How dorky does this political newsletter sound?

[Radical Activist]

So I got one of those updates from my County Board member that is paid for with campaign money. It tries to be funny but comes off as sounding really dumb to me. I want to ask if other people think these quotes from it are as bad as I do. He's up for re-election next year.

From the mailing:

"Dear Neighbor,

And just when you thought spring might be coming and it was safe to go out of the house, politicians start popping up everywhere because there's another election around the corner. Well, sorry about that.

Since you said I could represent you on the ---- County Board, I've tried to keep you informed about county board issues and events. I've tried to keep it short, but the longer I serve the longer I seem to talk. Maybe this is an occupational hazard." ...

After a bunch of points about what the Republicans are trying to do this year it closes with this:

"Well, that's probably more than you wanted to hear on issues involving county government. At least I warned you at the beginning. If you'd like to hear more, (if you'd like to tell me you've heard enough!) or if I can be of any service to you, please call, write or drop an e-mail.

P.S. Yes, it is true that a warm glass of milk and any three paragraphs of this letter will help you, instantly, to sleep like a baby."


Ok, am I being too harsh or is this as bad as I think it is? Is it any worse than what one should expect from a local government official?

[Vektor]

1. I like it, actually -

I prefer politicians have a sense of humor, and this letter is pretty cute. I definitely prefer this to serious form letters.

[Runcible Spoon]

3. are you kidding me?

you would want a politician who basically admits that his office is pointless? Why the hell would anyone vote for that save a few sarcastic irony votes? I'm sorry, I'd rather have someone who stays on point and gives a shit about his job, be it president or local dogcatcher. If the office is really that worthless, then maybe the city can save some money and just get ird of it.

[Vektor]

6. Uh OK.

Not worth getting upset over.

At all.

I said I liked the letter. The OP asked. I answered.

No, I'm not kidding you. I'm as serious as a god-damned heart attack.

I liked it.

If the sky falls, and Armageddon ensues as a result of said letter, I'll reassess my stance at that time. Until then, I like it. At no point did the letter say "my office is pointless." If you read that into it because he cracked a few jokes, then WOW.

Yes, I prefer a politician who jokes around over a complete stiff.

[Runcible Spoon]

9. he IS a complete stiff.

unfunny. Typical republican. Now I'm beginning to understand why so many people voted to recall Grey Davis. All they want is some bad, cheap entertainment. By saying that his message is boring, that people don't want to hear about local politics, and that he is only popping up because elections are around the corner, he is insinuating that he is only in this to get elected, NOT because these issues are important and need to be dealt with. I'll take a serious Kerry over a joking smirking Chimp any day.

[Radical Activist]

14. The thing about it that makes it worse is that

He was appointed to office and has never had a Democratic challenger. He had a Green challenger last time who got 21% of the vote. He's never had to fight for his position, which I think makes those comments in bad taste. Does he want to be on the County Board or not?

[Runcible Spoon]

17. exactly. if these posters had any clue as to teh context of the race

tehy would realize how cavalier and tasteless this is.

[Vektor]

22. How could we be expected to know?

No I don't know the guy. All I have to go on is the few snippets the OP posted. I said they were pretty funny. That's all. I never said I am fully supportive of everything the man stands for.

This is getting way out of hand. We are discussing a goofy letter. That's it.

[Vektor]

23. You never said any of that.

We were just chuckling over the dumb jokes. Not throwing our support at him. I don't even know who the hell he is. I only said the letter was funny.

[Radical Activist]

25. Right, it would have made sense

to put it in that context originally. I was just curious what other people thought about it. The people I've talked to locally didn't like it but they're all Democrats too.

[Vektor]

39. That does make more sense.

Since many of us don't know who he is. I was only going by the few snippets you posted. If the guy is a jerk, and you don't like his correspondence, than yeah - don't give him the time of day.

[Vektor]

16. Yes, but, that's just your opinion...

to say he's a stiff. I said I though the letter was funny. It's not a big deal. So we don't agree. Who cares? I really don't feel like a board member's letter is worth getting worked up over, I guess.
:shrug:

As far as Kerry - I think he's brilliantly funny, warm, witty, and well, shit. I love him. The chimp is an idiot, and I'd not only take Kerry over him, I'd take Kerry over oxygen and chocolate. Or anything else. Any day. I never did think the Chimp was funny. I find him menacing and wacko. And NOT in a good way.

So, we agree on that.
:-)

[Swamp Rat]

36. LOL!

:D

[Vektor]

42. Hi Swamp Rat!

Another beauty! Swastika pasties. Niiiiiiccce.

Scan the thread. My impenetrable suit of mental armor is getting pelted with nasty mind bullets from reactionaries. Perhaps you can make me a cartoon to illustrate my battle of wills?

I'm just here for the good times.

:-)

Good to see you! How are you?

[Runcible Spoon]

45. snarf. now I'm a reactionary! I can be mellow too....

My uterus is angry! I better get my bon bons, Guiding Light comes on in a few hours.

[Vektor]

48. I never said you.

Why did you associate yourself with that term?

[Runcible Spoon]

52. sorry sugar plum.

snark is not your game. Best to find another angle.

[Vektor]

55. My game is intelligent discourse.

Not insults and childish personal attacks. If you cannot have a difference of opinion with someone without resorting to calling them stupid, then there's no reaching you. You are behaving no better than the Repukes you have disparaged so aggressively on this very thread.

Again, why did you assume I meant you? Do you immediately think of yourself when someone uses the term reactionary?

[Runcible Spoon]

56. teehee. where oh where oh where did I call you stupid?

linky pleeez?

[Vektor]

60. Enough with the coy nonsense...

and the liberal use of red herrings. What I said is you implied I was vapid by insinuating that I read children's books and comic strips for mental exercise. You know you said it, you know what you meant, and so do I.

It was a low blow, and probably used as a defense mechanism for having totally overreacted to this whole entire thread and being called on it.

This is getting old. I'm so over it. I'm sorry you feel you have to make rude comments to me feel good about yourself, I really do, but it's not my problem.

I'm sorry I'm smart and have differing opinions than you, and that you can't deal with that. I'm sorry I'm not so filled with rage that I cannot conduct myself in a civil manner on a message board.

Tell you what. I'm a size zero, and weigh about 96 pounds.

Wanna call me fat? Go ahead. Maybe it will make you like yourself more. I hope it does.

[Runcible Spoon]

61. OK have a nice day!

:hi:

[Vektor]

62. I will, thanks.

You too.

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

muito bem

:hug: :)

[Vektor]

50. I love it!

You always show up at the right time!

[Runcible Spoon]

2. hmm well he's shooting himself in the foot

who the fuck starts a letter by basically saying "I'm an annoying politician who's just hear to speak when it suits me...also if you reelect me I promise my future letters will be just as dumb and longwinded"

and closes it by saying "sorry I wasted your time talking about irrelevant stupid shit. If you want me to blather on incoherently let me know. I'm really boring and local politics are pointless but here I am so vote for me"

all a competitor would have to do is convince people that this office IS important and that having a strong plan is better than droning on about how irrelevant his/her office is. I mean, is this guy TRYING to talk himself out of a job?

[Radical Activist]

4. The problem is that

most people don't want to read about local politics and don't think it is important.

I think you make good points though. It might be smart for an opponent to say they think the job is important at that its worth putting some real information in newsletters. Another good point is that status quo government is boring, so maybe a new face would make future county board issues relevant and interesting to people.

[Runcible Spoon]

5. you can be cute and funny and STILL say SOMETHING

convince people there is a job worth doing. Weave in personal anecdotes. Sheeple love that shite.

[claudiajean]

7. Actually, I think it's excellent.

The vast majority of folks in any community find politics in its entirety, and local politics especially, to be completely boring. Coma inducing, in fact.

This office holder is recognizing that fact, up front.

You and I, and the other folks on DU are in a tiny minority in America. Along with our opposition across the aisle, we are members of the 5% of Americans that are robustly involved in politics and find issues interesting.

The rest of Americans find elected officials and us, the activists, to be about as interesting as Crazy Uncle Leo's dryer lint felt collection. And not nearly as personable as Leo. They see no connection between politics and their own lives, and mistakenly believe that it doesn't matter who is in charge and what issues they promote, their lives will be the same.

Humor is one of the best possible ways to break the ice with anyone from a group that does not identify with you. Self-depreciating humor is even more effective. This office holder has found a way to get the majority of his constituents to actually read his newsletter past the first paragraph. These are folks who would not be likely to find his newsletter at all readable under normal circumstances.

And it's good that constituents might read his newsletter -- I'm sure also contains some important county issues, and who knows, there might be something interesting enough to change an apathetic community member into an engaged activist.

I say Kudos for the humor, even if it isn't especially sophisticated and came from a Republican.


Edited for spelling.

[Vektor]

8. You mean you aren't going to

overreact and start raging that this guy is the anti-Christ who has made a mockery of his position, denounced his own self-worth, and possibly, by way of penning this ABOMINATION of a letter, set events in motion to begin the END OF THE WORLD?!!?!?

neither am I.

:-)

I like it too.


Must be a woman thing. And guys always wonder why we choose the guy with the sense of humor over the uptight stick in the mud who takes himself way too seriously.

[Runcible Spoon]

10. uhh excuse me, I am also a woman.

FYI I have some semi-personal reasons for giving a shit about this election. I'm getting really annoyed at infotainment and the complete mindless selling out of politics. Perhaps if I watched more Fox News I would get the joke.

[Vektor]

20. You are overreacting HORRIBLY.

And way out of line. This has nothing to do with FAUX news, or not caring about the election. This is a couple of people snickering over a goofy letter. Nothing we have said here implies we do not care about the election. To suggest that is grossly inaccurate, and ridiculously unfair. If you think I don't care about the election, you obviously did not spend the week following it with me when I was in a state of utter catatonia, fitful, sleepless, and paralyzed with fear over what had become of our nation. I still have those days. Right now, I try to have my laughs where I can find them, because that's all I have to keep me going in these troubled times. Right now, I am chuckling over a harmless letter at 2:00 AM. I have decided that the day I stop being able to laugh at myself, and at the little things, is the day I will volunteer to curl up and die.


The "infotainment and the complete mindless selling out of politics" is a far bigger issue than the silliness we are discussing here.

Here. Have a drink.

:beer:

You sound like you need one.

I'm going to go get one, too.

[Runcible Spoon]

27. awww are we getting worked up? I've got something for you, too:

Ahh Cathy, paragon of feminist values!


another comedic blessing from Ziggy

[Vektor]

37. Thanks!

And I think it's pretty obvious who's getting worked up, and who is having fun here!

:-)

I appreciate the trouble you went to to copy those cartoons for me. I'm not sure what the point was, but if it was to be insulting, the desired effect was not achieved.

I have a pretty solid self-esteem, and it takes more than comic strips to rattle me.

Do you have any Gannon porn?

[Runcible Spoon]

40. twas no trouble at all!

altho my Gannon porn collection was unfortunately impounded by the Feds. Sorry.

[Swamp Rat]

43. Heeeeere's Johnny!

:D

[Vektor]

53. Jeffy!

Oh, how I long to wring your man-sponge.

[claudiajean]

11. LOL, Vektor! No, really, my greatest concern about the letter is...

...that if this Republican is nearly as funny, smart and modest in person as he seems on paper, then the Dems in that district have their work cut out for them to find a candidate who might be able to defeat him.

In my neck of the woods, the funny pols on either side of the aisle are the ones that are absolutely beloved and sell out every fundraiser they are asked to keynote...

(You made me laugh and spit juice at my screen! HA!)

[Runcible Spoon]

15. WOW this is what passes for humour these days.

pathetic. I guess this is why Carrot Top still has a career. WOW just WOW.

[Runcible Spoon]

19. you read and enjoy "Cathy" and "Ziggy" comics don't you?

C'mon, tell me if I'm right...:evilgrin:

[Vektor]

28. Wow.

You are taking this way too seriously.
And, you are wrong. Considering that I could read by the age of two, and had read most of the classics by nine, I have little time or room for comics. Though occasionally I do squeeze in a little Doonesbury. Or Dilbert if I feel really silly.
If it gets you through your lunch break to criticize me because I have a differing opinion than you, knock yourself out.
I hope it improves your sense of self-worth.

[Runcible Spoon]

31. nahh, more fun than anything else

I'm impressed you finished the WHOLE Sweet Valley High series so young. That's very impressive.

[Vektor]

47. Now that's an outright attack.

An implication that I am stupid, because I didn't agree with your assessment of a letter? Impugning my intelligence, when clearly, there's no reason to do so?

Now why would you go there?

[Runcible Spoon]

54. outright attack?

Sweet Valley High books were literary masterpieces! How DARE you judge my aesthetic values?

[Vektor]

57. To each their own.

Not that I am terribly familiar with this series, but we were having a discussion about an entirely different topic, and you went out of your way to imply comics and childrens' books are the scope of my reading ability.

That's pretty insulting and unnecessary.

[Runcible Spoon]

59. to each HIS/HER own.

:evilgrin:

[Radical Activist]

58. Hey, what's wrong with the Sweet Valley High series?

I just finished it last week! ;) That's not an attack.

[Vektor]

24. Oh careful!

People are actually getting angry about this.

WOW.

If only I had a 120 count bottle of Xanax to throw around. I'd dump it all over this thread. I have never seen such a frenzy ensue over a goofy letter.

It must be high horse night tonight.

This is really astounding.

[Radical Activist]

12. Its almost funny that you make sarcastic comments about

a poster exaggerating how bad the letter is by exaggerating what that poster wrote. Almost. I didn't see any end of the world abomination stuff.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I appreciate your thoughts about it.

[Vektor]

30. Hmmmm.

Yeah, that was the beauty and humor of the nuance. There WAS no issue.
What I'm trying to say it there are bigger fish to fry than dumb letters from politicians. Don't let it get to you.

Expend your energy on the bigger battles, and if you don't like the guy, toss his letters. You have to expect when you post a copy of a letter and ask for opinions, you'll get them. I'm sorry if mine was not what you wanted to hear.

[Runcible Spoon]

13. jeebus if getting people to like you and vote for you in THIS EASY

maybe I'll just pen some dumb shit and get elected tomorrow. Of course, I'm not a connected good ole boy who can just take a shit on a flyer, photocopy it, and go have a whisky.

[claudiajean]

26. Local elections basically boil down to who is the more likeable candidate.

Local politics rarely involve the kind of nation-dividing wedge issues that we see in the Federal contests.

The simple fact of the matter is, local politics boil down to who is more likeable, or seems more likeable, between the candidates. The majority of voters don't CARE about local issues. They mistakenly think that boring issues don't effect them.

(I call it the wastewater commissioner effect: Nobody cares who their wastewater commissioner is until the sewer main bursts and their front yard is filled with raw human waste.)

Because most people don't care about local politics, they don't pay attention to local issues or politicians, and that leads to some very strange results come election time.

In my area, we recently saw a 22-year veteran on a town council defeated by a newcomer who had no ideas, no experience, and no significant campaign support. How did the newcomer win?

Her name was Pamela Anderson.

And thus, her name was noticable when voters saw their ballot, and she got a massive bump simply from having the same name as a major pop culture icon. Her name got lots of attention.

You can't communicate an important message if you can't get the attention of your audience. This guy with the newsletter simply used humor to get the attention of many constituents that might otherwise toss the newsletter without reading the important issues within it.

Have you ever thought about why Clinton was so effective? Even soft conservatives in the heartland liked him, because he was humorous and modest and always got people's attention with a funny story they could relate to.

[Runcible Spoon]

35. well excuse me for caring

I guess i shouldn't care about local politics since my town board has embezzled millions from a private endowment for my school that was supposed to stay untouched, so our property taxes went up 35%. Or that they squandered 2 mil on snow removal equipment while we pay the county to do teh roads. Granted, this isn't my locality but it still pisses me off. I guess I'll just go vote for the roly poly guy, since ya know, he's the guy I could really have a beer with. Who does that sounds like, hmmm?

[claudiajean]

46. Calm down, and READ the posts.

NOBODY has said it is better to be apathetic about local issues.

For my part, I have simply recognized that the vast majority of folks in any community do not care about local issues, and that this guy may have found a way to tap their interest through humor.

Rather than being pissed off at Republicans, isn't better to realistically recognize when they may have done something effective in their campaign so that a Democratic opponent can make an effective move to counter it?

That's what wins elections - clear, realistic analysis of the strengths of your opponent, not just being pissed off all out of proportion to the situation.

[Runcible Spoon]

49. I've read everything justifying the original material in question

as humorous. However, this is just too much fun! But ya know, we gals, we get hysterical and our uteruses (uterii?) just get all worked up over nuthin'. That's ok, I have a pill for that! Thanks for the sisterly advice, tho. I don't know what I'd do without my Feminine Pink Posse of Power to calm me down!

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Runcible Spoon]

41. I'm not quick to anger

I;m just vivacious ;)

[Vektor]

44. Well that's ok, then.

I thought you were going BAT-SHIT crazy on me.

Glad to know it's just "feist."

:-)

[Radical Activist]

21. People do find county politics boring.

Especially since the county board has so little authority inside the city where this district is located.

Thanks for posting your thoughts. I would like to see the guy get defeated next year so I hope most people don't agree with you. :)

[claudiajean]

29. I'm not saying that I want to see a republican stay in office...

...I'm simply saying, find another personable, funny guy or gal to take him on.

(but they have to be smart, too. I kinda think that's this guy's secret -- he strikes me as funny and smart. Regrettable attributes in an "R".)

[Radical Activist]

34. I didn't mean to imply

that you wanted him to stay in office. I just hope there are more people who didn't like it than those who did, within his district.

[Radical Activist]

18. I should have pointed out that this person was appointed to office

and has never had a Democratic challenger. He had a Green opponent once who got 21% of the vote, so he's never had to really work to get in this position. That's partly why I think the humor is in poor taste.

[NJCher]

33. dorky is the word

It is not funny; it's not cute, either. What it is: dorky. Even the word "cavalier" is way too sophisticated for this guy.

Something we writing teachers tell our classes is to never impugn oneself or do anything to undermine or shake the reader's credibility. This guy lost me immediately when he showed disrespect for his office and its role.

"Unprofessional" is another term that comes to mind. This man does not take his responsibilities seriously.

Is the original poster over the top by bringing this to our attention? No. It is symptomatic of ways republicans characterize participation in local government. They do this so we won't participate and it will be easier for them to steal our money.


Cher

[Runcible Spoon]

38. thanks for weighing in Cher

and not getting petty and ridiculous like the rest of us :evilgrin:

[Radical Activist]

51. hmm...

you're last point is a good one I hadn't thought about.

And I think you're right about how it impugns his credibility. It makes me wonder if this guy is anything but a Republican rubber stamp.

[NoPasaran]

63. SNL Human Resources Dept. to your County Board guy:

Don't call us, we'll call you.

[Radical Activist]

65. hehehe

:)

[ClassWarrior]

64. Republicons once again trying to numb the voters to politics.

Fucking whores.

NGU.