The Kid (2000)

“Aww, somebody call the waahmbulance!”

https://secure.robincarnahan.com/page/-/video/jwplayer/player.swf

Mindy Mazur: Hi, I’m Mindy Mazur, I’m Robin Carnahan’s campaign manager. It’s a little after ten o’clock on Thursday night, but I wanted to record a, a short message for you and give you an update on what’s going on in the Missouri Senate race.

As you may have heard late last night Fox News and Chris Wallace sued our campaign over our most recent TV ad. The ad in question is one where Chris Wallace questions Congressman Blunt about his slipping a secret provision in for Phillip Morris into a Homeland Security bill and his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It’s just a short clip, it’s completely in context, and it’s the truth.

And we at the Robin Carnahan campaign believe the truth matters in this race. And that’s why, despite this lawsuit, we’re keeping this ad on the air. We’re gonna fight the lawsuit to keep it on the air and to make sure Missouri voters know truth.

You and I know that Robin’s a fighter and she fights on principle. And this is a fight worth having. Please join us, go to Robin Carnahan dot com. Thanks for your help.

In the business of politics Faux News and his whineyness Chris Wallace handed Robin Carnahan and her campaign what is called “earned media”. There isn’t enough money on the planet to pay to get the coverage Roy’ Blunt’s (r-lobbyist) Washington insider pedigree is getting with this story.

Previously:

You make the ad, we sue you to protect our candidate

Faux sues, We deride: The ripple effect

Update: The Carnahan campaign has put the ad back up on the web.

http://c0000646.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/embed.html

Roy Blunt (r-lobbyists) takes a hit in the latest DSCC ad:

[Here in Missouri]

Roy Blunt’s been gone some time now. Probably doesn’t know how tough folks here in Missouri have it.

[Back in Washington]

Roy is the life of the party in D.C. His wife? Great! A Powerful tobacco lobbyist.

[Here in Missouri]

Jobs sent overseas. Schools heading down hill.

[Back in Washington]

Roy’s building a new million dollar home in D.C.’s best neighborhood.

[Here in Missouri]

My nephew lost his house.

[Back in Washington]

That’s how you know he’s made it here.

[Here in Missouri]

Roy Blunt’s just forgotten Missouri.

Announcer: The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.

Nothing says down home like a million dollar house and the inside the beltway party scene.

Hat tip to our good friends at Fired Up.

The Show Me Social Justice International Film Festival catches a break during the General Assembly’s veto session – because, from the reviews, Representative Denny Hoskins (r-noun, verb, CPA) gave a performance worthy of a Golden Rasberry:

Representative John Burnett via Twitter:

Shocker! Repubs open with red herring argument re movie festival funding. Oddly fm Warrensburg where R incumbt is in trouble. Coincidence?     about 8 hours ago  via Twitter for iPhone  

Ouch, that left a mark.

Fired Up! via Twitter:

Hoskins trying to make hay with film festival during veto override debate, but then admitted fund in HB1903 wouldn’t have made a difference     about 8 hours ago  via Twitter for iPhone  

So, why bring it up, unless it was all about political posturing? Because it was all about political posturing.

Tony Messenger via Twitter:

Missouri house begins process of trying to overturn nixon veto of hb1903. unlikely to get the two-thirds majority necessary.     about 8 hours ago  via Panoramic moTweets

Sorry, forgot to tweet the end of the veto session debate. veto override fell way short. back to your previously scheduled fundraisers …     about 6 hours ago  via Panoramic moTweets  

Oh, and fundraising.

Previously:

Suppose you held a film festival and right wingnuts didn’t want anyone to attend (September 10, 2010)

The show must go on (September 10, 2010)

Rep. Denny Hoskins (r) and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder (r): The review is in – two thumbs down (September 14, 2010)

On the stage (from left to right) sign language interpreter, David Plouffe, David Axelrod, Senator Tom Harkin (D), Ruth Harkin, Governor Chet Culver (D), Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge, Roxanne Conlin.

A television reporter doing a stand up before the start of the event. Note that they provided their own shade. Also note attire (jeans and tennis shoes) out of the camera’s view.

There were a large number of Democratic and progressive t-shirts worn by people attending – this one takes issue with Arizona’s SB 1070.

The volunteers helping to feed the crowd have the logistics of doing so down to a science. They are efficient and the food service is fast.

The dining tents are a must for any weather, rain or shine.

The media gathered and waited for the photo-op/press availability. And waited, and waited…

(from left to right) Governor Chet Culver (D), Senator Tom Harkin (D), David Axelrod, David Plouffe.

The guests at the grill. At one point several photographers stuck their cameras (and expensive telephoto lenses) in the other side of grill attempting to get shots through the grill. I kid you not. At one point during the press availability I was standing next to the grill – you could really feel the heat. My audio recorder picked of the Q and A, wind noise, and sizzling steaks…

(left to right, foreground) David Plouffe, David Axelrod, Senator Tom Harkin (D), Governor Chet Culver (D).

…David Axelrod: …Senator Harkin’s absolutely right, I remember. I don’t know who’s here from the Register, but the headline in the Des Moines Register about the third week of September, you can look it up in your archives, was Political Experts [inaudible] Vilsack Faces Impossible Odds. And we ended up winning that race by five points. He became the first Democratic governor in thirty-two years. and it just really speaks to what happens when people get engaged and start focusing on the choice. you know, Vice President Biden is fond of quoting [inaudible] White of Boston, the old Mayor of Boston, saying, don’t, don’t compare me to the almighty, compare me to the alternative. And for the next fifty days we’re gonna make sure that people are very focused on the choice, the choice here in Iowa, the choice around the country because there’s a very stark choice between a Democratic Party that’s trying to lift this country out of the disaster that was created by the last [inaudible] and the folks who want to take us right back to that disaster. And when people focus on that choice you’re gonna see a much different result and you’re gonna see more headline writers and more pundits have to scratch their head on the day after the election and say, why did I write that story…

David Plouffe: …This is gonna be a choice between two people, districts and states. I think that we can win that argument effectively because the Republican experiment is very recent in people’s minds. The Republican policies were the chief reason we face this recession. They wouldn’t have done the things we did to avert a great depression. And they are gonna be a party of and by the big special interests. We’re gonna win this by also increasing Democratic turnout. Right now Republicans are coming out [inaudible] in big numbers. I don’t think we should expect that to diminish. Some of them may be wearing tinfoil hats, but they’re coming out. And we need to get Democrats excited and enthused and that’s what we’re doing…Democratic enthusiasm is ticking up. People’s expression of likelihood of voting is picking up. We have the numbers here in Iowa and in so many states…

Question: Is the rest of the first term on hold if you get hammered in November?

David Axelrod: Well, first of all, we’re not gonna get hammered in, in November. I, I feel like the results are gonna be different than, than, you know, the prognostications now. You know, and I caution everybody not to call the race in the beginning of September.

But, you know, we are going to continue to move this country forward and fight the fights [inaudible] fought. We will work with anybody who wants to work with us, on either side of the aisle, to get that done.

Uh, you know, in the last twenty months the Republican Party has made a decision to sit on the sidelines and give us the entire responsibility and root for failure because they thought that was a prescription for a successful election. I think they’ll be disabused of that and perhaps everybody will come back to Washington after November with more of a sense of responsibility for the future of this country. We look forward to that….

Question: ….Could you help me with that disconnect with what you know on the ground versus what we’re reading in the paper?

David Plouffe: Well, listen, I’d say right now I think a lot of polls out there do show the Republicans at kind of their high water mark….a lot of the undecided independents are definitely getable for us. And you’ve got Republican enthusiasm at very high levels. And I think as a party we better not make that mistake to think that might abate. They’re coming out and they’re coming out in strong numbers. In state after state and district after district if we can just get Democratic vote totals up a little bit we’re gonna win some close races. And the good news is, you know, we’re not creating something out of whole cloth…. The most important thing in my view is, you know, a neighbor talking to a neighbor about the election. And that’s what we’re beginning to see in Iowa and elsewhere, is Democratic volunteerism picking up and Democrats saying they’re more likely to vote….

….So we’ve got to go out there and convince those Democrats of the stakes in this election, that there’s a [inaudible] choice, and if they don’t come out to vote they’re handing the keys back over to the folks that got us in this mess in the first place….

….Senator Tom Harkin (D): …I’ve thought a lot about this. Throughout history, throughout history those who have been opposed to progress have been imbued with a passionate intensity. Let me repeat that. Throughout history those who have been opposed to progress have had passionate intensity. What do I mean by that? A couple of weeks ago on of the Little Rock nine passed away. I was watching this and, and clips of these kids going into the school and the mobs around them, spitting at them, and how vicious they were. They had intensity. They were passionate. I think about George Wallace when he ran for president. They had passionate intensity. I even think about Goldwater. When he ran in sixty four, they were passionate. Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice? They had passion. You know, groups can have passion. There were passionate people against the New Deal. The Father Coughlins and the Huey Longs and others. Throughout history this has been true. But these are the passions of the moment. What the Republicans are doing is they’re playing to those passions. Yes, there are some disconnects in our society. Yes, some people are out of work. We have been laying the groundwork under President Obama to move us into the future. The Republicans are taking advantage of this passion people have momentarily. I will tell you, I’ve been in this business a long time. I will trade passionate intensity for determination and commitment and a willingness to go out and…do that nitty gritty work. And that’s what we’re doing in Iowa. They can have the passion because their passion is opposed to progress. And in the final result people will get that…      

Francis Thicke, the Democratic candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

Roxanne Conlin, the Democratic candidate challenging Chuck Grassley (r-what health care reform bill?), addresses the crowd.

Oh, all right, it’s Warren County, but they’re right next door to each other and I couldn’t resist.

The parking lot at the annual Harkin Steak Fry is a veritable cornucopia of progressive political bumper stickers. And don’t get me started on the t-shirts people wear to the event.

Yep. you’re right, we saw this car last year.

On the drive headed north in Iowa on Interstate 35 a sedan with an older white male driving puled even with us in the passing lane. The driver sounded the car horn then gave us a smile and a thumbs up. He obviously like our bumper sticker.

The license plate frame reads, “I’m for Tom.” Note the vehicle is a hybrid.

Roxanne Conlin is the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate challenging incumbent Chuck Grassley (r-hey, you damn kids keep off my lawn).

On the drive back to Missouri, again on Interstate 35, a BMW pulled slightly ahead of us in the passing lane. The occupants of the back seat smiled and waved at us. We think they liked our bumper sticker.

Previously:

Iowa Road Trip! – the 2010 Harkin Steak Fry

Iowa Road Trip! – Interstate highway rest stops

Iowa Road Trip! – on the way back

Previously: Iowa Road Trip! – the 2010 Harkin Steak Fry

Consider this a travel review.

It ain’t Kansas, that’s for sure.

Over the years since 2003 when we’ve journeyed north on Interstate 35 to attend the Harkin Steak Fry we’ve noted two interesting things. The pavement in Iowa is in much better condition than Missouri’s and Iowa rest stops have awesome high speed Internet. Go figure. The rest stop just north of Lamoni, Iowa even has convenient work spaces for intrepid progressive bloggers. Thank you, good people of Iowa.

Okay, this one has a great sense of humor:

Robin Carnahan: Congressman Roy Blunt, he seems to think he’s running for the Senate against Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.

Hey, Roy, you’re running against me.

[Robin Carnahan, Secretary of State]

And while I’ve been here in Missouri looking out for consumers, you’re the one who’s been in Washington…

[Wall St – Blunt is man in the middle for bailout talks – Congressional Quarterly Today 9/26[…]]

…bailing out Wall Street and the big banks.

[More money from lobbyists than any member of Congress, October 4, 2009, USA Today]

And taking more money from lobbyists than any other member of Congress.

[Robin Carnahan manages her family cattle farm]

I’m Robin Carnahan. I approved this message because we’re all fed up with the bull from Washington.

[Robin Carnahan, United States Senate, RobinCarnahan.com

Paid for by Robin Carnahan for Senate. Approved by Robin Carnahan.]

This one’s a keeper. Nicely done, nicely done.

Representative Roy Blunt (r-lobbyists) via Twitter:

Americans lost another 54,000 jobs last month. Unemployment is now 9.6%. Missourians are asking, “Where are the private sector jobs?”     6:46 AM Sep 3rd  via mobile web  

[emphasis added]

Really?

Private employers add 67,000 jobs, but unemployment rate rises

By Motoko Rich

New York Times

Posted: 09/03/2010 08:00:55 AM PDT

Updated: 09/03/2010 10:47:29 PM PDT

U.S. businesses added more jobs in the past three months than originally estimated, calming fears of a double-dip recession. Yet the pace of growth signaled that the wheels of the economic recovery were still spinning in place.

The private sector added 67,000 jobs in August, with some of the strongest gains in health care, food service and temporary help, the Labor Department reported Friday. That was higher than consensus forecasts, but the continuing wind-down of the 2010 census, as well as state and local government layoffs, led to an overall loss of 54,000 jobs during the month.

In addition, the government revised its numbers for June and July, reporting that the economy had added more jobs in those months than it had previously said….

[emphasis added]

What is it about “add” that republican politicians don’t understand?

Such Chutzpah. And on August 10th Representative Blunt didn’t even bother to vote to save some of those jobs.

By the way, where was Representative Blunt’s concern about job creation in 2005 during dubya’s administration? Oh yeah, you and your cronies were pushing tax cuts for the top 1%:

No Correlation Between Bush Tax Cuts and Job Creation

Rate of Job Growth at Historic Low After 4 Years of Tax Cuts; Quality of Jobs Poor

BOSTON-As outrage in Congress stalls the Bush administration’s attempts this Thanksgiving season to extend tax cuts that will primarily benefit the wealthy, a new study examines the administration’s claim that tax cuts create jobs-and finds it without merit.

Evidence shows that, historically, changes in tax rates have no discernible effect on employment. Moreover, during the Bush administration, job creation since 2003 has fallen millions of jobs short of the administration’s promises, and is significantly below what would normally be expected even without extraordinary economic stimulus.

“Contrary to what President Bush and his tax policymakers are saying, tax cuts do not automatically create jobs. Tax cuts are just one of many things that can affect job growth,” said Liz Stanton, director of research at United for a Fair Economy (UFE) and a co-author of the report.

“President Bush’s Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, far from delivering on the promises made to create 5.5 million new jobs, has carved out a new low in job recovery after a recession.” said Scott Klinger, another co-author and director of UFE’s tax policy group. “The president’s tax-cutting policy is a failure in this regard, and we need to recognize it as such….”

….While there is no evidence that massive tax cuts create jobs, there is considerable evidence that they contribute to economy-choking deficits….

[emphasis added]

That was then, this  is now. So where were you then, Congressman Blunt (r)? Just asking.

Sam Seder via Twitter:

Now we know- it takes 8 years of GOP control to totally fuck up our economy and only 18 months to blame Dems for it. 2:15 PM Sep 3rd  via web  

We are not worthy.

It’s an election year and it’s almost Labor Day. That can only mean one thing. The campaign crews for large signs are out and about. Signs. They take an inordinate amount of time and a candidate’s supporters obsess about them. In short, everything having to do with signs is a campaign’s biggest pain in the ass.

That being said, one of the perks of participating in a campaign consists of working on a sign crew which is assigned the task of putting up 4×8 signs. It’s the most legal fun you can have in a campaign.

Late yesterday afternoon I received a phone message about a sign crew going out in the evening. When I joined them I found out that this crew worked at night. From 9:00 p.m. to almost midnight I followed them across the district as they set up 4×8 signs.

Headlights help illuminate the work at night. Flashlights are a big help, but in a pinch a cell phone will do. Did you know there’s an ap for that?

The evening’s work yet to be done – 4×8 signs and steel posts in the back of a pickup truck.

The first essential for setting up 4×8 signs is a recent soaking rain. Check.

Years ago I took sign crew out to set steel posts and get the signs up at a point in the campaign when it hadn’t rained for at least eight weeks. The ground was as hard as concrete, the going was slow, and the exertion of driving the posts came close to killing the entire sign crew. The heat didn’t help in that regard.

Last night was a lot easier work.

The crew unloads the sign and posts from the truck and lays everything out at the pre-approved location. Yes, campaigns always ask permission.

One of two post drivers the crew brought with them – along with a bag of eleven inch cable ties, available from your local national chain home improvement center.

You let the considerable weight of the post driver and gravity do the work.

Screw drivers are used to punch the holes and cable ties secure the sign to the posts.

Cable ties and corrugated plastic signs are a vast improvement over paper pasted to plywood tied to posts with wire. The work is quicker and the signs are more durable now.

As campaign sign “technology” has evolved, so have the sign vandal’s tools. That’ll be another story.

One of the disadvantages of working at night is that it’s a little more difficult to see what you’re doing. An experienced and disciplined crew can easily work around that. The advantage is that the work is a lot cooler.

And campaign supporters will wake up this morning to a forest of signs that appear to have sprung up like mushrooms.