Oct
10
Smear campaigns in Massachusetts
ByQ: How do you win a political race in Massachusetts?
A: Accuse your opponent of being a Yankees fan.
No, I don’t intend this to inspire political debate at a baseball blog. I just thought it was an interesting article on a slow, slow Friday (until 4:30, that is). It appears that in the Massachusetts Senatorial race, incumbent John Kerry — remember him? — has accused his opponent, Jeff Beatty, of rooting for the Yankees. It stems from an issue in Beatty’s past, where he was photographed wearing a Yankees hat while in Grenada. He was injured while rescuing U.S. hostages, and the hat was supposedly put on his head to keep bandages in place. Whatever the story, it’s kind of funny/sad to see a political race in MA come down to the Yankees.
Pathetic attempt at a smear. But in politics, nothing is surprising.
as dumb as it sounds, it did pain me to vote for kerry, a red sox fan, in the 2004 election.
Kerry’s a Sox fan in the way that Hillary Clinton is a Yankees fan.
As in, not so much.
It’s too bad for Kerry that his favorite player, “Manny Ortez” has half left the Red Sox.
DAMN! You beat me to it.
Hat tip.
John Kerry’s knowledge of sporting figures = Sarah Palin’s knowledge of magazines and newspapers
So he’s knowledgable about any and all of them?
That’s mean and ridiculous. She knows a ton of shit, like seeing russia from Alaska.
This made me laugh out loud on the bus I’m on. Well done.
Was that an actual quote from him? Anyone have a link if this is the case?
http://www.slate.com/id/2107251/
“Kerry, it turned out, once named Eddie Yost as his favorite Red Sox player. Yost never played for the Red Sox. Kerry thought there was a current member of the Red Sox named Manny Ortez…”
“The Eddie Yost story checked out with the man who conducted the interview, Boston sports radio host Eddie Andleman. But Andleman says the conversation took place “about 10 years ago,” not in the recent past as Gammons implies. As far as the second flub, Kerry did invert and somewhat mangle the names of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz in a speech delivered in Boston on July 12. But he did quickly catch the error, even repeating “Manny Ortez” in an incredulous tone as if to scold himself for making such a bonehead mistake.
Still, when Kerry corrected himself he did mispronounce David Or-TEEZ as David Or-TEZZ. Panagopoulos hadn’t heard Kerry make the gaffe—he had only read about it in Gammons’ column. When I played the clip for him, he said he still wasn’t sure if Kerry was a true fan—after all, the guy’s name is David Or-TEEZ.”
As much as an idiot as I am, I would never let sports dictate who I would vote for.
Incumbent John Kerry — remember him? — has accused his opponent, Jeff Beatty, of rooting for the Yankees. It stems from an issue in Beatty’s past, where he was photographed wearing a Yankees hat while in Grenada.
In a related story, Barack Obama is a dirty Muslim terrorist.
John Kerry just can’t help but make it exceedingly difficult to like him.
One of Kerry’s 15 wives is a yankees fan and 2 are Rays fans. Stupid Mormons.
Huh? Kerry or Romney?
Whoops. Got my stupid idiotic policians confused. Its amazing how much BS could run a state. Deval Patrick hasn’t done shit here in MA.
Whatever, they’re both from Massachusetts. Stop being so liberal elite media-y, with your accuracy.
like colbert said, it’s well known that truth has a liberal bias …
It was facts, facts have a liberal bias….
What’s wrong with liberals? If you don’t like our biases go to PBS. If you don’t like that, Rush Limbaugh and FOX News say hi.
Hold, on, let me translate.
“Whatever, they’re both from Massachusetts. [sarcasm] Stop being so liberal elite media-y, with your accuracy. [/sarcasm]
Merci. (That’s right, I used a French word. Because I’m an elitist supercilious prig.)
People who use the word “supercilious” = Not Joe Sixpack
Wow, my bad, I failed to pick that up.
Don’t forget the pitbull!
Anybody else remember the SNL Weekend Update bit about negative campaign ads?
————————————————-
Norm MacDonald: Well, now that Election Day is just two weeks away, here, with his report on Campaign ‘94, Weekend Update political correspondent Al Franken. Al?
Al Franken: Hello, Norm. Thank you.
Norm: Now, Al, uh, you’ve been covering these midterm races?
Al: Uh, yes.
Norm: Any general trends seem to be emerging?
Al: Uh, yes, Norm. This appears to be the roughest campaign year ever.
Norm: Negative campaigning?
Al: Oh, yeah. Yeah. I’ve been covering politics for a long time and this is, without a doubt, the most mean-spirited year I’ve ever seen. Now, take for example, Massachusetts, here Senate challenger Mitt Romney is spending millions of dollars on attack ads like this one. Watch.
[Dissolve to ad with photo of a ruddy-faced Ted Kennedy accompanied by minor key music and a deep-throated, smarmy announcer's voice over.]
V/O: On October 14th, 1978, Ted Kennedy is seen puking in the parking lot of the U.S. Capitol. … On February 8th, 1983, Kennedy relieves himself on the leg of a Georgetown waitress. … Two years later, Kennedy passes out on the floor of the Senate, soiling himself in the process. …
Kennedy — He’s a big, fat drunk.
[Cheers and applause as we dissolve back to Al and Norm at the desk.]
Norm: Yeah. Yeah, that was tough.
Al: It’s a tough year. Tough year. … And it’s really become a no-holds barred contest. Uh, watch this. This is one of Kennedy’s attack ads on Romney.
[Dissolve to another ad with minor key music and a deep-throated, smarmy announcer's voice over.]
V/O: [Image of Brigham Young] Mormon prophet Brigham Young believed that a man ought to have as many wives as he wants. Apparently, Mitt Romney agrees. [Side by side images of Young and Romney] After all, he’s a Mormon. [Upbeat trumpet fanfare as we dissolve to a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Ted Kennedy.]
Ted Kennedy — One Wife at a Time.
John Kerry, reporting for duty!
YEEEECCCCHHHH.
Yankee Universe baby !!
john kerry’s a piece of shit.
sorry, you started it.
As a resident of Massachusetts, he just gained my vote. Mostly because John Kerry sucks, but this didn’t hurt.
Did you expect anything less from John Kerry???
He’s a guy who shat on all his fellow soldiers and would say and do anything to get ahead.
Karl Rove, is that you?
Key phrase = fellow soldiers.
current president can’t use that one.
Good God, is spring training here yet?
If you read the comments to that article from random people, they’re halarious… ppl are heated
no comments for game 2 of the LA/Philly series?
Can we just use this thread for the CS?
We were having some technical problems. Sorry about that.
This is by far the funniest post I’ve seen on this website…but here’s a baseball related question:
If you sign C.C. Sabathia and have a chance to trade Hughes and Cano and (prospects) for Jake Peavey and Adrian Gonzalez do you pull that trigger?
Pro’s:
-Rotation 1) Sabathia 2) Peavey 3) Wang 4) Chamberlain 5) Pettitte/Moose/Farmhand (That’s a ridicuous rotation for the next 4 years or so)
-You fill up first base with a relatively (compared to Tex) inexpensive and ostensibly productive player
-You keep the payroll within the under 200 million marker and probably dominate for the next couple of years
Con’s
-Trading away Hughes and Cano (both of whom I think will be very, very good one of these days)
-Being unsure of how Peavey and/or Gonzalez will perform in NY/AL East
-I actually can’t find too many cons
Discuss