Glad the Season is Almost Over...

[dlochner]

No, not the sailing season, never happy about that. It's the biennial campaign season. You know the season when the airwaves are filled with ads shouting "My Candidate is Great" and "Your Candidate is a Jerk!" If you are like me and regardless of your political color you have had your fill of these commercials.

And then along comes Al Stirpe, he's running for the NY Assembly. Take a look at the commercial he's running this week. We can all appreciate his sentiment:

 

[Kermit]

He’s got my vote.

 

[Mike4116]

A truly funny political ad. Refreshing... The thing about the political ads in this election cycle is that the strident shouting goes on (and on and on and on). It is insulting, really that the candidates actually believe that the voters are of such low intellect that we believe their line of bull. If these accusations were even 1% true all of these bozos running for office would be locked up. Perhaps they should be locked up. Not because they are bad, but because they are simply nuts. If I could invent a time machine to teleport folks to next Wednesday I'd make a fortune and only charge a nickel a trip.(God bless the mute button on my TV remote.)

 

[Justin_NSA]

(God bless the mute button on my TV remote.)

Amen! and caller ID !

 

[Will Gilmore]

I've lamented before that it isn't possible to cast a vote against the field. Any outcome, no matter how the public feels about the candidates running, will be interpreted as support for the one with the most votes.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[jssailem]

The robo calling is a pain. I decided after my 40th robocall hangup in the past week, that if I got a call with a real person on the other end I would tell the person thank you and your candidate has my vote because your not a robo caller. you should hear the happy sounds from the Real people...
Fortunately the calls I received were from candidates I also liked. But that was just a bonus.

 

[shemandr]

I guess I'm fortunate in that I'm in a state that is solidly blue and hence national political campaigns of both parties don't spend much money here. So, not many calls. State wide offices are the same. I don't even know the name of the Rep. candidate for the Senate. I don't think the Dem. incumbent Gillibran has spent very much either. Our congressionally race is probably going to the Rep. incumbent and the Dem challenger seems to be limiting his financial exposure. So not many calls there. I guess there's a silver lining to a one party state. Elections are very quiet.

 

[shemandr]

The Stirpe ad isn't bad. We learn how to say his name (Name recognition) and empathize with him regarding the silliness of campaigns. I score it as a PR +.

 

[dlochner]

I guess I'm fortunate in that I'm in a state that is solidly blue and hence national political campaigns of both parties don't spend much money here. So, not many calls. State wide offices are the same. I don't even know the name of the Rep. candidate for the Senate. I don't think the Dem. incumbent Gillibran has spent very much either. Our congressionally race is probably going to the Rep. incumbent and the Dem challenger seems to be limiting his financial exposure. So not many calls there. I guess there's a silver lining to a one party state. Elections are very quiet.

@shemandr The story is a little different up state. There are a couple of hotly contested congressional districts in Syracuse and Utica. Stirpe's Assembly district has flipped back and forth. He won, served a couple of terms. Lost, ran again and won. My Congressional District (the 24th) has flipped back and forth 4 times in the past 20 years. There is a lot of national money being spent in the Utica/Rome and Syracuse area. Unfortunately for local TV viewers the Utica/Rome area is covered by the Syracuse media market. We get blasted in every commercial break.

As for the robot calls, if your number isn't in my address book, I don't answer the phone. Leave a message and I'll call you back.

 

[shemandr]

I'm not sure which I would prefer. I shouldn't have spoken for upstate. It is different there. I actually think districts that swing, which there are fewer of every year, are healthy. At least the voting public has an impact. That's democratic. Districts that are "Solidly" this or that are in a sense disenfranchising a part of their population. I agree about answering my phone. Usually I don't. If it's important leave a message and I'll decide if it's important to me - or the caller. There aren't many that are important to me.

 

[Tally Ho]

We have the worst of all possible scenarios.. live in Indiana, but in the Chicago TV market. So we get 100’s of advertisements for every Illinois political office, plus some for Indiana offices.

We don’t watch any live TV these days....tape what we want to watch and watch it the next day so we can skip through the commercials.

Election Day cannot come soon enough !

Greg

 

[flynhi4u]

We're represented at the state house by district 69, the best darn district around

Sam, holding on for Wednesday

 

[DayDreamer41]

We don’t watch any live TV these days....tape what we want to watch and watch it the next day so we can skip through the commercials.

Election Day cannot come soon enough !

Greg

Greg, hang on to the VCR, might be worth something to a collector of antiquities some day.........

 

[DougM]

Got so tired of all of the “unidentified caller” and robocalls that I finally ditched my land line. That saved me a few bucks. As for TV, I am about ready to get rid of the satellite. For the time being, I have resorted to either on demand or streaming. With the satellite, its crazy... I live less than 30 miles from Richmond half the year, yet the political ads and local stations I am allowed are from Norfolk and Virginia Beach where the only really newsworthy story on a given day would be that nobody got shot. Furthermore, I am a registered voter in Michigan, and I already voted!

 

[jssailem]

I finally ditched my land line.

I am looking forward to the day when I can enjoy this experience. Hopefully it is just on the horizon.

 

[Terry Cox]

Season never ends around these precincts. Bundle up and cast off for several vacant anchorages to choose from.

 

[dlochner]

I am looking forward to the day when I can enjoy this experience. Hopefully it is just on the horizon.

Got rid of my landline 15 years ago.

 

[flynhi4u]

So the Pres was stumping in Indiana last night and spent the night in Indianapolis. No biggie, but my wife was running the Monumental Mini marathon this morning. The traffic was insane between the road blockages getting the Pres to the airport and the streets closed for the mini.
I saw her and running partner off then found the first open bar at 8 am and proceeded to down a couple, ok, 3 with my breakfast. It's all good

Sam

 

[jssailem]

Using the meme "the Sun's past the yardarm somewhere" decision matrix? or the "Beer is a good protein source" or "it's mostly water and one needs to hydrate"?
It can be such a pain when a politician visits and requires the streets to be shut down. Hoep your wife and her friend had a nice run.

We watched from the interstate as Air Force 1 landed in Eugene OR. The city came to a screeching halt. We were fortunately beyond the airport at the time so the highway instantly cleared for us.

Or the time when Air Force 1 waited on the tarmac for a haircut. Shut down a major airport.

Life happens.

 

[dlochner]

A few years ago, President Obama was doing and upstate NY bus tour. His entourage was headed east on the NY Thruway, I was headed west.

As I approached Syracuse from about 15 miles away, I noticed the absence of eastbound traffic for quite some time. Then as I entered Syracuse I realized why, there in the ongoing lanes was the motorcade. Dozens of (wet) motorcycle cops, state police, black SUVs and some buses. All moving right along, I don't think they were following the speed limit.