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Why Politicians are Bland
I’ve been blogging for 10 years. One of the things I struggled with was the idea of taking down my personal website a few months before the election.
I was told that this was a “must do” thing because my opponent would use photos of me wearing a Halloween costume or something in an attack ad. The photo of me wearing a coconut bra and a grass skirt from eight years ago I could almost be guaranteed to see in an ad, they said.
I didn’t want to believe it, but I acquiesced and took my weblog offline and even deleted the Google cache of it. I felt like I was removing a part of myself.
Then in the last weeks of the election, sure enough, silly and absurd photos of me appeared in attack pieces sent to my neighbors. I thought I’d see attacks based on my policy ideas perhaps, but no. The ads used silly photos of me on friends’ Flickr and Facebook accounts.
The first one I saw was me holding a glass of wine in a restaurant and calling me a far left liberal because, you know, if you drink wine you’re a liberal. I laughed it off as absurd. “No one will believe this.” I said.
And then came another attack ad with more silly pictures. And another.
I believe in political discourse, but I’ve seen that a good part of how we elect people is based on image. Does this mean our system is broken? I’m not sure.
At least I know why politicians always seem so bland — they’ve done a good job sanitizing their life. Or, at least, they don’t live in the online world.
Comments
Clearly Olathe was not ready for a representative who knows how to throw up the Shocker.
Seriously, though, I hope what you’ll take away from this campaign is the amazing amount you accomplished your first time out. I’m proud to have supported you, and you can have my 10 bucks any time you want to ask for it.
Obviously you had the opposition scared! And, a 4 point loss compared to double digits in surrounding areas is pretty good. I don’t live in your area (although I have friends that do), but I hope you don’t give up and that you do try again! Good luck!
It sucks that you lost the election, but that ad is hilarious. Hope to see your personal site up again sometime!
I know that I sent a fair amt of fundraising money your way by both tweeting about you and putting you on my LJ.
I would love to talk to you about our RIGHT to have multiple personas…
I am doing up a prezo right now and would love to use you as an example if I might?
thanks,
Silona
email is silona attacka silona.com
Huh. I didn’t know I was an extreme radical liberal.
Sean, you did a fantastic job, and I was proud to toss a few bucks your way.
Hm. Wonder if they had permission to use those photos. Copyright suit! :D
I’m pretty sure the people who know you best - your friends and family - all donated because we think you’d make a great representative. Most of them. I personally donated because you look so awesome in that coconut bra. And because I’m a radical liberal. But that’s probably just me.
Radical liberals? Wowza! Sorry to see you’re in one of the corners where fear mongering is still a sport. Keep the course. We radicals look forward to more transparency; the type you represent.
BTW, awesome photos! And do check out Facebook’s legalese on using photos for furthering the career of fear-based politicos....
Sean, you did a fantastic job, and I was proud to toss a few bucks your way.
Sean, thanks for visiting and for sharing that information.
I try to consider political realities when thinking about major policy shifts and this one is a good example. The last time someone proposed a change to our redistricting process was in 2003 and that effort barely got 50% support in the Senate. It’ll take politicians with courage and vision.
I hope you were not entirely put off by the petty mailers and ads, like the one you posted above. It pretty much shows that your opponent has no ideas left, only smears. Apparently having a personality is a disqualifying factor now.
hmmm, “Ideas not smears” ... I sense round two’s branding emerging....
Yea!!to round 2 in 2 MORE YEARS!!!!! “IDEAS NOT SMEARS!”
Don’t sweat it. I was happy to be one of those out-of-state liberal activists. It will be nice to be an in state radical liberal in June. See you then.
I’m proud to be one of those out-of-state *libertarians* who donated. And just because you didn’t win, that doesn’t mean you haven’t improved the quality of representation your community has and will have in the future.
And in ten ~ twenty years, *all* politicians will have to deal with their Flickr pix…
I’ve followed your campaign since I got a link to your comic and you had less than 1500 donors, and am sad to see you lost your campaign. Better luck next time.
