Tag: Campaign Ads

Are The Votes Being Bought?

There has been a record amount of people going to vote and likewise a record amount of billionaires buying votes wherever they can…..

Some of the richest people in the US have spent unprecedented sums of money to influence the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections, and a Sunday report in The New York Times estimated that the top 20 biggest donors alone have spent a combined $2 billion in federal races this cycle.

The single largest funder of the 2026 midterms, by a wide margin, is far-right billionaire Elon Musk, who has shoveled nearly $450 million to help GOP candidates.

In fact, pro-Republican donors account for the five largest individual contributors to midterm races.

In addition to Musk, the other largest donors this cycle are industrialists Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, who have given $150 million to help elect Republicans; flagship GOP Senate super PAC One Nation, which has spent $138 million; venture capitalists Marc Andreesen and Ben Horowitz, who have given $116 million; and hedge fund investor Jeff Yass, who has given $110 million.

On the Democratic side, the top spenders have been flagship Democratic Senate super PAC Majority Forward, which has spent $104 million, and George and Alexander Soros, who have given $103 million.

The Times’ report echoes an analysis published last week by the Brennan Center for Justice showing that the 40 largest individual donors to the 2026 elections had spent a combined $2.4 billion as of mid-October.

According to Brennan, this represents the single largest amount of money spent on a midterm election ever since the US Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. FEC unleashed limitless political campaign spending.

The Brennan analysis reveals that the spending of the very largest donors has grown dramatically over the last decade.

“The donations coming from the top 40 donors for the midterms total eight times the amount from the top 40 donors by mid-October in the 2014 midterms (the first full midterm cycle after Citizens United), adjusted for inflation,” the analysis explains. “The cutoff to be in the top 40 has also increased to 10 times what it was four cycles ago, to $25 million.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2026-midterms-top-donors

None of this should be a surprise to anyone capable of following the money….but no matter the winners we will get the best government money can buy.

The only winners in this election will most likely be the oligarchs…..not us peasants.

Can you see it?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–28Sep18

Obama’s Fault!

These days the comedians in the Trump GOP are still blaming everything that goes wrong on Obama.

There is an Arizona GOP candidate that is such a dick that even his family will not vote for him and even went so far as to make an ad against his candidacy….

Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar admitted to being hurt by the political attack ad that featured six of his siblings saying they were voting for his opponent and blamed the tactic on former President Barack Obama.

During a radio interview on The Mike Broomhead Show Monday, Gosar explained to host Mike Broomhead that on a personal level it did “sting” to see his siblings in the advertisement. “Blood is supposed to be thicker than water,” he explained.

Gosar shared that his son is named after his brother, Gaston, who appeared in the ad, and that it’s taken a toll on him. However, the congressman chalked it up to the old saying, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

https://www.newsweek.com/arizona-congressman-paul-gosar-says-ads-featuring-siblings-stings-claims-its-1138279

You gotta love it when the brothers and sisters of a candidate think he is such a bad choice that they make campaign ads against his/her candidacy…..

It is a Friday and the beginning of a weekend….enjoy your time….chuq

Trump’s Trade Reforms

The election of 2016 trade and jobs were a focal point of many voters….and the rhetoric was aimed at those concerns so much so that a win was registered in trump’s column.

He promised to re-negotiate some trade agreements and eliminate others and this would help create jobs that most Americans desperately need and want….

All great campaign words but how will they play out in reality?

Trump’s proposals for high tariffs might sound good. But combined with policies that weaken unions, they’re not good for wages.

President Donald Trump claims he will use international trade policy to bolster the middle class and reduce income inequality.

“The great American middle class is disappearing,” he wrote for USA Today during his campaign. “One of the factors driving this economic devastation is America’s disastrous trade policies.”

That rhetoric resonated with many of the disaffected and downwardly mobile workers who had voted for Democrats in past elections. It seemed to echo labor’s longstanding criticisms of so-called free-trade deals.

Source: Trump’s Trade Reforms Will Not Increase US Wages

Yes, it is early in his reign and there is still time of sanity….the biggest question is…..will the middle class survive?  Or will those jobs actually materialize?

Why Recycle Campaign Ads?

Let the election countdown begin…….7 and counting.

I was a young non-voting participant in the 1964 election and during that election I remember one special political ad……the Daisy Girl ad…

In case you were too young to remember …..

Yes it is an old ad and why do I bring it up now?

It appears that Clinton has decided to resurrect this ad for her own purposes……

Personally I think it is a cheap shot….but in an election year that is full of cheap shots I guess they cannot do any better……

Back in 1964 it was a timely ad…..today it is just a lame attempt by a struggling candidate……

 

American crossroads: Reagan, Trump and the devil down south

Last night was the big Dem debate…..and it was what I expected….total crap!  If you are looking for more than that….buy a newspaper!

After the Civil Rights thing the Dems lost the South to the Repubs……ever since those days the GOP has used a wide variety of dog whistle slogans and campaigns to be sure that the South stays in their column……with each election the covert bigotry gets worse and worse…..the people change but the song remains the same.

How the Republican party’s dog-whistle appeal to racism, refined by Richard Nixon and perfected by Ronald Reagan, led inexorably to Donald Trump

Source: American crossroads: Reagan, Trump and the devil down south | US news | The Guardian

All this rhetoric smacks of racist overtones…..whether intentional or not……and this type of thinking plays well….especially in the South….please NO one tell me I am wrong….all you have to do is take a trip South and see for yourself……regardless of what you think….reality will surprise you.

How To Beat A Trump

The media has all but crowned the next Dem and GOP nominees…..their speculation has turned this election cycle into more of a circus than in the past…….

There are few situations in these primaries that are a bit disturbing, at least to Dems…..these are the low turnout by Dem voters and the rise in voter turnout for the Repubs……

If this trend continues will it extend into the general election in November?  If it does and the Dem nominee is Clinton how can she set about trying to counter anything that Trump (if he is the GOP nominee) has in his bag of tricks……well there is an answer to that question…..

She, Clinton, will have to focus on what is perceived as Trump’s weaknesses…………

The line used to be that Donald Trump can’t possibly win the GOP nomination. And now it’s, OK, he can win the GOP nomination, but he can’t possibly win the general election. But as the New York Times reports, two people not buying into that thinking are Bill and Hillary Clinton. Both think that a Clinton-Trump race would be close and that “only a concerted campaign portraying him as dangerous and bigoted” would allow Clinton to win, write Amy Chozick and Patrick Healy. The story takes a look at how the strategy already is taking shape—pro-Clinton groups have begun testing ads and scripts—even as Clinton continues to fend off Bernie Sanders in the primaries.

One key part involves aggressively employing Bill Clinton and President Obama on the campaign trail, with Obama making clear that he’d be happy to portray Trump as unfit for the office. Other facets include showing Trump to be a “heartless businessman,” highlighting his “derogatory” comments about women, and showcasing his “explosive temper.” One thing that’s clear: The race would be ugly. “Hillary has built a large tanker ship, and she’s about to confront Somali pirates,” says former Bush strategist Matthew Dowd, now an independent. CNN, meanwhile, has news that might cheer the Clinton camp: Its new poll finds that Clinton would beat Trump 52% 44% in a head-to-head match-up. For that matter, Sanders would beat him 55% to 43%, according to the poll.

She will have to do what the Clintons do best….go negative and nasty…..and maybe a dirty trick or two……what kind of dirty trick?

Hours before his wife was named the Massachusetts primary winner on Super Tuesday, apparent political novice Bill Clinton strolled into a polling station in Boston. Standing with Mayor Marty Walsh at the Holy Name Parish School, Clinton greeted poll staff and voters and even kissed an elderly woman on the head, reports Boston.com. When one woman asked to take a photo with him, he responded, “as long as we’re not violating any election laws,” reports MassLive.com. He might have done just that. The office of Massachusetts’ Secretary of State William Galvin notes Hillary Clinton’s campaign had to be “reminded” that state election rules bar the solicitation of a vote within 150 feet of a polling location.

The former president had also entered a polling station in Newton, reports the Boston Globe. When asked if his presence alone was a violation, a rep said, “He’s a well-known person and he’s a spouse of a candidate. That should answer the question.” Galvin, however, says Clinton was permitted in polling stations as long as he didn’t solicit votes. “We just took the extra precaution of telling them because this is not a usual occurrence,” he tells the New York Times. Galvin adds Clinton is “not from here so he may not know” the rules, noting penalties are only dished out in cases of “absolute disobedience,” per CBS Boston. A rep for Walsh says he and Clinton “were not campaigning inside the polling location.”

That is a lame excuse……his notoriety alone could sway voters……

Win at any cost….a Clinton mantra!

Even parts of Trump’s party, the GOP is gunning for him……….

Former Jeb Bush aide Tim Miller went on MSNBC Wednesday morning to outline the strategy for the anti-Donald Trump PAC Our Principles, for which he had recently been hired as spokesperson.

“Number one,” Miller said, “we’re gonna talk about how he’s completely unelectable in a general election against Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton could get indicted by the FBI, go to jail, she would still win 48 out of 50 states against Donald Trump. He’s getting crushed by her in all the polls.”

Source: Spox for Anti-Trump PAC Outlines Strategy to Defeat Frontrunner by ‘Educating Voters’ | Mediaite

Just amazing the lengths candidates will go to to solidify there holds and to defeat their opponents……nothing is off limits.

This is sounding a lot like the 1968 Democratic convention……(and there is your historical perspective)……

Truth In Advertising—Redux

In the past I have written many times about the campaigns and the lies they all spread…….UK has a law that only truth (simplistically put) can be in campaign ads…..and I think it is a great law……..the Us is swayed by lies and then they cannot figure out what happened….they want to believe that all is on the up and up…….

SCOTUS will be hearing a law from within the borders of this country, did not know about it, and their ruling could be something good but unfortunately with their abysmal record I am not very optimistic……from a report filed by Traci G. Lee…….

Are false statements about political candidates a criminal offense? According to an Ohio law which is the subject of an upcoming Supreme Court case, the answer is “yes.”

The Supreme Court will consider a challenge next week to an Ohio law that prohibits an individual or group from knowingly or recklessly making false statements in political campaigns. The case, Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus, was filed last August after conservative anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List attempted to launch a billboard campaign in 2010 against former Rep. Steve Driehaus, a Democrat, who ended up losing his re-election bid.

The billboard would have claimed that Driehaus supported taxpayer-funded abortions because of his support for the Affordable Care Act. Driehaus appealed to the Ohio Elections Commission, invoking the Ohio law that barred false campaign statements, and the advertising company that owned the billboard space refused to rent it to the Susan B. Anthony List.

The question the Supreme Court justices will consider is whether the Ohio law violates the First Amendment, which the Susan B. Anthony List argues it does. “The Ohio Election Commission statute demonstrates complete disregard for the Constitutional right of people to criticize their elected officials,” SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a press release last year, adding, “Driehaus’ original complaint should have never been enabled in the first place. The law must go.”

What a precedent that would set if SCOTUS would do the right thing……..about here I should be laughing at the thought of SCOTUS doing anything constructive……..as my friend Larry from Woodgate’s View said……..”I must have had pessimistic pudding for breakfast”  (thanx Larry I needed that this morning)……..

Any thoughts?

http://lobotero.com/2010/11/05/where-is-the-truth-in-advertising/

http://lobotero.com/2010/11/17/truth-in-advertising-part-2/