How Disturbing
By Erick Posted in 2006 — Comments (24) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
The race in Missouri between Jim Talent and Claire McCaskill took a disturbing turn last night. In the St. Louis market during the World Series, Michael J. Fox shot an ad on behalf of Claire McCaskill on the sole issue of stem cells.
The ad, which will probably now embolden the cut and run conservatives to run in droves to the polls, was both exploitative and manipulative.
The ad was perhaps too clever for McCaskill. It is an issue seen by many voters as being personal and non-political. Yet, McCaskill and the left have repeatedly pulled the issue into gutter politics and exploited the hopes and fears of many. This is just the latest example of the exploitation of life at the hands of the Democrats.
While there may be some momentary benefit for McCaskill, my sense is that voters who might have wanted to stay home and protest the GOP will become enraged enough to go vote and other voters will feel dirty enough from viewing the ad to vote against McCaskill. Sometimes emotional ads are just too raw for voters. This is one of those times.
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How Disturbing 24 Comments (0 topical, 24 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
The ad contained some misinformation too. Or at least witholding of info. Fox does not differentiate between types of stem cells, nor does he admit that private industry is free to pursue this treatment. No mention of the fact that no cures have been found using this type of stem cell.
While I feel for Michael J. Fox, this commercial is pure emotionalism and tough to watch. They may as well have said that Jim Talent wants to kill puppies.
I wonder if the Democrats could handle a Republican TV ad that shows the horrors of abortion. Let's run that during game 7 of the World Series.
. . . that Claire McCaskill wants to protect terrorists and encourage illegal immigrants to move into your house while living on government benefits.
Hey, politics ain't beanbag. And Fox did a similar ad for Arlen Specter in 2004.
...over *federal* funding of stem cell research. Why should the government be able to take my $ to fund stem cell research when the free market can do the same work with far less waste?
If you believe that stem cell research is vital to finding a cure for whatever you want to cure, you can donate $ to companies that do that kind of work.
In a free market, companies will pour money and resources into anything that promises a "cure" because there is a huge incentive to do so. Federal funding, on the other hand, is just a means of spending money for the sake of spending money - a great way to theoretically solve academic problems, but a hugely inefficient way to get real, tangible results.
"I will guarantee you that John Kerry will be president of the United States." - Nancy Pelosi
Sen. Talent (and anyone else being hit by these types of ads) needs to run a good, effective counter ad. They need to state the dangers of embryonic stem cells, how embryonic stem cells are tied to cloning, and the proven cures from adult stem cells. Talent should do a commercial with a Parkinson's disease victim. Talent: "Many of you might be surprised that I support stem cell research that will someday lead to a cure for Parkinson's disease. What my opponents won't tell you is that adult stem cells are more likely to bring such a cure."
Knowing the Republicans ineptitude this campaign cycle, I highly doubt the ad will even be addressed. Once again, the Dems are the aggressors and the GOP candidate does nothing to fight back.
Hopefully, Talent has a decent lead and can withstand the publicity this ad will undoubtedly get (and it's already high on the Drudge page).
Does Fox not know the facts, or does he just not care?
He's made a career of looking pretty, saying whatever people tell him to say.
I doubt he knows any of it.
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If you're seeing shades of gray, it's because you're not looking close enough to see the black and white dots.
from Hollywood who is more than willing to use his own misfortune do further the liberal sick agenda.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
Losing your temper on this issue is pretty much exactly what your opponents on this issue want you to do.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.
Fox has a long history of liberal activism. He is just another hollywood type who thinks that their ability to act conveys some extraordinary insights into what is good for us less talented and unwashed ticket buyers.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
No can get into Fox's mind and see his true motivation. But one thing is clear, this debate about embryonic stem cell research is not about science, facts or finding cures. It is another weapon in the arsenal of the secularists to defeat and maginalize religious people. It is all part of trying to move this country from its traditional values of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness and transform it into a new "Open Society", as Soros would describe it, where moral relativism reigns supreme. Where traditional marriage will be redefined to suit every conceivable lifestyle. Where America will lose its soul.
I'd ask Fox why he's supporting a candidate that's (indirectly) engaged in voter fraud. (Doesn't matter that it's ACORN doing it, it still comes down on her head.)
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Internet member since 1987
Member of the Surreality-Based Community
Why has the GOP and the Bush Administration permitted itself to be nailed over and over on this issue and to come out looking like some anti-science Luddites? Correct me if I have any of my facts wrong, but the federal grant for stem cell research that Bush and the GOP opposed was about $37 million. Private industry (pharma, VC-backed start-ups, etc) spends billions on this research, as do universities working with private funds, and the State of California with its $3 Billion in taxpayer money.
It's absolutely appropriate in my book for the Federal Gov't to not fund this research simply on the grounds of FREE MARKET CAPITALISM (i.e., "We don't try to pick winners and losers in the economy') or, on the basis that there is ethical controversy over the issue so taxpayer funds should sit it out.
Yet, with all this data, and all these arguments to chose from, this administration is losing the debate and Americans largely believe that stem cell research in this country is non-existent because of the Bush administartion.
Why is this administration so damned ineffective at making and defending its case?! (Next Chapter - The Kyoto Treaty)
or it will sink Talent.
I've felt all along that this race was Talent's to lose. However, there are certain ads that you just need to respond to, and this is one of them.
If either the Talent people or NRSC people read this blog, you need to have a solid, calm message talking about adult stem cell research and Talent's support for it.
is that the Talent campaign knew the ad was filmed and would be released. They should have had a rebuttal ad ready to go and that would have blunted the impact. But, of course, the GOP is caught flat-footed and this spot can run unanswered.
As I've said before, this better be one heck of a GOTV effort to make up for any number of lackadasical campaigns.
I checked Senator Talent's campaign website, but couldn't find an address to contact him or his campaign. Does anyone have an E-mail address for his campaign?
If so, we could send something like:
"Michael J. Fox has run an attack ad against Senator Jim Talent which tries to confuse the voters about stem cell research.
Embryonic stem cell research, which Claire McCaskill supports, kills human embryos, and all attempts at using them to treat disease have been catastrophic failures, often inflicting severe injury on the patients it was intended to help.
On the other hand, research using stem cells from adults and umbilical cord blood, which Senator Jim Talent supports, has already produced clinical successes, and does not harm donors (or mother or baby after birth).
Senator Jim Talent has taken a stand for human life and for science, while Claire McCaskill wants to kill human embryos for failed and dangerous experiments."
The bad news: Conservatism is hard to sell. The good news is that it works.
I was listening to Rush today and he said that Michael J. Fox has admitted that he doesn't take his medication for Parkinson's when he is going to appear before Congress or for making television spots like this one.
Regardless, is stem cell research the overriding issue in this election?
-- Today we did what we had to do. They counted on America to be passive. They counted wrong. -- Ronald Reagan
Fox: In my book, I mentioned that I did not take my medication before Senate subcommittee for the purpose of showing the horrors of Parkinson's disease.
Rush: You didn't take your medication so the subcommittee could see the horrors of Parkinson's disease?
MSM: Did you hear what Rush Limbaugh just maliciously accused Michael J. Fox of doing?
"I will guarantee you that John Kerry will be president of the United States." - Nancy Pelosi
I found this article on Yahoo News: "Stem cells might cause brain tumors, study finds. Injecting human embryonic stem cells into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients may cause tumors to form, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday."
Here's the link for more info:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061022/sc_nm/stemcells_dc