November 06, 2006
Something to get your Election Day juices flowing...Politics
SM reader Bindu from Illinois informs us about a truly ugly campaign in the 101st Illinois House District between incumbent Bob Flider (D) and his challenger Dick Cain (R):
Bob Flider and Dick Cain should be ashamed of themselves.
In fact, we hope that when the dust settles after Tuesday, both men apologize to the residents of the 101st Legislative District for their behavior during this campaign.
Flider, the Democratic incumbent, and Cain, a Republican challenger, have managed to take this campaign right into the gutter.
At the beginning, we had high hopes for this race. We think it’s healthy when incumbents have legitimate challengers. We looked forward to a spirited debate about the direction the state should take and the role the representative of the 101st District would play in setting that direction. [Link]
Want to know just how pathetic it has become? Take a look at this blatantly xenophobic attack ad by the Flider campaign:
The macaca in front of the blue screen is the evil Indian out to steal your job. Bindu tells us that both candidates are using such tactics. Go forth and vote, and make sure to vote for a write-in candidate in a case like this.
abhi on November 6, 2006 11:24 PM in Politics · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
ain't that some BULLshit.
When Macacas With Jobs Attack! Next...on Fox.
To channel Tyler Durden, "I am Jack's neverending surprise at the stupidity of political candidates, and the electorate who supports them."
Truly pathetic!
ROFL.. nice ad.. In India during the 80s the govt. used to display the ads in movie theatres showing some farmer speaking in some language about the success of some govt. scheme with the farmer starting the first line in his language (and later the voice in the background taking over) .
Well if there is truth in what the ad says nothing wrong with that..
What a bunch of idiots....
Ponniyin Selvan:
Wait. You think there are actual people in India and China who care about this senatorial race because they'll have jobs?
Let me amend my previous comment about Jack to include righteous indignation, disbelief, and you.
This is shocking. The scary thing is that a lot of people will actually buy this.
The article endorses Flider... perhaps he meant no racist undertone. Like fellow Democrat Biden, maybe he was just misinterpreted, as their comments usually are ?
Salil,
It is true that there are a lot of folks in India / China who benefit due to outsourcing of jobs.. There is a 0.001% possibility that those folks are for real.. So don't get angry at me.. I was just having fun..
If there are people in the said district that actually buy this horseshit, they deserve to vote for Flider. I daresay that at least 99.9% of India would never know of this race and the rest would only because they read SM.
haha!
imagining my family gathered around the television in India closely watching the Flider-Cain results as the polls close and report their numbers.
The truly hilarious part is that the desi guy actually has a Dick Cain sticker!!!
I didn't get the joke.
The ad..reminded me of another bunch of ads in India we used to see and comment about.. with similar propaganda value.. pls ignore my comment..
Eh, the problem with the Internet is how difficult it is to convey tone. After commenting and then re-reading, I suspected you were just funnin', yourself. No harm, no foul.
It's not funny. Plus your attitude is racist, viz., "some farmer speaking in some language" so obnoxious! find me an ad campaign that depends on running down present day economic relationships with whatever countries your ancestors came from to make its point. Plenty of Europeans speaking in some language benefit from the dearth of quality goods manufactured here...and where are you getting your rhetorical statistics?
Peace...
Here's one take on Dems vs Repubs... You Lose '06.
So ridiculous!
Speaking of macaca baiting... yikes...
SM swings both ways. I however have to look at myself in the mirror every morning. ;)
I live in a red state and these days even the Republicans don't want to vote for their party ...
What, SM readership has hit 1 million already? SM bloggers, please let us know when these milestones are passed, so we can, you know, pass the mithai.
Guys, I think it would be really helpful of y'all in Amreeka, if you could put up, what states you think are going to be close to call. People like me who are interested in the election process, but have no friggin idea where to start would be really grateful
Cheers,
Prasanna
For senate, the three main races are Virginia, Missouri and Tennessee. If all other races go as predicted, whoever wins two out of these three will control the senate. Among the ones democrats are supposed to win, Montana, New Jersey and Maryland could be close and among the ones Republicans are supposed to win, only Arizona probably gives the dems a very outside chance. No other race is competitive.
For house, democrats need to pick up 15 and there is a wide range of predictions anywhere between 10 to 40. A sample list of possible pickups and the races to keep an eye on are -
AZ-05 AZ-08 CA-11 CO-07 CT-02 CT-04 CT-05 FL-13 FL-16 FL-22 IA-01 ID-01 IL-06 IL-10 IN-02 IN-08 KY-03 NC-08 NC-11 NH-02 NM-01 NY-19 NY-20 NY-24 NY-25 NY-29 OH-01 OH-02 OH-15 OH-18 PA-06 PA-07 PA-08 PA-10 TX-22 WI-08
How dumb do you have to be to make this ad? And how dumb do you have to be to watch it? And how dumb do you have to be to change your vote based on this ad?
I don't think people would care/know in general. Probably only about the Presidential election (GWB actually is liked in India to some extent coz of his pro-business policies).
racist.. LOL.. loosen up a little bit.. What I said is the 'truth'.. If I say I'm brown ( blackish brown ) does that mean I'm racist..?
I can perfectly understand the plight of Americans who have around 150K to 200K $ of student loans, plus mortgages / rents / bills (without parental support) above their head losing their jobs to folks in India who complete their entire education with less than 1000 $. I could be a little bit wrong on the numbers, but that is the truth and I have to acknowledge it. Ofcourse it is the nature of the economy and I have no complaints.. The question of why they have not made ads on Europeans should be addressed to the creator of that ad..
The idea that someone is taking "your" job seems to assume that someone has a god given right to a particular job. a very odd attitude indeed...
As far as businesses go the repubs have always been better for cheaperlabor (read indians/chinese/vietnamese/malays/anybody else). Protectionism has always been the hallmark of the democratic party/labor unions. (DailyKos Diary). Remember Kerry in 04? Repubs have traditionally (maybe nominally) pro free trade. No big shocker there.
The confounding factor seems to be this "nativism". That throws the pro-business slant of the repubs off track. Lou Dobbs seems to be a classic example of a pro business repub who seems to have soured on free trade.
The last place i worked at laid off 250 people and moved those jobs to another state in US because they were using only temp workers there and saved costs. After a few months they laid off 15 people because an Indian company bought those machines the 15 people were working on. Anyone want to take a guess on what all the people talked about. 15 vs 250 jobs, and day in , day out i only heard disparaging comments about India. And not only that they also sent a few test equipments which did not work well(without the manuals). And when people in India couldnt work on it, the manager here told corporate that they are incompetent. I scanned the whole fucking manual and sent it to the Indian company and also gave them instructions on not only to work but improve efficiency(Since that was my job here). Needless to say my boss was pissed off. Well too bad mr.boss, you shouldn't have pissed me off by talking bad about India.
Actually, it's not even a senatorial race; it's the race for state house of representatives in Illinois. Isn't it amazing that the dude is wearing Dick Cain's sticker on his shirt to show his support, while standing in front of what looks like a busy street in India? And the Chinese guy standing in front of what looks Tiananmen square? The video almost looks like it's been pulled from the daily show. It's pathetic!
I don't think Sepia Mutiny is recommending anybody to vote in a particular way. In this case the republican candidate is also using the same tactics as the democratic one and both are anti-immigrant. You can watch his campaign video here.
I think Abhi is totally justified in recommending a vote-in candidate. I would recommend the same thing in the case of the gubernatorial race in Illinois( if Macaca's in Illinois need advice!) where it's impossible to tell the candidates apart.
Here's a great clip from The Simpsons. It's exactly how I feel about elections in the US.
Oh lord this is awful. The local races in the north east have been particularly disgusting this year as well. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older and paying more attention or it's gotten bad but this time around particularly the mudslining has been horrible.
The Menendez and Kean Jr fight in Jersey has been ugly. Hevesi vs Callaghan & Cuomo vs Pirro. All of them plagued by the shadow of corruption which really fucks things up when you look at things from an ethical POV. The only race around here that isn't dirty so far is Spitzer vs the nobodys that don't have a chance.
I particularly find the Hevesi smear ads painful because I know the family, am good friends with his son and know that his wife is really ill. What he did unethical no doubt but it's painful to watch.
This ad is so ridiculous I'm wondering if it was actually released by th Republican party. Some kind of reverse pyschology gimmick.
If election not success, I will be execute....
if only the republicans were so smart...
sidg, you rock!
"and make sure to vote for a write-in candidate in a case like this."
I thought Sepia was not going to tell us how/who to vote?
Yes, but you of all people need plenty of guidance.
Dear Sepia Muni:
In 2008, If the Democratic Presidential candidate (like Kerry in 04) rants against outsourcing to India, but the Republican candidate (like Bush in 04) is A OK with outsourcing to India...who should we vote for?
We didn't tell you whose name to write...DUH. ;)
An irrelevant question. Outsourcing/offshoring to India/China will continue regardless of the outcome of the election. That is, if major American corporations wish to remain competitive in the business arena. And of course they do.
American companies will simply not be able to compete if they were not allowed to outsource. Foreign companies who could outsource freely would walk all over them.
Kritic,
It depends, in some Republican controlled districts, as an immigrant, you wouldn't be allowed to vote anyway. That's assuming you are even a U.S. citizen which isn't obvious to me given that you seem to view everything through the lens of Indian Nationalism.
For DC mutineers, you are invited to lucky bar (1221 Connecticut Ave) @ 6:30. A bunch of people are meeting with me to celebrate a couple personal milestones and we'll likely stick around to watch the election returns. It would rock if it turned into mini election night meetup.
Abhi,
No, I can't vote, yet. But I can listen, think, speak, write, influence my peers. No?
Anyhow, I was asking for the benefit of my wife, who like you is a genuine American and can vote. She is too busy, however, (lazy, if you ask me) to do the research. Thus my query.
Isn't that what the Indian guy in the attack ad above was doing?
Abhi,
You still haven't helped with my/our dillema, which I pose below, once again.
In 2008, If the Democratic Presidential candidate (like Kerry in 04) rants against outsourcing to India, but the Republican candidate (like Bush in 04) is A OK with outsourcing to India...who should we vote for?
I reject your loaded premise and then I refer you to comment #43 by Ritam.
Kritic,
If I might venture an answer to your question. If outsourcing is the most important issue on the table to you, then by all means vote for the pro-outsourcing candidate. However, having read many of your comments I would venture to say that you don't necessarily vote on a single issue, in which case you should vote for the candidate that supports as many of your positions that you deem important.
Sriram -
"in which case you should vote for the candidate that supports as many of your positions that you deem important."
Very well said.