Brad Wardell's views about technology, politics, religion, world affairs, and all sorts of politically incorrect topics.
It was crass and now it may cost him..
Published on October 15, 2004 By Draginol In Politics

Kerry's decision to use Cheney's daughter as a political prop in the last debate may come back to haunt him. Non-parents don't seem to get the big deal but most parents I know (left or right) are pretty outraged by it. It may turn out to be the blunder that costs Kerry in Ohio which is the key state in this election.

One good article on the issue can be found here: http://thoughtsonline.blogspot.com/2004/10/james-taranto-and-others-may-be-right.html

Imagine if Bush had talked about how traumatic divorce is and talked about how hard it must have been on Kerrys' daughters when Kerry left their mother. Would that be okay? No. It would not. It would have been tacky beyond belief.

Parents don't want their kids used as fodder. It has nothing to do with the daughter being gay but rather bringing up your opponent's children in an effort to help yourself is very poor taste. And it's particularly reprehensible that it was such a blatant ploy (to the ponit that John Stewart was making fun of it) to try to appeal to the homophobe vote. There was no point in bringin up Cheney's daughter in the debate.

It reminds me of the end of the movie, The Dead Zone, where the crooked politician picks up a nearby child to use as a human child. Kerry, in essence, made use of his opponent's child as a blunt instrument and it may cost him the election depending on how much legs this story has. And I think it does have some legs. People are mad about it. It was talked about at work and on the radio and elsewhere. 

If you're not a parent, you won't understand it I suspect.  My wife and I were disgusted at the time. We just couldn't believe he did that. The press score, who aren't conservatives, apparently groaned when they heard him say that from the press room at the debate hall. I suspect Kerry may be groaning too when it's over. We'll see.

 


Comments (Page 2)
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on Oct 15, 2004
Edwards' wife was even more over the top when she said that the outrage showed that the Cheneys were ashamed of their daughter.

They are Gore-esque. They mouth-ff, not considering for a moment the fact that the average American is a completely different species than them. When they say something that offense people, they look shocked that people disagree. Show how utterly out of touch with the norm they are and how unfit they are to represent it.
on Oct 15, 2004
Its like saying that since Monica Lewinsky openly said she had an affair with Clinton, Dole could have said in the middle of a debate "oh, by the way, remember when he recieved oral sex from Ms. Lewinsky?" Just because someone is open about it doesnt give people the right to discuss it on national telivision for votes.
on Oct 15, 2004
Though if I was running for office I would gladly tell people my sexcapades (if the parties involved were okay with it)!

on Oct 15, 2004
Pat Caddell (on H&C) came out and said it was wrong. He said if they needed an example they could have even used Gephardt's Daughter and that citing Cheney's daughter was premeditated along with being wrong.


on Oct 16, 2004
Pat Caddell (on H&C) came out and said it was wrong. He said if they needed an example they could have even used Gephardt's Daughter and that citing Cheney's daughter was premeditated along with being wrong.




Pat Caddell has also come out with some strong criticism of the Kerry Campaign. basically he is saying they are blowing it.

Looks like he is right.
on Oct 16, 2004
Out of sheer curiousity, did anyone in the media or otherwide ask what Mary Cheney thought of this before jumping to conclusions? It was all over one of the morning shows (I can't remember which one, I'm not all there in the morning )the other day that Dick and Lynne Cheney were pissed, but practically no mention of Mary. Still, I think that with everything going on in Iraq and the world, this is pretty much a non-issue, like what Bush and Kerry were doing 30-something years ago in Vietnam and the Texas Air National Guard.
on Oct 16, 2004


i think Cheney and her husband's feigning outrage could hurt Jeb's brother getting re-elected

they can run, but they can not hide

pete
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