In a year that has seen about ten thousand mailing pieces (between the statewides, House of Delegate races, the special election for Fairfax County BoS Chairman and the Republican primary in S-37, I think I’ve gotten literally over a hundred mailers) I’ve seen plenty of good ones and plenty of bad ones. But none of them were as bad as the one I got yesterday from Dave Marsden. (Here’s a bigger version of the back.)
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The piece is obviously ripping off the latest world-ending blockbuster 2012 (as can be seen from the front of it.) According to Dave Marsden, the entire Commonwealth of Virginia is going to be consumed by the earth in fire and brimstone if Steve Hunt wins Ken Cuccinelli’s old seat. The piece then goes on to specify just what manner of destruction we are going to see in a Republican controlled Virginia.
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Our world class schools will be “devastated.” One of the biggest claims the Democrats love to throw around is that education suffers under Republicans. That’s really one of the dumbest lines and completely untrue. Funding for schools never declines in real terms, regardless of who is in control. And with No Child Left Behind, you saw the first education reform in decades and it was done in bipartisan fashion. Yet if Virginia Republicans (including Steve Hunt – who has served on the FCPS School Board, no less, unlike Marsden) get in control, the world goes to hell in a hand basket. Why? The mailer doesn’t expand upon this, which makes sense because they can’t. It’s a ridiculously empty accusation.
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Next, “our once-thriving small business economy: gone.” Once-thriving? Is it not thriving now? I know my small business is chugging along just fine right now although I know others aren’t doing as well. But unemployment across the state is still way below the national average. And even if the small business economy isn’t doing that well, who is to blame for that? Tim Kaine and Mark Warner – not House Republicans. Marsden himself should field some of that blame – he’s been in Richmond and Steve Hunt hasn’t.
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The next one is the most ridiculous of all of them: “A woman’s right to choose: eliminated.” Right. Because one-party rule in Richmond enables us to control the United States Supreme Court and overturn Roe v. Wade. Please. It’s one-party rule in Washington that’s making it impossible for us to even stop federal funds from being used to pay for abortions under the Senate health insurance reform bill – and yet Virginia Republicans can end the right to an abortion just by winning a special election? I know this line is meant as hyperbole, but it’s ridiculous. Even Hollywood blockbusters need to be just realistic enough for you to suspend disbelief – Star Wars did a better job of that than this mailer does. I can almost believe lightsabers and the Force – but Republicans ending abortion singlehandedly in Richmond just goes too far.
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Finally, they throw in traffic will be gridlocked. Guess what? It already is. So, at worst, we get four more years of the status quo if Republicans are elected? What have the Democrats been doing to fix traffic over the last eight years? Nothing that has helped, that’s for sure.
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This whole campaign on the Democratic side has been filled with mailers like this. And I’ve seen Marsden up on TV as well (but he didn’t bother putting the ad up on Youtube, probably because it sucks), running an ad where he claims to be a “fiscal conservative” and then slams Steve Hunt by claiming he was “thrown off the school board” when he really simply failed to win reelection. It’s too bad voters in Marsden’s district didn’t throw him out of the House of Delegates last month. Maybe we wouldn’t have to get idiotic mail like this from his carpetbagging campaign.
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Dec 29th by Brian S
What a load of crap! Does he really think this will work???
Who knows. Marsden’s campaign has been completely schizophrenic. One day they’re running as an outsider, the next day they’re the experienced candidate. One day they’re fiscally conservative, the next day they are against everything Rush Limbaugh is for. Then today they’re doom and gloom and the world is going to end if Republicans win. Honestly, his campaign is being run about as well as Deeds’.
LOL. Pretty funny. He’s mostly right about the doom and gloom though, we’ll win the special, BobbyMac will flip what’s-his-name to a cushy admin job, Bolling will be the tiebreaker, and the Dems can suck on it for the next four years.
He sounds like Deeds in his extreme negativity.
“the next day they are against everything Rush Limbaugh is for”
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Rush Limbaugh is FOR something?
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Since when?
And yes, that is a pretty lame and idiotic mailer.
Ridiculous. A pox on the left and the right.
Of course he’s for something, Dan. He’s for higher ratings.
“Our world class schools – DEVASTATED”
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He must be taking rhetoric lessons from Edgar Hatrick!
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Of course Hatrick used the word “dismantled”. I need to work up a re-write of King Crimson’s Elephant Talk – “these are the words of the D’s this time!”.
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Nevertheless, it is all elephant talk indeed from the educrats, and it looks like Marsden is carrying their water for them.
Its funny to hear Marsden scream about one-party rule when until recently the Dems controlled the state senate, the governor’s mansion, two US Senate seats, and five congressional seats (a majority). Until last November, our only bastions were the two undercard statewides and the state House.
Its funny watching Marsden actually have to run hard and on the defensive. This race might be a microcosm on how the state senate races will play out in two years.
Wow, those yard signs from Deeds that said that McDonnell was going to trash Virginia schools sure did a lot of good also!
Two questions for anyone who can answer them:
1) Does anyone know if Marsden’s wife is registered to vote in the 37th District?
2) What are the criteria for sham residency (for the purposes of running for public office), and has Marsden done anything to open himself up to prosecution on those charges?
To run for office one must be a registered voter in the district. To be a registered voter one must say ”this is my address”. You can do it, submitting NO proof. I did it myself, last year, when we moved. I simply told them the new address without any proof that I had moved. I needed only an address. They canceled my old voting place and put in place the new one. Dave will need an ID of some kind when he shows up to vote but a voting card will be sent to him at the new address and that’s all he will need to vote for himself at his new polling place.
It is my understanding that Dave has not sold his house and his wife still lives there. She and their sons are not eligible to vote for him because they do not live in the district. Since Steve and Monique have lived in their district for years, Monique will be able to vote for her husband.
Yes, the mailer is idiotic.
Yes, it’s mindless rhetoric.
Yes, it’s over the top.
Yes, it’s completely unsupported and unsupportable.
And yes, it has a chance of being effective if Hunt doesn’t respond intelligently. The ‘one-party rule’ schtick usually has some potency in ideologically heterogeneous districts.
The people that are worried about the apocalyptic “one party rule” scenario are already engaged. This is a special election and it will be hard to get people to come out to vote, Marsden needs to give people are reason to vote FOR him, not against Hunt.
[...] “gout” and “Marsden” in this post, I likely would have done so. As noted elsewhere, his most recent mailing is ridiculous and over the top, as has been his campaign. [...]
LL:
I agree that Marsden needs to give people a reason to vote for him. But on the other hand Steve can be a polarizing figure and if Marsden plays it right could lead people to vote against Hunt…usually happens with the more partisan candidates.
I for one could not be more disappointed by both parties’ nominees. One is a carpetbagging leftoid lacking both intelligence and class and the other is an embarrassing, devoid of personality Right Wing fringe candidate with homophobic tendencies. Why must our senate district have such a poor choice? I would take a Mark Herring Democrat or a Jill Holtzman Vogel Republican any day over either of these two candidates to replace Cucinelli.
Ann, You can have Mark Herring – take him, please.
Ann, since you’ve never met Hunt, why not sit back and let the adults discuss this. It’s better to not speak and be thought a fool than to type and remove all doubt.
[...] component, with Dave “The Carpetbagger” Mardsen claiming that if Steve Hunt wins, our world class schools will be “devastated.” . So what happened to the whole story that the only time schools went without the funding they [...]