The culture war: the last refuge of a scoundrel

November 3, 2007

When push comes to shove, and the Republicans’ chips are down, it’s fascinating to see exactly what the GOP will do in desperation. The party is actually surprisingly consistent — left with no other choice, lean on the culture war.

Just over the past few days, we’ve seen three rather startling examples.

First, there’s Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R), who’s been scandal plagued throughout his first term, and who’s poised to lose in a landslide this week. Unable to point to any real accomplishments, Fletcher’s Hail-Mary ad takes a predictable line.

“[I believe in] a Kentucky without casino gambling, without higher taxes, without taking away the Ten Commandments or prayer in schools.” (Voice over: “Our choice Tuesday will affect generations. Choose life. Choose values. Choose Ernie Fletcher.”)

Second, there’s a wild state Senate race in Virginia, with a rather scurrilous direct-mail piece.

…PageOneQ has learned of a mailer, with anti-gay and anti-Muslim overtones, being sent by the Republican Party of Virginia on behalf of her campaign. The cards were sent to arrive in mailboxes less than one week prior to election day, November 6th, and after the endorsements of the areas largest papers. Prior to the mailing, the Washington Post had endorsed Holtzman Vogel.

You’ll have to see the direct-mail piece to appreciate it, but let’s just say the nasty “lipstick lesbian” attack is surprisingly blatant.

And then there’s the latest gem from the Republican National Committee. I’ll let TNR’s Eve Fairbanks set the stage:

What’s to do when your party’s re-election committee is broke, your veterans are retiring, your president is hated, and you’re flailing on the issues? Whip out those evergreen culture wars! Welcome to the next twelve months of the Republican campaign committees’ advertisements.

The result is this gem:

At face value, the fact that this is what the RNC has been reduced to is just sad, but it’s probably worth noting that the attack itself is baseless. For the record, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) advised staffers to get immunized before a fact-finding tour on “public health issues at events involving mass gatherings.” The aides’ trip included visits to hospitals and health facilities, not just a car race.

But left with nothing of substance to say, the culture war is just about the only thing Republicans have left. It’s kind of sad, really.

Hate is what the Republicans do best. It’s the only thing they do best.

  • That had absolutely nothing what so ever to do with political issues…Just totally a smear campaign. Look at all those they got to play along. Just pathetic…had absolutely nothing to do with NASCAR but they were trying to make it NASCAR = Republican. Dems don’t attend NASCAR? What a crock of shit.

  • Most culture wars are the paranoid delusions of self-persecuted whiners. Americans had better start rejecting these contrivances (and the deceivers who promote them) before they become real — just like the so-called “war on terrorism.”

  • Robert, so what? Aren’t they both arms of the Republican party, like the DCCC and the DNC are of the Democratic party?

  • CB wrote:

    You’ll have to see the direct-mail piece to appreciate it, but let’s just say the nasty “lipstick lesbian” attack is surprisingly blatant.

    Maybe I’m the one who’s out to space here, but I didn’t really get that from it. To me it just seemed like a charge of being friviolous- frivolous spending. Of course, the Repubs spend plenty of money on image people and strategy people and damage control people and problem solvers.

    CB wrote:

    At face value, the fact that this is what the RNC has been reduced to is just sad, but it’s probably worth noting that the attack itself is baseless. For the record, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) advised staffers to get immunized before a fact-finding tour on “public health issues at events involving mass gatherings.” The aides’ trip included visits to hospitals and health facilities, not just a car race.

    That’s kind of creepy that all those news outlets on the video can get away with peddling non-news. I wish somebody would set the record straight for everybody. As if Democrats would really tell their staffers they needed immunizations to go to NASCAR! These people are getting away with putting out a totally different impression of what we are. If you’ve ever had anybody slander you terribly and not been able to sue them, it’s a terrible burden, and can reck your life for years. You can end up basically having to totally forget about anybody you meet over the course of several years that you might have wanted to date, much less be able to look forward to getting married and starting a family.

  • Soon the average GOPer will be reduced to shrieking “Brown People! Gay People! Outrage! Outrage! Outrage!” over an over again.

    Oh, and grasping at really short straws:

    4. On November 3rd, 2007 at 6:27 pm, Robert Jameson said:

    The NRCC, not the RNC produced that spot you illiterates, get a life.

    I wonder what the party that replaces the GOP will be like?

  • ***I wonder what the party that replaces the GOP will be like?***

    Roadkill would be an improvement; the ‘Murrican Taliban would not.

  • Choose Life.
    Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family.
    Choose a fucking big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers.
    Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance.
    Choose fixed interest mortage repayments. Choose a starter home.
    Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage.
    Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics.
    Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning.
    Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.
    Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself.

    Choose your future.

    Choose life.
    ~Trainspotting

  • Re: “lipstick lesbian”

    On second thought, I think I was the one who was being wet-behind-the-ears, here.

    To the common variety of dumber voters, after a quick scan of this piece of direct mail, it might seem like it said something about her being a lesbian. And you see the big graphics of the tubes of lipstick, and you see she’s wearing lipstick in the photo of her– well, “lipstick lesbian” is one of those things everyone has heard of. So a dumb voter thinks, “Oh, I get it, she’s a lispstick lesbian,” and before you know it, there are one or two guys in every bar around saying “So-and-so’s a lesbian, didn’t you know?” It doesn’t take away any of the bite that it shouldn’t be a smear to be called a lesbian anymore.

    What’s ironic about it is the craft that goes into making a mailing like that- it really is a kind of twisted art- and then the mailing itself is criticizing her for using image people! The same industry that basically owns to technology of creating that kind of subtle smear ad.

  • and then the mailing itself is criticizing her for using image people! The same industry that basically owns to technology of creating that kind of subtle smear ad.

    It’s called projection, and it is a bog-standard piece of the GOP arsenal. The party of Larry Craig/Mark Foley etc. accuses dems of being controlled by gays. The party of adulterers/multiple divorced Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani accuses dems of being anti-marriage. They accuse dems of being big spenders while increasing spending faster than any recent dem president. AWOL Dubya accuses John Kerry of Vietnam cowardice. I could go on, but you get the idea.

  • The GOP’s way of politicizing pretty much everything makes me sick, however, it’s brilliant. This approach to politics pretty much ensures the result they are after every time. Whether it is policy on conservation and the environment, gay rights, abortion, inflating support for an attack on Iran and the like, politicizing these things forces people to make a choice, but more importantly, forces people who otherwise might not make a choice to do so. It’s easier to manipulate the outcome when you force these principals upon the citizenry. If only the dems could get some spines they could easily pick apart this strategy and make some change. Then again, if Hillary makes it into office, business as usual and then some. Why do you think the Bush administration is briefing her on “handling” Iran in the event that she “ends up in office?” Enough said.

  • It’s called projection,

    Projection is actually a term from psychology. It’s the phenomenon of a person’s claiming to see characteristics / motivations etc. in others, because the person actually has those characteristics / concerns / motivations. I think it might be one of the “coping mechanisms,” and something you do unconsciously or semi-unconsciously– I don’t think the term is supposed to refer to the dishonest tactic of accusing other people of what you’re doing wrong in order to distract attention from yourself (this is really more what the Republicans are doing all the time, than the psychological phenomenon, I think).

    I don’t know if “projection” is something the psychologists thought up as “I’m rubber, you’re glue”- a way to fight back when people started using minimizing psycholological language to describe them. In my own experience, I don’t think I see people do “projection” much. But at any rate, if you ask a knowledgeable person about it, I don’t think it’s supposed to be a phenomenon of the conscious mind.

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