Ad Attacks Huntsman’s Daughters, but There’s Not Much of a Story Here
I realize that this attack ad targeting Jon Huntsman is going to get some attention over here in China this weekend, particularly among the expat community who are following the U.S. elections with interest. And yeah, as far as political ads go, this is a nasty one:
Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman and members of his family expressed outrage on Friday at an advertisement targeted at his adopted daughters by a group supporting rival Ron Paul.
An online ad authored by “NHLiberty4Paul” shows footage of Huntsman with daughters Gracie, who was adopted from China, and Asha, adopted from India, when they were infants.
“American values. Or Chinese,” the ad asks to a soundtrack of Chinese music. It calls Huntsman “the Manchurian Candidate” and ends with an image of Huntsman dressed as China’s former communist leader Mao Zedong, and the words “Vote Ron Paul.”
Paul, a Texas congressman, disavowed the ad during an interview on Friday on CNN, but said he could not control the actions of all his supporters.
After taking a look at this thing, I see merely an amateurish attempt by some Ron Paul supporters to make fun of someone who (gasp!) can actually speak a foreign language and cares (for shame!) about non-white people. To some Ron Paul cheerleaders, apparently these things are worthy of derision.
The ad itself has production values that are so low that . . . well, even using the term “production values” is almost inapplicable. Cheesy music, horrible graphics, blurry video and fonts. Shit, I could do better with Excel. Not exactly something that a real campaign would be proud of.
Therefore, unless someone uncovers evidence showing a connection between this group and the Ron Paul campaign, I think we need to chalk this one up to independent whackos and not blame this on Paul. If I were him, I’d be mighty embarrassed that folks who support him are obvious xenophobes and racists, but Paul sort of encourages that, what with his calls for eliminating foreign aid, etc.
The ad itself is disgusting, but there’s plenty of ugliness out there in the world, and a disproportionate share of it hovering around the Republican presidential candidates. But unless there’s a connection to Paul, whom I suspect could care less about attacking Huntsman, whose feckless campaign is no threat to anyone at this point, I think this story goes away within hours.
Do you actually believe that Ron Paul supporters are behind this? It’s obviously a lame attempt to smear Paul in the eyes of gullible people like you.
You must be right, because there’s just no way that anyone who supports Ron Paul would believe in this sort of thing.
The creators of the video no doubt foresaw that people with the same political leanings as you would draw such a conclusion. So in that sense you can say that they have succeeded in what they set out to do — smear Paul and his supporters.
“Do you actually believe that Ron Paul supporters are behind this?”
In a word, yes! There are lots of conspiracy theorists and other creeps on the margins of Paul’s support base. Wasn’t it Lew Rockwell who wrote all the anti-Semitic crap in those old Ron Paul newsletters that has caused Paul embarrassment?
I’m convinced that a lot of people who are enamored of Ron Paul because of his “dissident” or “outsider” cache don’t fully realize that they are flirting with the far, far right of the US political spectrum.
Or maybe the spies covertly sent by the CCP to infiltrate into the US have set up a PAC and is intentionally making tasteless attack ads against Huntsman to stir up a sympathy vote for Huntsman in New Hampshire that will trigger a groundswell of support nationwide that will sweep him not only to the GOP nomination but all the way through to the White House, which is ultimately what the CCP wants because they liked him from his ambassador days.
Ahh, conspiracy theories. You gotta love them.
Just watched Stewart and Colbert. They made the GOP debaters look like a bunch of bumbling idiots…and that’s being kind. But I’m still pulling for Santorum. Oh, if there is a god…And if not him, then at least give us Perry.
For sheer entertainment, my first choice would be Perry, followed by Bachmann. Santorum is a loon, but not really that funny. Race seems to be mostly over at this point, barring huge surprises. General election will be between a moderate conservative who consistently goes to bat for the establishment, and Mitt Romney. Sad choice.
The spectrum of american politics have shifted so much right that the GOP candidates are basically all ultra right loons, and Obama is a typical republican of the last generation.