Here’s the best Democratic commercial I honestly think I’ve ever seen:
He’s running against Roy Blunt in Missouri, and could be the Junior Senator under Claire McCaskill.
Seems like the real deal.
*** Update ***
by John Cole| 77 Comments
This post is in: Election 2016, Proud to Be A Democrat
Here’s the best Democratic commercial I honestly think I’ve ever seen:
He’s running against Roy Blunt in Missouri, and could be the Junior Senator under Claire McCaskill.
Seems like the real deal.
*** Update ***
Comments are closed.
Mnemosyne
He has the support of Americans for Responsible Solutions, which is Gabby Giffords’ gun control PAC. They highlighted this ad on Facebook today.
Yutsano
I wonder how many takes that took.
And yeah he’d be a total Blue Dog. But he’s better than that useless lump Blount.
Wiesman
Best commercial ever? I mean… it’s not bad but I’m just not sure that being able to assemble a rifle while blindfolded is on my top-10 list of useful skills for a US Senator. YMMV.
SteveinSC
Holy shit!
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
If he votes for Hillary’s Supreme Court picks, he can be an Indigo Dog for all I care.
John Cole
@Yutsano: To assemble the rifle, he can probably do it in his sleep.
Probably had to do a few takes to remember the dialog.
The Dangerman
Dammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmn. Perfect.
Mnemosyne
@Wiesman:
It shouldn’t be, but when the conservative claim is that Democrats only hate guns because they don’t know their way around them, this is a useful counterfactual in a red state like Missouri — he knows how to use a gun AND he thinks we need better gun control.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yutsano: @John Cole: I concur with JC.
ETA: As long as we are doing political ads, there is this one from Emily’s List.
slag
You’re a freak. But yeah, he’d be better than Blunt.
Miss Bianca
@Mnemosyne: word.
There’s nothing I like better these days than taking wingnut sacred cows and making tasty steak tartare out of ’em.
Patricia Kayden
@Wiesman: Lol! It may come in handy if Republicans resurrect Zombie Lincoln and Zombie Reagan to run in 2020 when they realize that no living Clown will do.
Patricia Kayden
@Yutsano: Hopefully better than Manchin who might as well be a Republican.
Anne Laurie
You gonna set up an Act Blue widget for him, Cole?
p.a.
Good big picture polling article by Josh Marshall.
Mnemosyne
@Patricia Kayden:
I heard Lincoln was more of a vampire hunter.
It’s apparently not a great movie, but some people found the metaphor of slave owners as vampires to be reasonably apt.
aimai
@Wiesman: Right–I also don’t like the fake manliness challenge at the end. Why didn’t he say something like “I can assemble this weapon blindfolded but I can’t close my eyes to the problems we face with our gun laws.” Or something?
raven
@Yutsano: One
aimai
@Mnemosyne: Right–it could have been a great movie. The metaphor was actually pretty fantastic. But it just didn’t make it all the way.
eclare
Wow. Ad was effective for me.
raven
@aimai: It wasn’t targeted at you.
Keith P.
I LOVE that commercial. I’m not into guns at all, but I love seeing a Democrat lay down the gauntlet and say “Show me you’re not full of shit!”
Sorry for the Cosby link, but I find it quite appropriate.
Mnemosyne
@aimai:
Meh, I’m willing to accept that he knows his target audience better than we do. If he doesn’t, he won’t win his election.
rikyrah
I don’t care how good the ad is…
He is running against Blunt…
Let’s throw him some $$$$$
So that he can make more of these.
RaflW
The last couple of days have made me nuts. I just donated some pretty nice $$$s to:
Morgan Carroll (CO 6th US House seat)
Russ Feingold
Jason Kander
I know I need to do some local work too. A friend just mentioned that there is a need for more election judges in the Twin Cities, too. Might go get trained up for that. I’m worried, but not gonna just sit and fret.
Onwards!
ETA @Wiesman: I’m just not sure that being able to assemble a rifle while blindfolded is on my top-10 list of useful skills for a US Senator.
Point taken. But it’s a damn fine skill to have for a MO Senate candidate, though!
Splitting Image
@aimai:
The challenge probably worked better for the intended audience. Also, the theme for this election is “Republicans get a pass on things the Democrats get crucified for”. (Trump Foundation, tax returns, transparency about health, etc.)
Calling Blunt out directly allows Kander to do another ad later on connecting him to Trump. (“Trump hasn’t released his tax returns because he has something to hide and I’m still waiting to see Sen. Blunt do this.”)
Taylor
@Mnemosyne: Missed opportunity. Interesting political allegory, that Lincoln devotes his life to hunting vampires….and the Confederacy a vampire state…..but in the end it just turns into another stupid CGI fest.
Hoodie
i like the ad, but I would be happier if he replaced “I don’t want terrorist to get their hands of one of these” with “I don’t want terrorists or amateurs to get their hands on one of these”, but that would be asking too much of Missouri. My wingnut sister lives there, and she’s not alone.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mnemosyne: This in a state that just legalized concealed carry for any yahoo that can buy one. No testing. No training. No nothing. You got a gun? You can take it anywhere not expressly prohibited.
I love (read ‘am disgusted by’) my state.
gogol's wife
@Omnes Omnibus:
It’s good for some audiences. A little too smartass perhaps. Some of the speakers are more effective than others.
Villago Delenda Est
@Wiesman: It’s a direct jab at the ammosexuals. Here’s a guy who can assemble an assault rifle blindfolded…and he wants background checks. He’s not afraid of firearms, he has respect for them. Unlike ammosexual assholes.
eclare
@Villago Delenda Est: 1000 times this.
OzarkHillbilly
@Anne Laurie: I’ve sent him money (not too much) but he’s gonna lose. This is Misery after all.
gogol's wife
@gogol’s wife:
As for ad in the original post, this Missouri gal loves it.
Mike R
Visited his web site, doesn’t sound to bad maybe no Senator Warren, or Sanders but would make an excellent addition from Missouri.
les
@Wiesman:
No snark, no disrespect meant–you’re not from Missouri, eh? These people don’t want government, so other skills appeal.
Miss Bianca
@OzarkHillbilly: Just curious…why doooomed? I mean, we got Claire McCaskill coming out of Misery, right?
Joe Miller
Yeah baby! Just sent him $20!
les
@Miss Bianca:
Yeah, not automatically doomed. Kander won state wide vote for Sec O’ State, Blount’s pretty old school Republican (so not up to date with them tea party rascals, damn near a RINO), it’s a possibility.
Wiesman
@les:
I lived in Missouri (Kansas City and Independence) from 1975-1977. Granted, I was 6…
prufrock
@aimai: Aimai, I have long admired you and your views.
But Jesus, that’s lame.
Joe Miller
@OzarkHillbilly: With that attitude, we give up before the game has been played. FIGHT BACK. VOLUNTEER. HELP OUT!
OzarkHillbilly
@Miss Bianca: Claire last ran in 2012 against Todd “women’s bodies have a way of shutting down” Akin. She won but Obama lost here, and thing’s have gotten even worse since then.
I may be overly pessimistic, (if you saw where I lived you’d understand) but with our current GOP dominated Senate and House of Reps you’d know they will do anything they can** to insure we stay a red state, regardless of actual vote totals.
**and have
Darkrose
Not gonna lie, that bland white dude hit my competence kink in a big way.
OzarkHillbilly
@Joe Miller: I gave him money. My volunteering is going to Koster (whom I am really not fond of but I figure has a chance) IF I am able to. As to your giving me advice on what I should or should not do, when’s the last time you spent time in Misery? I am currently trying to figure out what message** to put on my truck that will maximize the ‘pissed off’ potential while minimizing the ‘shot up truck’ probability.
**currently leaning towards “TRUMP! (that soul isn’t doing you any good anyway)” Whatcha think? Suggestions?
ETA word change
sigaba
@OzarkHillbilly: I’ve heard the Republicans have been reduced to busing Boggy Creek Creatures in the Kansas City polling places in order to keep up their totals.
Villago Delenda Est
@Hoodie: I’m more concerned about the amateurs who treat these weapons as toys than I am about terrorists. Well, except for the NRA, this country’s premiere terrorist organization.
Mnemosyne
@Darkrose:
I’ve always been curious about Bill Nye. Creativity and enthusiasm can only be pluses in that situation.
JGabriel
@aimai:
I liked it, but then I didn’t think it was fake – it showed a real gun-owner presenting his military bona fides and discussing gun responsibility, not some asshole waving a gun around because he thinks it makes him look tough. Challenging Blunt to rise to the same level seems legitimate.
I like anything that challenges and/or destroys the GOP’s fake self-propagandized monopoly on manliness, and the media abetting it.
Lyrebird
@JGabriel: Thanks, you put a much better statement together than I could think of, thinking along the same lines. And Kander’s put his name on the line with some other stuff that takes guts, particularly in the MO political climate… (just grabbing from his issues list)
I’m giving him money, tho with a different (J Street) link. Have tossed in a few coppers before and I get their emails; supposedly tonight is a mid-month deadline…
JGabriel
@Omnes Omnibus:
Also a really good ad. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Omnes.
Omnes Omnibus
@JGabriel: Every once in a while I do something useful. I try not to do it too often – lest I create expectations.
Jeffro
yeah, yeah, it’s all just talk unless he wraps bacon around the barrel and cranks off a couple hundred rounds…
(I know it seems an eon ago, but can you believe a serious contender for the GOP nom did something like that? Fortunately they are not crazy enough to nominate a total loon…I mean, really…)
Joe Miller
@OzarkHillbilly: Missouri? A long time ago, admittedly. Hey, I grew up in a little Republican town. My point is, we ain’t licked before the game starts. Missouri came within an eyelash of going for Obama in 2008. Claire McCaskill wins. Jay Nixon won. Let’s stay positive! We can do this…together.
BruceFromOhio
In for $25. I’ll take a competent Blue Dog who knows what its like to actually put yourself in harms way for others over anything remotely resembling a Republican.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
Why can’t we have candidates for the US Senate like this here in Indiana?
Instead, we’re stuck with choosing between a corporatist ex-lobbyist and a Tea Party nutjob.
No matter who wins between Bayh and Young, the people of Indiana are the losers.
Though we brought it on ourselves by electing the assholes to begin with.
We Hoosiers can be stupid that way at times.
For examples, look both to the 2010 election where Indiana elected North Carolina’s 3rd Senator, and the election of Gov. Tuppence.
You know it’s bad when the Kentuckians I know start telling Hoosier jokes.
All of the above notwithstanding, I will vote for Bayh simply because he’s not Todd Young.
I just can’t say that I’ll do so with any degree of enthusiasm.
Splitting Image
@Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman):
I like to think of Senate votes as a way of voting for Ruth Bader Ginsburg as majority leader on the Supreme Court.
James E Powell
I like the ad, and I wish I had ton of money to give the guy, but “gun rights” issues are never really about actual gun rights, are they? Aren’t they just a heuristic for bigoted right-wingers who are not charmed by appeals based on the Old Testament? Aren’t the “gun rights” guys pretty much like the “rolling coal” guys who consider dissing Prius owners a manly form of political expression?
Amaranthine RBG
@OzarkHillbilly:
Concealed carry freaks out gun-phones but doesn’t have much effect in increasing crime/shootings.
Cat48
Very good performance! Some Blue Dogs aren’t that bad as long as they vote for Judges. I always thought Roy Blount was kinda creepy. Wouldn’t mind seeing him gone.
Blueskies
@Wiesman: Ya gotta win first, THEN you get to promulgate policy.
Blueskies
@aimai: I hear you, but that commercial isn’t aimed at you (pun intended).
Michael Bersin
I know Jason Kander. I’ve covered his terms in the Missouri House (representing a district in Kansas City) where he worked across the aisle on ethics reform (badly needed), as Secretary of State, and as a candidate for the U.S Senate. He’s smart as a whip and believes in and practices good government. His personal story, from growing up in Kansas City, to law school, to enlisting after September 2001, to serving in Afghanistan, and to serving in government is stellar and what we all probably imagine what a public servant is supposed to actually be. He’s the real deal. Did I say he was whip smart? With all of his qualities and qualifications he is a modest person with a great sense of humor.
I know blue dogs. We have plenty of them in Missouri. Jason Kander is no blue dog.
I wrote earlier, downstream:
There’s some subtlety to it. It’s a brilliant ad in the context of current Missouri politics. The republican nominee for governor, Eric Greitens, is also veteran and during the campaign has run ads of 1) himself firing a minigun and 2) shooting at a target which explodes. Then, yesterday, the Missouri General Assembly overrode the governor’s veto of a gun bill which allows for permitless concealed carry and implements a stand your ground law in the state. In that context Jason Kander’s (D) ad presents his service and training. Note the austere industrial setting, the lighting, and the subtlety of not pulling the trigger and needlessly expending ammunition. Training and discipline, such novel concepts! We all know individuals who can’t be trusted to safely handle a plastic spork, let alone a firearm.
The ad was placed perfectly in time and content.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
@Blueskies:
Indeed.
That was aimed (heh) at the reachable gun rights crowd.
We do exist.
I am strongly in favor of background checks and think that open carry is, for the most part, crazy.
Unless you’re in the field or on the range.
People who open carry in urban/suburban areas are either compensating for other shortcomings or trying to intimidate other people.
Want to ban all firearms?
I’ll oppose you at the ballot box, but I can and will support reasonable regulations.
We just might disagree about what’s reasonable.
AWB’s are a good example of where reasonable people can compromise.
My stand is that banning the firearms themselves is pretty useless because cosmetic features aren’t what make the gun an effective tool for mass shootings.
High capacity detachable magazines make it effective, not a bayonet lug or flash supressor.
A ban on magazines holding greater than 10 rounds is something I can support.
HR Progressive
As a Responsible Gun Owner™ and a guy who’s never voted for a Republican in a General Election, this ad was awesome.
If even half of all gun owners had the sober precision that he displayed, we’d probably see negligent gun deaths plummet, and macho bullshit suffer.
I’m going to send him a few bux, because this kind of in-your-face sincerity from a Democrat is not frequent, but it needs to be.
shomi
Yea but the commercials can’t do anything about Al Gore.
Nickolas DAgostino
I grew up with Jason, and I can attest that he is “the real deal”. I know his whole family quite well and was even in his wedding. He and his family are wonderful people, and if I lived in MO, I’d vote for him in a heartbeat.
RaflW
FWIW I gave $250 to his campaign this evening before the BJ widget got added. So we’re at $1,314, maybe more if others donated before the page happened.
Are there other fall 2016 BJ Act Blue pages up?
Amir Khalid
@Mnemosyne:
Not the most historically accurate presidential biopic ever made, but certainly one of the most exciting and action-packed.
janelle
@OzarkHillbilly: We’re never gonna be able to elect a Warren or a Sanders here, but keep in mind that two of the three highest statewide-elected officials in Missouri are Democrats (Gov. Nixon and Sen. McCaskill).
Donalbain
Ugh. That is horrible. Porn for gun fetishists. He demonstrates a skill that has no connection to the skills needed to be a competent legislator, but is only useful for giving a boner to people who worship at the altar of the holy gun.
Gretchen
No, Donalbain, he demonstrates a skill that people in Missouri respect, that makes him seem credible on the subject of guns, and then says vote for me, I’m in favor of background checks and I’ll help pass them if you vote for me. What’s your problem with that?
Gretchen
Sending $30 his way.
Donalbain
@Gretchen: My problem with that is that is symptomatic of a society that has abandoned any pretence of valuing actual competence or evidence based poicy making, and instead is looking for tribal displays of manliness. He is looking at the people who say “Hurr hurr, you can’t have an opinion on the statistics about gun violence in this country because you called a bullet a shell” and thought “You know what, they have a point. I need to show off my sexy gun skillz rather than actually debate the issues.” He is accepting their terms of debate, and making it harder to move the needle for anyone who doesn’t have that particular, useless skill.
Stan
@aimai: Wasn’t the manliness challenge the whole point?
Stan
@Donalbain: “looking for tribal displays”
I think the tribal display here is: I’ve put my ass on the line to protect YOU, and watch while I prove it.
As tribal displays go, that’s a damned good one. Sure beats “Vote for me, I hate the brown people too”.
Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)
@Donalbain: No, what he’s doing is trying to get them to listen to him by establishing his bona fides.
If your intended audience ignores you because they believe you don’t know shit, then you can’t even begin to have a debate.
As I said earlier, the ad isn’t intended to reach the 2A absolutists, but the pro-gun voters who can understand the difference between ‘reasonable regulation’ and ‘turn ’em all in’, but would otherwise vote Republican because of NRA scare tactics.
More simply put, the ad’s showing that he’s no Dianne ‘turn ’em all in’ Feinstein.