The Democratic Party of Oregon has unveiled its ready-made website slamming Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Dudley. The site, DudleyDoLittle.com, focuses on the former NBA player’s lack of detailed proposals. (WW noticed it last night.) “Throughout the campaign we’ve been trying to figure out exactly what Chris Dudley stands for,” the website says, and it provides little video gems like this one:
The Democrats had the site waiting in the bag to be unleashed after a Dudley primary win—records show that the domain was registered in late March.
I’ve got a call in to the DPO asking for information about the anti-Alley site that they surely had ready to go. I wonder if they made one for John Lim? Sizemore? Records show that one other domain was registered by the DPO in late March… and it starts with an O. To learn more I need to pay $200, which Editor in Chief Wm. Steven Humphrey thinks is a terrible idea.
Too bad the Dems can’t seem to step above the smear campaigns.
Wow, Encyclopedia Brown, you’re really on to quite the scoop here. I also heard there might be an anti-Dudley Facebook group at some point–better start unraveling that dark mystery now.
Hey, IJ! I thought you were dead!
I rose from the dead when I discovered a political party created a website that opposes their opponent. This veil of intrigue shall not shroud the eyes of Investigative Journalism!
@Jackattak
I don’t know that pointing out the Republican candidate’s lack of substance is a smear rather than pointing out a fact.
@ BlackedOut –
That’s a cop-out because any party can say another party isn’t doing something and that’s a fact, but it’s also a smear campaign.
To me, the Dems should (and can) do better than these silly tactics that don’t really do much to bolster one’s side effectively.
I dislike this side of politics and it’s stooping to the GOP’s level.
@Jackattak
Alright. If you think showing video of a Republican not having an answer for some pretty damned important questions then I guess I could never convince you that it isn’t a smear campaign. I guess showing that video of George Allen using an ethnic slur was a big smear campaign too right?
Also…if you don’t want to stoop to the Republicans level please go hang out with Al Gore and John Kerry’s respective campaign managers somewhere far, far away from politics.
Why so snarky? Can’t anyone just have a normal conversation anymore?
Alas, I see your point in that trying to be in politics without running smear campaigns (the website itself is the smear, not hte facts being presented) is ineffective.
That’s what I dislike about politics. The types of people I want to vote for wouldn’t stoop to such childish tactics and would simply get shit done. I’m not attacking the Dems. Just saying I wish we had something better out there and overall I wish that the US At Large wouldn’t succumb to such childish crap in their politics.
@BlackedOut – I think, by definition, any campaign that focuses on the opponent’s negatives is a smear campaign. Anyone running for office should be trying to convince us that they are right for the job, not that other people would be worse.
Think of it like a job interview. If you were interviewing someone to hire, it’d seem a little sketchy if they talked shit about the other applicants the whole time, right?
Reymont hit the nail on the head. I’m not doing well with words today with this whole Trimet debacle unfolding the way it did.
@Reymont @Jackattak
Maybe I’m just jaded. I would also prefer candidates to act in the ways you want. It’s just that low information voters don’t operate that way. They may disagree 98% with everything that comes out of one guy’s mouth but he’s got some sort of aw shucks thing about him that the guy they agree with 98% of the time doesn’t have and they’ll still vote for the guy they agree with 2% of the time.
Jack:
The underlying issue here is an uninformed, shallow electorate. When AOI and SEIU and all the other interest groups are able to throw millions upon millions into campaigns to twist, distort and just flat-out lie, it becomes sort of a don’t-hate-the-player situation.
If you want to see politicians saying real things, if you want to see campaigns run on genuine public interest, if you want to see issue-oriented discussions of the problems actually facing citizens, we need to get money out of elections.
Otherwise, we will continue to see the best candidates go down in flames to the better-funded anointed ones.
Agree with BlackedOut and BOH. Also, the lobby needs to be ABOLISHED. Like, now.
Whois searches are the new Woodward and Bernstein.
They should just point out Dudley’s career FT% is 50 points below that of Shaq.
I will start a Tumblr blog.