And They're Off!

Radley Balko | May 23, 2008

An early front runner for worst political ad of the 2008 election. Or is it....the best?

I'm trying to figure out how the three dancers are supposed to represent "San Francisco values." Maybe the black guy in the cowboy hat is gay? But then why is he dancing with two women? Maybe it's because one of the women is white. But then, the white woman also has a lesbian haircut. Maybe it's the dancing itself? Or they're all illegal immigrants? Maybe they're planning a visit to the abortion clinic after happy hour.

The Sam Graves campaign should really be clearer about whom were supposed to be hating, here, and why.

Comments

|5.23.08 @ 6:36PM|#

WTF?

And with that, I declare myself thread-winner.

Rimfax|5.23.08 @ 6:36PM|#

Ha! "I'm Sam Graves, I'm a white prude and I hate everyone that you do."

|5.23.08 @ 6:51PM|#

The Sam Graves campaign should really be clearer about whom were supposed to be hating, here, and why.

Seems pretty clear to me by looking at the group shot then the shot of Graves... Shall we make a list?

|5.23.08 @ 6:55PM|#

Did anyone else notice that none of the women were wearing burkas?

|5.23.08 @ 6:56PM|#

Did we not make ourselves clear with this ad? Please hate:

Niggers
Gays
Cowboys
Women
Gay Nigger Cowboys that be a-stealin our women

Wine drinkers and tanktop wearers are ok to strenuously dislike, too.

GILMORE|5.23.08 @ 6:56PM|#

DUH

It's the dreaded coalition of latinos (woman on left), black hipsters (middle), and gays (woman on right), all of whom are shills for "Big Clubbin"

I really dont know how the idea of "X place 'values'" has achieved such currency. It's become a catch-all. I mean, like, it's not like there are any gays in texas, or blacks in Alabama. What the fuck are Ohio values? Fat people with bad haircuts and a passion for Dockers and tucked in polo shirts who consider a ford taurus a 'stylish' car? The Coalition of the Boring?

And by strapping a location with a stereotype... it's like, so what? You dont like San Francisco? OK. Dont GO there.

"I'm Steve Graves, and I promise to turn San Francisco into Cleveland"

Its really upsetting I cant find the Mr Show, "New San Francisco" sketch

|5.23.08 @ 7:02PM|#

Since I didn't get a feeling of existential dread, I gess the ad's not for me. But then again, didn't it seem as inane as a (not particularly good) Madtv skit?

Geotpf|5.23.08 @ 7:15PM|#

This has been making the rounds. It's been posted at both Fark and Daily Kos already. The Democratic candidate in the race already had a response ad which, along with random crap about gas prices, shows a clip from this ad (the dancing fools) and basically says, "That's all you have? Really? Wow, you are a moron. Vote for me; I'm not a moron like this guy."

Christopher Monnier|5.23.08 @ 7:20PM|#

I wonder if the dancers in the commercial knew how the commercial would be used...are the three of them all big Sam Graves supporters, or just three actors looking for any work they could get?

Dockers are San Francisco Valu|5.23.08 @ 7:27PM|#

At least that's what the TV tells me 4 times every 1/2 hour.

Other SF values|5.23.08 @ 7:30PM|#

1) Walking (stylishly) to work
2) Flying a kite (stylishly) with your son
3) Conversing (stylishly) with your girlfriend at a rooftop dinner party
4) Golfing (stylishly)

Paul|5.23.08 @ 7:52PM|#

I'm trying to figure out how the three dancers are supposed to represent "San Francisco values." Maybe the black guy in the cowboy hat is gay?

Or that the black guy in the cowboy hat is black?

|5.23.08 @ 8:00PM|#

It can't be that the black guy is black. I mean, I heard Graves and his wife host regular Mandingo parties.

Marc|5.23.08 @ 8:55PM|#

The white chick on the right looks like Fergie. I can get behind hating her.

|5.23.08 @ 10:19PM|#

Damn that Nancy Pelosi and her streetcars. What do they do in there?

tony tiger KC|5.23.08 @ 10:21PM|#

Graves and his wife ?? Follow the guy and see how loyal he is. Go to www.kay4congress.com and give a few bucks to beat this guy.

|5.23.08 @ 11:00PM|#

LOL



Jesus these guys are idiots

Just call her a fucking socialist and you might even get a vote.

|5.23.08 @ 11:21PM|#

Keep it up, Sam. Because we all know that northwestern Missouri doesn't have any of those people.

Admit it: you really hate all those people in Cleaver's district south of the MO River. Or you really want to be the guy at the end of this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gj9uEeuDtQ

|5.23.08 @ 11:23PM|#

Makes me with I still lived in that district so I could vote for Kay. Congress needs two former Kansas City mayors, dammit!

Nat|5.24.08 @ 12:58AM|#

Remember, any time a Republican emphasizes that Nancy Pelosi is from San Fransisco, it's just a polite way of screaming "FAAAAAAG!" I suspect that those three dancers were the most diverse-looking crowd the campaign staff could pull together on short notice. What really makes this ad look like a high-school production, however, is the music.

Pablo Escobar|5.24.08 @ 7:15AM|#

Holy crap. Is this a real American political ad??

Damn you Americans are even dumber than I thought (not including the the ones who support Ron Paul).

Mojotron|5.24.08 @ 7:54AM|#

The Sam Graves campaign should really be clearer about whom were supposed to be hating, here, and why.

the queers, for what they've done to our soil. Lookit- all that dancing is destroying it.

Dead Milkmen|5.24.08 @ 9:36AM|#

the queers, for what they've done to our soil

You know Stuart, I like you.

dhex|5.24.08 @ 3:48PM|#

wow.

that's something else.

apparently san francisco values = bad haircuts but otherwise having a good time.

|5.24.08 @ 4:47PM|#

I suspect that those three don't actually dress that way, Nat, and they didn't find the most "diverse" looking people in rural Missouri, but dressed them up that way to make a point. Some sort of point that involved a guy with a cowboy hat and a tank top.

But heaven forbid anyone should think that they're bringing up San Francisco, guys in tank tops and cowboy hats who dance in San Francisco, and "values" to refer to gay people. Nah, everybody in the universe just imagined that.

Poor Republican political ad producers. Why does everybody read messages into the ads that aren't made with an explicit statement?