Commercial Interruption
We take a break from our regularly scheduled programming to take a look at a couple of commercials from the Texas governor’s race between Greg Abbott and Beto O’Rourke. As it stands, I only hear pro-Abbott commercials. Three things have struck me from these ads.
Beto O’Rourke is for defunding the police
All Democrats and progressives please read the following sentence carefully. For the love of everything good and holy, please stop doing this. You come up with these slogans you think are winning slogans, but the other side just uses them against you.
Most people don’t understand nuance. I know you don’t literally want to eliminate police departments. I know you are not literally for anarchy. The average voter doesn’t understand the idea of spreading resources around to other agencies that would be in a better position to handle certain issues. They just see a hoard of criminals coming to your door.
Of course, Abbott has to throw in a reference to Black Lives Matter. Again, they have successfully linked BLM with crime and anarchy. Is it fair? Of course it isn’t. Are most of them lawless thugs? Of course they aren’t. People don’t stick around long enough for a lengthy explanation. So, being for BLM and being for police reform means you are pro-crime and for the forces that are bringing crime to our neighborhoods.
Beto is for Open Borders
Clearly he isn’t. He has said this multiple times. What he is for is streamlining our immigration policy and process so that people can enter the country safely and we can identify the bad guys quicker. He has talked about tearing down the wall because most experts agree the wall is virtually useless. Of course, most people only hear the first half of that particular statement.
So, this argument came down to two statements. First, hoards of drug dealers and mules are bringing over fentanyl. That’s oddly specific. That statement is both true and misleading. China actually produces the most fentanyl, but Mexico is seeing an increase. The one that got me was that the border between Mexico and the United States is the most dangerous border in the world. I almost pulled off the road into a ditch laughing. It is the most dangerous border in North America.
Beto is too dangerous for Texas
As we teach our students, pathos (emotion) is the most effectively logical appeal there is. To hell with facts or credibility. We just want you to believe that Beto O’Rourke would somehow kill thousands because he’s inherently dangerous. What happens if you are dangerously incompetent or reckless? A simple Google search on COVID showed that over 90,000 Texans have died from COVID since March of 2020. Most of those came in the first year when our beloved governor decided to lift protocols and keep local governments from imposing their own.
Remember the great freeze? You know the one where our grid virtually shut down statewide because we were in a hurry to deregulate everything that moves. Yeah, this is the one they still haven’t fixed and came close to having more blackouts this past summer. Yeah, THAT freeze cost 246 Texans their lives.
If you count the period when Greg Abbott was attorney general in Texas, we have had a rash of mass shootings in Texas. Take a look at the timeline. Most happened under his watch as governor. Yet, he and the legislature have hurdled head first into policies that would virtually give anyone unfettered access to any weapon they might want. Yet, we cannot predict or control what might happen at our schools and are just dumbfounded when these shootings happen. So tell me, isn’t Greg Abbott too dangerous for Texas?
Yes, thank you Nick!
Two main issues people and Liberals stand for that should be emphasized is ‘safety and giving/feeling loved’ (being cared for). Defund the Police is wrong for so many reasons. Refund the Police to root out the bad apples might work better. We rely on our incredible Police for safety (so we DON’T have to carry a gun) and civil obedience and so many other beneficial things.
So Beto should say loud and clear (and over and over) something like this, “I love ALL Texans and will do everything to guarantee all Texans are safe. This is why I’m for ……….!
1I’m in Houston so I also hear ads for local GOP pols – the lady that’s running against Hidalgo says she will slash taxes and add 1,000 police. First, police are some of the most expensive personnel we have; how will she slash the budget and then add more of them? Second, who will suffer from the budget cuts? As usual, the poor. It’s really disgraceful.
2I’ve been seeing Beto commercials on MeTV (don’t know how I got addicted to Perry Mason!). They’re very effective – one is a mixed political couple voting for Beto on the abortion ban (effective point: only 18% of Texas agree with Abbott’s abortion policies). Another one is hitting Abbott hard about the electrical grid infrastructure.
3Unfortunately Beto has machine-gunned himself in the feet more than once, those gaffes will probably cost him another election.
Don’t think that I’ve seen any actual ads by Beto’s campaign yet, but the ‘Coulda Been Worse LLC’ PAC has had at least two hard-hitting anti-Abbott/Rethug ads out starting about two weeks ago.
Don’t know what Beto and the Dems are waiting for, the election is only around six weeks away. Somebody tell them not to ‘bring a bunny to a gunfight’, as P.P. pointed out previously.
All the Rethuglikan candidates have been hammering the airwaves with very negative, misleading, lie-filled crap, like you’ve outlined and implied. Once one side gains momentum it’s that much harder to overcome it…
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4Florida peeps had better be fully prepared fur Hurricane Ian in the next eight hours.
Ian is shaping up to be an absolute monster. It went across Cuba and barely blinked. Ian had developed a rapidly strengthening and nearly perfect circulation just before Cuban landfall [perfect circular donut and eyewall, frightening massive outflow channels], and retained it while crossing. Emerging into the very warm SE Gulf barely two hours ago, and beginning a large RI [rapid intensification]. Destined to be a record buster, imo.
IMO, Ian is going to make Hurricane Katrina look like a pussycat…
Beto’s campaign writers need to take a clue from the Lincoln Project.
I don’t know writes ads for Mark Kelly in AZ, but their really good and to the point.
Sandridge @3,
5We can be sure that DeSatan in FL won’t stay around for Ian’s hell. He’ll escape to Martha’s Vineyard or ask Cruz if he borrow the condo in Cancun.
The messages you’re hearing in Texas are exactly the same here in OR/WA plus Dems are responsible for all homelessness. IMO, defund the police was one of the all time worst messages from Democrats and continues to elect repugnanticans. Like Texas, I don’t see much in the way of campaign messaging here to counter the repugnantican rhetoric which is frankly maddening.
6I’m sure Abbutt is making sure the subject of women’s reproductive rights is not made in any campaign ads.
California Governor Newsom nailed it!!!
Call out the lies, and simply explain what, how and WHY your policies are beneficial for everyone’s health and safety. It’s all so freakin easy.
“California Governor Gavin Newsom spoke on Saturday at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, and explained the Democratic Party needs a more aggressive strategy to offset the corrosive nature of Fox News.”
7https://crooksandliars.com/2022/09/gavin-newsom-fox-news-dominates-illusion
We are seeing these exact same messages running in the Portland OR tv market. Substitute Jamie McCLoud Skinner (running for Congress) or Tina Kotek (running for Governor) for Greg Abbott. They are disgusting ads.
8Fenway Fran, yes. I’ve worn out the mute button on my teevee remote cuz I’m just sick of the ads. I’m afraid I’m going to be even sicker on Nov 9 when Drazen is the new repugnantican Governor for OR.
9Nick, you need a smaller brush. “Defund the police” came from the BLM protests and very few Dems have ever used it. How about focusing on R’s lying about what Ds and progressives say and mean? How about pointing out that R’s are currently yelping, Defund the FBI?
10D verbal errors are a speck in their eye; the R’s’ lies are the plank. Point at that, not your own allies.
That’s fair. The commercials did do some abrupt cuts that came directly from Beto though. Here’s the thing. I’m assuming very few conservatives come into the salon. So, for me to say that the right lies and distorts facts is a bit repetitive and self-serving. We cannot control everything they will lie about, but we can control our own messaging. It isn’t even about whether anyone is right or wrong. If you are explaining you’re losing. That’s just the way these things go. We absolutely should attack on reproductive rights, the energy grid, COVID, and school shootings. That causes them to have to explain. However, I see “defund the police” as an unforced error.
11In the last 45 years or so that I’ve watched politics, campaigns in particular, ALL, without exception, of the biggest political lies I’ve seen have come from Republicans. Lying their butts off about their intentions, their opponents, any Democrat, and particularly a Democratic administration is their first action, middle action, and closing action. To hell with the rotten SOBs.
12Those are the same things I’m hearing in New England about (name any Democrat running for office). Plus the governor of this tiny state is responsible for inflation (worldwide), with his accomplice, a member of Congress.
13A-butt’s ads use “sneaky editing” (i.e., creating lies) to string together phrases Beto never uttered in a complete sentence to, in effect, put maga-bait words in Beto’s mouth.
The BS machine is indeed a national GQP strategy:
“Fact check: How three new Republican attack ads deceive on policing and crime”
https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/16/politics/fact-check-defund-police-ads-midterms-2022/index.html
14As I’ve said, the repugnantican message against every Democrat candidate at any level is defund the police (at least in my area). The CNN article above is repeated in written headlines in TV ads taken out of context in almost every repugnantican candidate’s ads here (Portland, OR). It’s not accurate but it’s what people see and hear. Then this evening, I watched an NBC affiliate news piece that talked about police budget cuts in the Portland area in 2020 (they came right out to say it was because of pressure to defund the police) that are still affecting law enforcement officer shortages. This just reinforces the repugnantican message. What I’m not seeing are democratic ads refuting that. That’s what I need to see even though they didn’t support the defund the police message. I can’t speak for other areas but it’s effective here.
15Thanks for replying, Nick. I appreciate it.
16If you’re waiting for a perfect candidate for anything, don’t hold your breath.
So tell me, isn’t Greg Abbott too dangerous for Texas?
ALL the GOPerverts are dangerous .
17There are four NOAA/AF Hurricane Hunter aircraft in Hurricane Ian right now! Their instrument and dropsonde-measured data is awesome [yes, I monitor some of it in near-realtime as a WXnut].
Ian is a Cat 4 monster, it could be a Cat 5 at landfall this afternoon or evening, which is looking to be between Tampa and Ft Myers. Venice, FL has the highest chance, 82%, of being closest to landfall.
However Ian is going to traverse the entire Florida peninsula as a massive storm, then re-emerge into the Atlantic, re-strengthen somewhat, and have a go at Georgia, South Carolina, and further inland, dumping massive amounts of rain along it’s entire path.
All of the dangers of a very major cyclone are inexorably at Florida’s door within the next eight to thirty hours.
Step aside Katrina, Ian is going to be worse, and far more expensive.
Dr. Levi Cowan’s place:
18https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/recon/
Hurricane Ian is already just 2mph of sustained wind shy of being a Cat 5 [5=over 157mph]!
And has about 8-9 more hours to intensify before landfall.
7:00 AM EDT Wed Sep 28
Location: 25.9°N 82.8°W
Moving: NNE at 9 mph
Min pressure: 937 mb
—Max sustained: 155 mph
BULLETIN
Hurricane Ian Special Advisory Number 23
NWS National Hurricane Center Miami FL AL092022
700 AM EDT Wed Sep 28 2022
…RAPIDLY INTENSIFYING IAN FORECAST TO CAUSE CATASTROPHIC
19STORM SURGE, WINDS, AND FLOODING IN THE FLORIDA PENINSULA.
GOES Satellite Image Viewer webpage, Hurricane Ian. Storm images and information.
Pictures worth it million words:
https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/floater.php?stormid=AL092022
20