British Expatriate Network

I know how nasty and silly the national elections are, but what are your local ones like? Isn't it amusing watching really awful local candidates talking nonsense?

If you're lucky they are as hilarious as mine. The top one is a race between Brian Higgins (D) and Nancy Naples ® for Congress. Brian has had two ads taken off the air for being a bit over the top, and in his first few tv ads he didn't mention Naples at all but ran ads purely against Bush. His new one says "Naples supports the Presidents tax cuts for millionaires" which is pretty amusing. He's also been accused of intentionally calling her "Nazi Nipples" which if true get's my vote right there. Naples on the other hand is incredibly dull and is running some crap about Higgins raising taxes on cell-phones (in 1992) like it's the same as Auschwitz. Worse is that both have been in charge of Buffalo/Western New York for the last decade or so, so are responsible for seeing it turn to sheet. Crap choices.

There's also a guy called Jack Davis running against Congressman Tom Reynolds (who I cut my teeth with) who has the best radio ad I've ever heard. Reynolds is a popular guy, so Davis has gone wacko-right and has an ad about Reynolds wanting to send "your farm jobs to Communist China." It ends with the awesome "can you support a man who gives jobs to Communist China?" Fantastic.

Also my county Governor is running a really daft tv ad called "The Medicare Penny" in which he wants to add - again - another cent to the sales tax. He is keeping schtum about the second 30% housing tax hike in 3 years tho. Prick.

Anyway, at least it isn't like the one in South Dakota right now - "Vote for Daschle and Vote for SODOMY." Jeez.
http//www.argusleader.com/news/Thursdayarticle2.shtml

Oh, the local campaigns are just filthy, aren't they? We have Pete Coors ® running against Ken Salazar (D)


The ads, which make a change from drug company ads go something like this;

"Pete Coors of Coors Brewing fame wants to lower the drinking age to only eighteen just to sell more beer."

"Ken Salazar is a no good liberal that wants to cut funding for terror, making Colorado unsafe! :roll: "

It would all be rather amusing if they didn't come on TV every five minutes.

There's a couple of dirty fights going on in my part of Oregon but most notable is Peter DeFazio (D. incumbent) vs. Jim Feldkamp (R., no political experience but flew combat missions in 1st Gulf War and was supposedly FBI anti-terrorist agent in Oregon).

Just seems a bit desperate for the Republicans to run him solely on his combat/anti-terrorism record, with a bit of bitching about DeFazio's 18 years in congress without reducing unemployment to 0% - I suspect that the Oregonians will stay with the incumbent.

Much of the war in our Oregon county in is already over. We vote by mail.
Yesterdays local newspaper reported that one fifth of ballots have already been filled in and mailed or put into the drop boxes!

Heh! Brian Big'uns and Nazi Nipples. I do miss Viz!

I haven't noticed any local election campaigns here come to think of it. Maybe it's because I don't watch enough TV, or maybe the local politicians just can't be arsed.

Here, running for senate we have, in the Democrat corner, the incredibly popular Barak Obama from Illinois....and in the Republican corner, from Mayland, Alan Keyes.

Obama is very popular and will win because this is a very democratic state. Keyes embarrasses even republicans because he is soooo far right it's ridiculus. He moved in state in the minimum allowable time before the elections to be eligible and is one of the Republican parties token black canididates. The big thing here was that he said that Jesus wouldn't vote for Obama, and that got big laughs.

Does that come in a bumper sticker? I'm all for that.