You’re in a hole, Pete. Stop digging.
The fallout from Senatorial candidate and racist Pete Hoekstra and his offensive, xenophobic political ad continued unabated today.
Another GOP consultant, Mike Murphy, tweeted that the ad was “really, really dumb”. According the Washington Post, “Foreign Policy magazine managing editor Blake Hounshell called the ad ‘despicable.’”
Ironically, the ad, which seems to blame U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow for the outsourcing that is sending jobs over seas, was not produced in Michigan. Rather, it was made by media strategist Fred Davis of California-based Strategic Perception Inc.. In other words, he outsourced it to another state.
Joan McCarter at Daily Kos reports that Hoekstra spent $150,000 on this monstrosity that, as she put it, “Offend[s] most of the state of Michigan”.
MaddowBlog linked my piece in a post titled “Pete Hoekstra’s viral bait”:
Featuring a young Asian woman who thanks Stabenow for borrowing so much money from Asia and sending jobs overseas, Hoekstra’s ad jams an incredible number of stereotypes into just 30 seconds — from the bicycle to the rice paddies to the accent.
The ad is classic viral bait, in which the repellant doubles as the attraction. Hoekstra’s ad sends viewers to the DebbieSpendItNow.com, screengrabbed above. The site credits the Prosper Group, whose client list includes Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle, the Wisconsin GOP and Scott Brown. You want the vanilla site? OK. You want the crazy? Just send the check. Hoekstra’s spot is gross, certainly, but it’s also sadly usual.
In a particularly lame fundraising scheme, Hoekstra contributors were able to view the ad in advance – if they made a contribution. MIRS news service reported this morning that Dennis Darnoi, a Republican consultant and owner of Densar Consulting, said he likes Hoekstra and supports his campaign, but he criticized the strategy of charging people to see an ad as something out of a late-night infomercial.
“It sure would be interesting to find out how many people took advantage of this great offer,” Darnoi said. “He at least could have sweetened the deal by throwing in a pair of steak knives or olive de-pitter for the first 50 respondents.”
An Associated Press article was titled “Hoekstra Super Bowl ad raises sensitivity question”. Actually, what it raised was a RACISM question.
Steve Frye, the online editor of the Oakland Press tweeted “Sen. Debbie Stabenow, let me be among the first to congratulate you on your reelection.”
Hoekstra himself doubled down on his racist ad:
Speaking on a conference call Monday morning with reporters, the Michigan Republican Senate candidate pushed back at widening criticism that the ad is insensitive or mean-spirited.
“We knew we were taking an aggressive approach on this, but this is a time when the people of Michigan and across the country are fed up with the spending,” he said. “It hits Debbie smack dab between the eyes where she is vulnerable with the voters of Michigan. I’m excited…it has jump started the debate.”
Keep digging, Pete. As my buddy Christine Barry at Blogging for Michigan put it: “Everytime I think the Republican Party has hit the rock bottom of decency, they pull out their shovels and dig a little more. This time they have dug deep enough to hit China.”
If you’d like to join me in making a contribution to Senator Debbie Stabenow’s Senate reelection campaign, you can do so at www.stabenowforsenate.com/fightback.
Cross-posted from Eclectablog.
This is just mind-bogglingly stupid, even for a turd on legs like Hoekstra.
I guess the teabagger mentality makes these lowlifes think everyone agrees with them and they can get away with anything.
I do like this, though:
One thing I’ve noticed about most wingers when they get called on stupid shit is when they invoke “the people,” or “the American People,” they are talking strictly about the people who agree with them.
Its like a bubble, inside a bubble, and there’s no air , so they just get stupider.
Wow. I’m glad he did it. This means he won’t be able to hold office. A Queen song comes to mind when something like this happens.
Yeah, the people of Michigan are fed up with spending… Lord knows, the people in Detroit are pissed that so much money was spent to allow them to keep their jobs that they were forced to spend money on a commercial narrated by Clint Eastwood, complaining about how their jobs had been saved!!! Can you IMAGINE IT?!?!?
I wonder how many of his personal investments are tied to companies that do business in China? Hmmmmmm….
Okay, lemme see if I got this straight. Hoekstra does an ad slamming Sen. Stabenow for sending jobs and money oversees.
Hoekstra sent the job of producing this ad, and the $150,000 that it cost, out of Michigan to some outfit in California?
Because we have no talented (if conscienceless) people in Michigan that could have produced this bucket of pig snot?
Way to go, dolt.
Chris, if you see an Asian woman with a rusty pitchfork™ arrested in your state for poking Hoekstra in the hindquarters with said pitchfork, you’ll have bail money ready, yes?
“I’m excited…it has jump started the debate.”
Yep, it’s jump started the debate on whether you’re racist or just stupid. Only that wasn’t the debate you wanted, was it? This was worse than a crime; it was a blunder.
Sorry but this almost tops the jackass from my hometown saying that eating tacos was an immigration boost.*** Could someone tell Hoekstra that Ho Chi Minh has been dead since ’69 and we’ve been out of ‘Nam for 36 years? I half expected Bruce Lee to pop out of that rice patty bare-chested with nunchukus.
*** By the way, the sistah with ‘fro bring in the tacos in the video is my little cousin. Awesome, powerful sister.
Hey, quick question. How much does it cost to run an ad during the Super Bowl?
Star Storm, its almost 4 m
So for 3.5 million, Pete Hoekstra has set back white America’s perception of Asians about 30 years. Wow.
That was rhetorical, but it does bring up the point that Pete “SpenditNOT” Jokestra spent quite a lot on his Yellow Peril ad.
The ad ran locally, not nationally … it just immediately blew up in his face and blew up nationwide virally. At least he didn’t waste $3.5 million directly broadcasting the excrement to the other 49 states.
True, I was wondering how much a state ad would be as opposed to a national ad.
But at the same time, I am willing to bet that it was still fairly pricey.
@starstorm – understood, I’m just shocked it cost more than 4x my entire family’s net worth (or as Mitt Romney calls it, pocket money) for a 30 second Super Bowl commercial.
As for the ‘Yellow Peril’ I’m surprised there were Bruce Lee sound affects or an egg roll.