A real campaign ad

May 19, 2010 • 12:55 pm

We all know Poe’s law: that any parody of fundamentalism is indistingishable from the real thing.  I want to supplement this with Coyne’s law, to wit:  any parody of campaign ads for Republicans or tea-party candidates is indistinguishable from the real thing.

When I first saw this ad, for Dale Peterson, a Republican running for the Alabama Agriculture Commission, I was convinced it was a joke, especially because he pulls out a rifle near the end.  Turns out it’s a real ad.  What’s even sicker is that this guy may win.

It’s this kind of thing that makes me proud to be an American.

34 thoughts on “A real campaign ad”

  1. LMFAO!

    What a horse’s ass. If he started talking to me like that, I’d stick that rifle up his… unloaded, of course.

    Seeing him waddle away, with his brand new blue jeans on, after demonstrating just how stupid and gullible Republican voters are, had to be the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.

    Thanks for sharing that one!

  2. 🙂 I was a grad student at UT-Austin when Ann Richards was running against Clayton Williams.

    So, this ad doesn’t strike me as parody at all, at least if it is aimed at southern rural audience.

  4. I guess he had to run because he got tired of sweeping the floor at McDonald’s at night.

    1. Yeah, it’s so danged hard trying to sweep things up with the skinny end of a rifle.

  5. Snark all you want, but in fundamentalist portions of the country (read: everywhere but in big cities), men like Dale Peterson are taken seriously and quite often DO win elections… The thought that this ad might be a joke would not even have crossed my mind had I seen it somewhere else first.

    1. There are several people on the Tusc. News forum who’ve already said he’d get their vote.

      And they were serious.

    2. 58% of the population of the US lives in urban areas with populations greater than 200,000. “Everywhere but in big cities” isn’t as close to everywhere as you’d think.

      1. Not only that, pjmad, but “Everywhere but in big cities” is not even close to being true.

  6. Oh my sainted aunt the jumpcuts!

    Mr. Peterson may be a hopeless ass but at least he could hire a decent editor.

    ouch

  7. I should have copyrighted it.
    It was on this very blog that I asked some months ago, “are there Poes in politics as well”?

  8. I think he should have used Mr. Ed, or Francis the Talking Mule in this little ad. They could have draped their head over the fence and spoken at least one little line. That would have made it better.

  11. I think he should have Tom Lehrer’smusic in the background:

    I wanna go back to Dixie,
    I wanna be a Dixie Pixie!
    And eat corn porn ’til it’s
    pourin’ outta my ears!

    I wanna be a Southern Gentleman
    And put ’em white sheets on again,
    I haven’t seen a good
    Lynchin’ in years!

    1. Let’s be true to the man:

      I wanna go back to Dixie,
      I wanna be a Dixie Pixie!
      And eat corn porn ’til it’s
      comin’ outta my ears.

      I wanna be a Southern gentleman
      Put my white sheet on again.
      I ain’t seen one good
      Lynchin’ in years!

  13. We got people just like that in Granite Falls Wa … but they are missing most of their teeth and work at the gun store or the one local tavern.

  16. all I can do is provide an emoticon:
    :-O
    And I thought Tony Abbot here in Aust was a joke, Peterson’s terrifying: “So listen up!”
    lol

  18. Good for him.

    What exactly are we doing here? Laughing at him for his accent? Because OMG LOOK AT THAT REDNECK HE HAS A RIFLE LOLOL!!1

    There’s nothing in that ad, unlike the one that mentions evolution, that isn’t either a) something reasonable or b) something reasonable people could disagree about.

    I’m proud to be an atheist and a registered Republican.

    2. I’m with Andrew, mostly. I’m not a republican, but nothing (save one thing) about that ad or what the guy said struck me as outlandish or unintelligent or unreasonable. I think you are all laughing at a. his accent, b. his rural setting c. his clothes – they are different from yours. I thought it was nothing more than a clever, endearing political ad, with the content being pretty standard american political campaign rhetoric.

      Right up to the point where he pulls out a rifle. That was a bit disturbing; a politician (someone we elect to legislate and administer with WORDS) busts out a killing stick as he talks about defeating his opponent. Demographic trends (“busloads of immigrants”) are making white, armed conservatives more and more marginalized, and angrier… the symbolic significance of the rifle is hard to miss.

    3. Besides appealing to racism? Because that, and general wacky Republican/Tea Party conspiracy theory, is exactly what his ad is about and the only two things missing are white sheets and “buy gold” ads.

      Fifty years ago this man would be a proud member of the Dixiecrats. And I don’t think that any reasonable person could see otherwise.

      That it is a “serious” ad, just goes to show the power of Poe. Or, as Jerry has expanded it: I want to supplement this with Coyne’s law, to wit: any parody of campaign ads for Republicans or tea-party candidates is indistinguishable from the real thing.

  19. Bill Maher made a couple parody adds of a Bradley Byrne attack add that are pretty funny:

  20. Cutting thru the window dressing, biggest question is probably what does he intend to do to help keep family farmers in business, and is it realistic?

  21. Dude, doesn’t he know what “take no prisoners” means? Hard to believe this guy’s been a legitimate military man. Is it like how Hovind’s a “doctor”?

    1. I’m pretty sure he knows what “take no prisoners” means – that’s the way our warfighters in Afghanistan are doing things these days.

      Yes, the use of the gun as a prop is alarming, or inspiring, however you look at it.

      I’m NOT a Republican, and I’ve never been to Alabama, but nothing in the ad makes me think he’s unsuited for the position he’s running for.

  22. He’s against family farms being lost. He’s also against regulation of corporate farms. Am I missing something?

  23. Anyone doubting the validity of Poe’s law need only consider SNL Tina Fey’s hilarious parody of Sarah Palin, USING SARAH’S OWN WORDS!

Comments are closed.