a place of sushi and lattes.

Anyway, I read the NY Times, and not only do object to the ad's smear against myself and other NY Times readers, I also think there is an ugly appeal to anti-intellectualism in the ad.

[janx]

3. When I first saw that ad, my reaction was:

Iowans are going to be pissed at being portrayed this way!

(Who wouldn't be?)

[lovedems]

5. It makes the republicans look stupid. I have only seen the ad once

but they get this old couple who look like they only have a HS education (without being to insensitive, they look like stupid people) who think they are being soooo smart in their hate speech. They think they are sooooo witty.

If that is the kind of ad they think will work, it shows how stupid they think amerikuns really are.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

6. Here's my response

My daughter Stephanie

[LizW]

17. Adorable!

:)

[Southsideirish]

8. Backfired big time. Looked like a SNL skit.

The old folks looked mean and sounded cruel.
Anything they said would produce the opposite result. It could have been much more clever. Just as Lawrence Olivier said - whispering is much more powerful than shouting.

Saab drivin'
merlot sippin'
Maltese pettin'
old movie watchin'
edamame munchin'
Sacony wearin'
Bush loathin'
Progressive lovin'

Passionate Dem

[IowaBiker]

13. That's exactly what we thought!

An SNL skit about Republicans! It's almost as funny as the one where the guy orders oxen and gets dachshunds.

Lesse here.

Dog walkin'
Lawn mowin'
Sweet Corn boilin'
Back porch sittin'
Book readin'
Bourbon sippin'
Motorcycle ridin'
Caucus 'tendin'

Iowa Dem, Brian

[wtmusic]

9. Who are you supporting IB?

?

[Exgeneral]

10. I laughed out loud when I saw it.

I was in a diner in Tukwila and at least 50 others saw it too on CNN during lunch time. The place erupted in gales of laughter.
These are all aerospace workers, union guys, not necessarily democrats also. Just a typical Boeing lunch crowd.

The unanimous opinion about the sponsors of that ad was " these guys are such tools"

[PROGRESSIVE1]

14. It was VERY poorly acted our and it obviously was a hit peice that...

could not be taken seriously, but nor can one take the Club For Growth seriously either.

[chocolateeater]

15. I have to say

that ad is one of the stupidest ads I've ever seen, because it is so offensive to the target audience. It's basically telling Iowans, "You're stupid and narrow-minded". Not somethig you want to say to voters in a political campaign.