Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Giving up is unforgivable.

People are complicated. Love is not.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Books are my comfort food!

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

White supremacy is terrorism.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

How stupid are these people?

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2012 / Better Run, Better Run, Outrun Mitt’s Gun

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64Comments

  2. 2.

    Schlemizel

    I dream of a world where even the wingtards grow tired of this type of sludge & it stops working. If that world actually comes to pass (it won’t) the one thing I think that could drive them over the edge toward reason would be the over use of the sludge against their own. This year we’ll see if the cracks start to develop.

  4. 4.

    Hawes

    Thanks, now I have bagel all over my screen and desk.

    It’s nice to see Santorum own his Google Problem this way. I mean if you don’t own it, it owns you, I guess.

    New slogan: Santorum – He’s The Shit!

  6. 6.

    RedKitten

    Yeah, that definitely looks like shit, not mud.

    Jon Stewart probably can’t believe his luck right now.

  8. 8.

    gogol's wife

    @Hawes:

    That was my thought. Now we have a visual for what santorum looks like. And Mitt ended up with it all over him.
    I did like the lookalike for Mitt, though.

  9. 9.

    Guster

    Terrible ad. It shows Romney with a gun and Santorum as a cutout. In a Republican primary.

    It’s a win for Romney. He’s firing the gun. Sure, his aim sucks, but that’s the toughest I’ve ever seen him.

  11. 11.

    handsmile

    Paintball. The closest Frothy and Mittens (in fact, almost all the GOP leadership) have ever come to combat.

    Also too, somewhere Georges Bizet is weeping.

  14. 14.

    beltane

    Holy Shit! (Come to think of it, Santorum’s nickname should be Holy Shit) Is this a real ad on TV? It is even worse than the Demon Sheep ad.

    I agree that it’s a win for Romney. It shows him in action hero form and reminds the viewer of Santorum’s Google problem. However, since the target audience is Republicans I have no idea how this will play. They are weird.

  17. 17.

    RedKitten

    I agree that it’s a win for Romney. It shows him in action hero form and reminds the viewer of Santorum’s Google problem

    No shit.

  20. 20.

    Ed in NJ

    Isn’t the message that Romney is throwing so much shit at Santorum and hoping some of it will stick? Or he’s trying and it’s missing its mark.

    That’s my take, and, of course the unintended reminder of the frothy mix.

  21. 21.

    jibeaux

    @Rosalita: Sheesh, if I were dragging ass in the morning just trying to make it to my coffee and croissant, that would totally ruin my day.

  22. 22.

    Joseph Nobles

    @RedKitten: Jon Stewart made a big deal out of retiring frothy Santorum jokes a couple of months back. But this ad demands he resurrect them. He’ll probably pull a Godfather III: “They keep pulling me back in!”

  29. 29.

    graves007

    “Romney advisor admits Romneycare was blueprint for ObamaCare” rushlimbaugh.com

    At least we know Rick Sanitarium get’s his facts from reliable sources. And we all know how much Republinutters pride themselves on facts.

    So let me get this straight…Sanitarium runs a negative ad criticizing Romney for using negative ads?

  30. 30.

    Gary

    The ad is also derivative of other ads depicting a negative opponent as a mudslinger (though I guess here it’s a mud shooter). I’m not sure how this one will play, but such ads can be effective.

    One of the most famous of these ads was Bob Dole’s TV commercial in 1974 — his one tough Senate race, when he started out behind due to the fallout from Watergate. Dole responded to Rep. Bill Roy’s truthful attacks on Dole with a commercial that showed mud being slung on a photo of Dole. That (and some nasty ads attacking Roy, who was a gynecologist, as an abortionist) did the trick and helped Dole win reelection by a few thousand votes.

  31. 31.

    beltane

    Speaking of bad ads, Pete Hoekstra’s “Yellowgirl” ad seems to have backfired on him in the polls. Before the ad he was leading with Independents, now he is losing them and polling indicates that this group of voters found the ad offensive by a wide margin. It is heartening to know that blatant racism no longer plays well outside of the Republican base. As I said above, Republicans are weird people.

  34. 34.

    MattF

    Can’t decide whose side I’m on there– cardboard Rick vs. mudslinger Mitt. Mitt looks like he’s having more fun though.

  36. 36.

    MonkeyBoy

    Why didn’t you use Santorum’s YouTube version titled “Rombo”. Sometimes it is fun to see the frothy comments or vote on like/dislike, though in this case I can’t decide if I really like it or dislike it.

    EDIT: I checked at YouTube again and now comments have been disabled after too many Santorum gun jokes.

  38. 38.

    jibeaux

    @beltane: Yeah, it’s kind of as if they don’t focus group them at all.
    To the extent I’ve watched ads lately, which is not a lot, the Democratic ones lean towards the blandly inoffensive and forgettable (I have worked to bring jobs here, I believe in America, here’s a nice picture with me and my elderly mother, etc.) but some of these viral R ones are very heavy on the WTF.

  39. 39.

    Kirbster

    With commercials of this caliber blanketing the airwaves until November, I predict a big uptick in Netflix and HuluPlus subscriptions this year.

  41. 41.

    errg

    I’m not at all the target audience here, so I’m not sure, but I think this actually may be a decent ad for Santorum.

    The point isn’t to win votes with this ad itself, but to insulate Santorum somewhat from Romney attack ads. And the sort of jokey tone may work, when you see a Romney ad after this, you’ll think “Jesus, there Romney goes again” without taking what he says too seriously.

  42. 42.

    Bobby Thomson

    Was that Rick Perry playing Romney in the ad?

    Yeah, the imagery seems counterproductive for reasons already mentioned, but also, too, who thought it was a good idea to plant the idea of someone firing a weapon at the candidate? Stupid on multiple levels.

    Might have worked better with piles of mud dropping from the sky and consistently missing a Sant*rum while he walks along acting like Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy – then a closing shop of Romney facing the sky in abject fear, arms flailing, as the mud dropped on him.

  43. 43.

    GregB

    I hope little Ricky keeps it up. My friend is the Mitt impersonator in the ad and he’s a dry-wall installer in NH.

    Here’s his chance to make some money like a one percenter.

  45. 45.

    Upper West

    @errg: I agree with you and dissent from the majority here.

    I think it was a good ad. The mud always misses Santorum’s cut-out. He’s invulnerable, like a super-hero. The cut-out shows that Romney is trying to portray a false or cardboard image of Santorum. Plus it gets in the Romneycare/Obamacare argument. I even liked the “backfire” mud on Romney at the end.

    I really think it’s a good effort to pre-insulate Santorum against Romney’s expected attacks.

    Remember, subtlety is not the aim here.

  49. 49.

    errg

    @Upper West:

    Yes, and it also gets out 2 points that may stick: Romney has spent a hell of a lot of money attacking fellow Republicans, and a dig at Romneycare.

    Jon Stewart will probably make fun of it, but my guess is there aren’t a lot of potential Santorum voters watching him anyway…

  50. 50.

    runt

    Which genius in the Santorum campaign decided that an ad which reminds everyone of his Google problem was a good idea? The mind is decidedly boggled…

    Also too, if you feel the ground move, it’s probably just the writers of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report having a massive group orgasm.

  51. 51.

    Waynski

    @amk: Racism, misogyny, and homophobia are handed down from generation to generation. Just like wife beating, child abuse and poverty. Maybe Charles Murray and Bobo can write a book about how it’s really the fault of brown people, women, and teh gays that Republicans hate them.

  54. 54.

    Tractarian

    Wow, I’m in the minority here, but I like the ad. It’s original and funny, and it gets the point across.

    Most GOP primary voters probably aren’t aware of Rih’s Google Problem. The ones that are aware of it probably think this is clever – literally, he’s turning a liberal slur against him into a weapon!

    At this point, Romney is so damaged that Rih looks like the most electable candidate. That’s not to say that he’s electable in an absolute sense. But many GOPers are going to think, hey, if we’re destined to go down, let’s go down with a true believer and not some phony.

  55. 55.

    Bruce S

    This is good news for…guys who suck up candidates $$$$ making shitty ads and $kimming the ad buys.

    Also, of course, Obama! Talk about the “only adult in the room.”

  56. 56.

    hitchhiker

    So, let’s review.

    The former R frontrunner is a hapless fool in business clothes shooting shit out of a paintball gun in a parking garage and missing his target every time.

    The current R frontrunner is a smiling cardboard man.

    The Rs can keep their primary going forever, as far as I’m concerned. No D on the planet would be able to demonstrate their true nature nearly so effectively.

    I’m with the people who think it’s a good ad, btw. Santorum makes Romney look like a blundering boob and himself like an untouchable, pure adult. At least that’s how the 27% will see it. The rest of us can just sit back and marvel at the awesomeness of a circular firing squad from the outside for a change.

  57. 57.

    Originalname37

    Holy Shit! I’ve heard of disgusting campaign ads, but loading a paintball gun with the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex is seriously gross.

  59. 59.

    Rathskeller

    @errg: I agree. I am also not the target audience, but it seemed like a reasonable way to try to inoculate Santorum’s audience. A low information voter is not going to connect Santorum with his diarrhetic nickname. It got in several good shots at Romney.

    Still, I am looking forward to Jon Stewart’s take on it.

  60. 60.

    Rathskeller

    Also, while the Demon Sheep ad was one of the most fucked-up political ads I’ve ever seen, it worked in the primaries both by eliminating Fiorina’s opponent and by getting a viral response that saved them a lot of money in CA’s costly media markets. What works in the primaries doesn’t have to work in the general election. I imagine both sides of this argument lay behind the bizarro-world smoking man ads for Ol’ Black Walnuts.

  61. 61.

    Can't Be Bothered

    Oh god, I never want this to end! Thank you baby jeebus for delivering this primary to us.

  62. 62.

    Billy Beane

    @Rathskeller: Yawn, Fiorina would have lost anyways. To attribute it to that stupid attack ad is ridiculous.

    Just like the meme that the swiftboaters attack ads cost Kerry the election. Or the daisy ad cost Goldwater the election. These ads probably turned off just as many people as they do scare people into voting for the other guy.

  63. 63.

    Rathskeller

    @Billy Beane: you’ve misread me. I just meant that it worked for its intended goal, of knocking Tom Campbell out of the primary. It did work for that goal.

    As for the general, I agree, it probably did not change any votes. Boxer was a popular candidate, and she’s a good campaigner. Fiorina was neither.

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