Tom Finneran: I’m Joe Citizen and I Disapprove These Messages
Friday, October 24, 2014
Tom Finneran, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
We’re less than two weeks away from Election Day and I’m desperate for some fresh air. It feels as if I’ve been caught in the middle of several really muddy paint-ball fights simultaneously.
SHAHEEN vs. BROWN
COAKLEY vs. BAKER
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MOULTON vs. TISEI
Given the charges and counter-charges flying back and forth in these fights I’m in need of some industrial detergent. Is there a shower nearby? Politics may not be for the faint-of-heart but when did it become so vicious? Does the voting public really buy into this nonsense about the various candidates? The fate of the Republic is not at stake here.
Rather, looking at the six names above, I think that they all have interesting credentials and experience. None of them is less than patriotic. All of them are familiar with the anxieties of the middle class. Some might be better than others at balanced budgets, economic development, and education, which are my three big issues. But we remain a government of checks and balances, where persuasion and reasonable compromise are the tools of success. And should “gridlock”---i.e.---differences of opinion--- continue down in Washington D.C.., that’s not the end of the world you know. Check the Federal Register and the U.S. Code and ask yourself what aspect of American life remains dangerously free from the fetters of the federal government.
A visitor from Mars, upon seeing the barrage of negative ads about these candidates, might reasonably conclude that they were the worst citizens on our planet. Full disclosure---I know four of them reasonably well and I can tell you that they are honest, intelligent, hard-working folks. Allow me to give the benefit of the doubt to the two I do not know as well……………………
The real problem in our politics is the scorched earth, take-no-prisoner model of campaign consultants whose advice is invariably made up of three words---“destroy the other”. Said advice not only poisons the civic well, preventing across-the aisle problem solving. It also conveniently enriches the consultants whose wallets are grotesquely fattened by mega media buys. After all, it takes many many millions of dollars to paint either Scott Brown or Jeanne Shaheen as traitors of America. They’re actually two reasonable people who probably agree on many matters and who might settle their political differences between the forty-yard lines of ideology.
Yet even the campaign consultants cannot be totally faulted for their tunnel vision after all they are only interested in winning and getting paid. Thus they use a proven recipe, one which exploits the distractions and ignorance of the general public.
A reasonably attentive and informed general public would scoff at these ads which depict candidates as Hitler-in-waiting. That same informed public would also scoff at the notion that all Democrats are nuts or that all Republicans are nasty.
It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure. We have a Commonwealth and a Republic which depend upon an engaged and informed public yet the polity prefers entertainment---Jerry Springer-like entertainment ---rather than thinking seriously about America’s worrisome issues. Does today’s American public dislike America’s children? How else to explain our disdain for “issues." When America’s obituary is written it must contain a word or two about the tragic demise of American education. When America’s obituary is written it must contain a word or two about selfish and self-destructive deficits. Perhaps that obituary might reference Springer and his many imitators, his audience of idiots, and their shared celebration of the lowest common denominators of human behavior.
A debased currency, a full-blown credit card mentality, and a woeful ignorance of history, civics, and individual responsibility have put America on a flight path to oblivion. Yet it need not happen, making it all the sadder when it does. Turn off the television. Tune out the ads. Those ads are cut and paste fictions, selective, manipulative and distorted. Rather, sit down and figure out what’s important to your kids and/or grandkids. Jobs? Opportunity? Education? All three? Believe it or not, there’s a candidate out there for you………………..
Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.
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Nellie Gorbea
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Guillaume De Ramel
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Guillaume De Ramel
Spelling Bee
Guillaume De Ramel, Democratic candidate for Secretary of State, has released his first television ad.
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Pell
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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Clay Pell released a new campaign video titled "Ideas," responding to an attack ad from primary opponent Angel Taveras.
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Fung
Open for Business
Cranston Mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Allan Fung released a new campaign video titled "Open for Business."
"I became Mayor of Cranston, where I froze taxes for 3 years, saved millions reforming public pensions, and helped create 1,000 jobs," Fung said. "I'll do the same as Governor."
In the ad, Fung pledges to "challenge the old way of doing business" and make Rhode Island "open for business again."
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Pell/Kwan Equality
Equality
The 30 second ad highlights Pell's women's equality agenda and is narrated by Michelle Kwan, former Olympic skater and wife of Democratic candidate for Governor Clay Pell.
"Clay is committed to a women's equality agenda that strengthens protection for women in areas like pay equity, sexual harassment and domestic violence,” Kwan says. "Clay knows Rhode Island can be ready fro tomorrow by making it one of the best places for women to live and work."
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Taveras
Know Better
A new TV ad by Angel Taveras throws a counter punch at Democratic primary opponent Gina Raimondo for her ad criticizing his economic record as mayor of Providence.
"You've probably seen that ad where Treasurer Raimondo is blaming me for Rhode Island's economy," Taveras says. "We know better. The state was already struggling when the Wall Street crash made it worse."
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Raimondo
Raimondo: Ironworker
A new TV ad by Gina Raimondo is a direct negative hit on Angel Taveras. The ad questions Taveras' record in Providence and his ability to lead.
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Taveras
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Fung TV Jobs
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Blockhead
Blockhead
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Geek
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1-2-3
Block's 3-2-1
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Pell Announcement
Pell for Governor
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Raimondo
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