This video from WA-2 Democratic incumbent Rick Larsen is hilariously sad in its level of desperation and deception.
Larsen first implies, incredibly, that just because -- like hundreds of millions of Americans -- Republican challenger John Koster thinks favorably of the Tea Party movement, that therefore he is a racist whackjob.
I wonder if Rick Larsen told the people of the Tea Party events he attended that he thought they were all racist whackjobs. (Larsen right now has a link on his own web page to an article about the event he attended, where, apparently, Larsen didn't have the cajones to tell the attendees how he really felt about them. This reminds me of the time Larsen attacked Sarah Palin for using the word "target" in a political context, while linking to a Seattle Times article on his web site using the same language. You'd think he would be more careful about that sort of rookie mistake.)
Then Larsen -- who is the only candidate in the race who has received a campaign contribution from BP -- actually attacks Koster for doing what Obama did: saying we need more domestic oil drilling, shortly before the BP accident happened. It's a fair comment on Koster's views, but it's also something the head of his own party agreed with at the time, just a few months ago.
And then Larsen turns back to attacking the Tea Party as racist as a means to attack Koster, even going so far as to show a Confederate flag juxtaposed against "Koster's" parade entries: but that flag was one of many different flags that was part of a larger historical flags presentation, and in no way advocates that flag in particular. And despite what the video claimed, it wasn't even Koster's parade entry, it was the county GOP's.
The sad thing is that Larsen is ruining his own good name with his blatantly dishonest attacks. So many people have told me, "Rick Larsen's a good guy, I just disagree with his politics." Implying that Koster is racist just because a tiny minority of people in a nationwide movement are racist is the exact opposite of being a "good guy." It's being a damned liar.
But I guess Larsen has nothing else to say. He can't run on his own record of record debt and deficit; he can't attack Koster for things he has actually done or said in his long career; he can only attack Koster by dishonestly taking pictures out of context and implying he is guilty of crimes committed by people he's never met and has nothing to do with.
Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.
Posted by pudge at August 03, 2010 11:25 AM | Email This"I asked Rogers what he did with the slavery passages of the New Testament. Did he take them literally? He paused, then said, 'Well, I believe slavery is a much maligned institution. If we had slavery today, we would not have this welfare mess.'"
-- The Struggle for the Soul of the SBC, by Walter Shurden, p. 36
Rogers wasn't even talking about American slavery, but about the servitude in the Bible, implying (as I read it) that instead of people going on welfare, they could voluntarily enter into servitude.
Not a great quote, arguably, but Larsen clearly totally misrepresents it, in his dishonest quest to paint Rogers, and therefore Koster, as a racist.
LOL!!! That's supposed to pass for serious argument? Rick, if that's true then most of America must be racist (in your world, at least), because they are more in agreement with the sentiments of the Tea Party (Taxed Enough Already, Obamacare stinks, etc) then they are with Obama!
Posted by: Michele on August 3, 2010 11:43 AMIf the Tea Party Movement was paying attention, they would denounce the Republican Party and all its forms as a pox upon our nation, just as the leftists out there are a pestilence.
Posted by: Politically Incorrect on August 3, 2010 12:01 PMThe Tea party people have proven themselves to be a group that fights back hard and wins, and polls show that generally the American public understands what the tea party is about and backs the central ideas of less government and less taxes.
The dems are playing with a snake here.
Posted by: johnny on August 3, 2010 12:16 PMSpeaking of which, Mike BoyScout, demokid, where are you guys at? Surely you must have someway to frame this video in a good light.
Posted by: Mark Griswold on August 3, 2010 12:57 PM...how about the TV ad Adam Smith (WA-09) is running, where he identifies himself as "Independent"?
This appears (in text) in the lower right corner, towards the end of the ad.
In the Voters' Guide, his entry says "Prefers Democratic Party".
Posted by: ewaggin on August 3, 2010 01:37 PMI think this tactic will backfire on them. Americans are sick of being called racists. The more liberals demonstrate who they actually are the better for conservatives.
You're posting is off-topic. We are talking about Republican John Koster, who has an undeniable and consistent record for promoting small government, so obviously you are talking about some other Republicans.
Hope that helps! Have a nice day!
Linking Koster to the Tea Party is smart politics for Larsen. He'll lose few if any votes doing so, but he might wake up a few wavering in the middle.
Posted by: scottd on August 3, 2010 02:55 PMThere's over 300 million people in the country, and the Tea Party favorabilty ratings are consistently around a third of the population, usually more than that. That makes hundreds of millions.
Math is fun!
Linking Koster to the Tea Party is smart politics for Larsen. He'll lose few if any votes doing so, but he might wake up a few wavering in the middle.
That would be a reasonable analysis if the linking weren't so full of lies and deceit. That sort of thing tends to backfire, especially since voters, this year more than most, want Larsen to talk about why they should reelect HIM, the incumbent.
If Larsen had said, "John Koster, like the Tea Party, thinks the Democrats are socialists, that we should shrink the government, that we should have less regulation, that we should move backward instead of forward" then your analysis would be mostly accurate, because he wouldn't be offending anyone except the people he was describing, mostly accurately (within reason, fair comment, etc.).
And that works well because it makes people attribute their OWN negative feelings of the Tea Party to Koster.
But when he just flat-out lies and uses obviously dishonest implications, it turns off a lot of the people he is trying to sway to his side. It makes them think he doesn't give a damn about fixing our problems, and that he is only out to lie and do whatever it takes to hold onto his office.
And that may not be far off from the truth.
Koster needs the money to counter these attacks with ads that are focused on the major issues of the day, such as a 13 trillion dollar debt, sky high unemployment and out of control government spending which is making the first problem worse and not improving the second. Send John some money today, because these ads will continue like clockwork for the next 91 days and if John doesn't get his message out (which takes money) people will believe these outragous attacks.
Posted by: etowncoug on August 3, 2010 03:51 PMMath is fun!
But not for you. "hundreds of millions" would mean at least two hundred million, including infants and children. (How many infants and toddlers are included in those favorability polls?)
Double fail for you, pudge.
Incorrect. Correction Fail. It only means more than 1 million, which would include 1.00000001 million.
Nice try at nitpicking, but next time be actually correct.
Doug Smith: Too many people are in la-la land and are easily manipulated by the local media and Democrats.
Not this year. People are actually demanding answers from the Democrats, and instead are getting lies. They are fed up and Larsen knows it, which is why he is on the attack so early.
Posted by: pudge on August 3, 2010 07:40 PMClaiming that the phrase "hundreds of millions" means any quantity greater than a million, including 1.00000001 million ( 1,000,000.01 ) is priceless.
So I suppose "tens of thousands" means any quantity over 1000?
Triple fail!
Posted by: scottd on August 3, 2010 08:13 PM
Um. No, in fact, I am correct.
the phrase "hundreds of millions" means any quantity greater than a million
In my haste to dispense with your idiotic and incorrect complaints, I can see how you woulud make such an your error in interpretation. I was saying (poorly) that just as "millions" is "more than one million," "hundreds of millions" is "more than a hundred million."
That is how English works.
Seriously, do you work for Rick Larsen? You follow his pattern: say incorrect things, ignore context, hyperfocus on small things as though they matter, and then act like you've actually done something clever.
How 'bout that, Rick?
Posted by: Michele on August 3, 2010 09:42 PMIn my haste to dispense with your idiotic and incorrect complaints...
... you made yourself look more like an idiot by saying (incorrectly) that "hundreds of millions" means anything more than a million.
Seriously, I was prepared to explain to you how plural vs. singular works, but what's the point? Your childish obstinance is clear to anyone who reads this.
And you still haven't explained how you claim to know the political preferences of children or whether they even have any.
hyperfocus on small things as though they matter
Ah...the irony of that! A conversation with you is almost the definition of battling over triviality -- in this case, the plain meaning of common phrases.
Posted by: scottd on August 3, 2010 10:42 PMBut watch out for laurie and Bill -- they probably think you're a "plant".
Posted by: scottd on August 3, 2010 10:49 PMOh---here's another one for Koster: Obama nominates a virulent military-hater for, of all things, Supreme Court. Larsen supports Obama. Therefore, Rick Larsen hates the military! Think of the possibilities with communist Van Jones and all the other radical leftwing revolutionaries Obama surrounds himself with....
Posted by: Michele on August 3, 2010 11:55 PMPublicity related to this cheap video is just what the Larsen camp wants - they want voters to know that Koster is the Tea Party candidate. That ought to be enough to make this a safe seat for the Democrats.
Posted by: Redflag on August 4, 2010 05:50 AMNo, too much. Koster can just say "Rick Larsen is a Democrat says he likes Democrats ... like THESE Democrats?" and then show the New Black Panthers, who are Democrats.
Done. That is exactly what Larsen did here.
You don't know, because I was correct, and you still seem to have a problem with it.
Your childish obstinance is clear to anyone who reads this.
Says the guy who is trying to change the topic away from Rick Larsen desperately lying about John Koster.
Redflag: You've got to admit that there are plenty of Tea Party people who have walked way over the nutty line.
A small few who attract all the cameras, yes. Just like there are "plenty" of Democrats who have done so.
It is pretty amazing for Koster to align so stridently with the Tea Party and expect to carry the banner of the GOP.
Why? Koster has been an amazingly well-loved Republican legislator around here for 16 years. He was recruited by Republicans from all over the spectrum, from Mainstreamers to Ron Paul's national campaign manager. Koster is a Republican as much as anyone around here is a Republican. Why would saying good things about a group that is devoted to the same principles as Republicans be a problem for him?
Publicity related to this cheap video is just what the Larsen camp wants
No, they really don't, because they are being exposed as liars, which is far worse than being affiliated with the Tea Party.
they want voters to know that Koster is the Tea Party candidate. That ought to be enough to make this a safe seat for the Democrats.
Heh. You obviously know nothing about the Second District.
Such as?
supporting radical right unfunded mandates
Such as?
and lying through his teeth to trying to blame our current economics state on rick larsen
Oh please. Facts clearly do NOT have a liberal bias: Rick Larsen has voted for TRILLIONS in new spending that have been added to the debt. It's utterly ludicrous to say he is NOT responsible.
his is a real slick, not smart repuke
He's a lot smarter than you. Shrug.
i can remember him leasing put the family farm for years and not even living on the property!
Even if true, so ... ? Is leasing your property to someone else a crime? Next you'll tell me that he bought a bottle milk after filling up his truck's tank with unleaded gas! And then he kissed his wife and read a newspaper!
now he is trying to say he has all the answers!
Nope, he never said that.
he's a human folly!
You've only made yourself look foolish.