Trey Grayson for Secretary of State!
(Remember Florida in 2000? Having the above office is VERY important)
Linda Greenwell for State Auditor!
Richie Farmer for Agriculture Commissioner!
Posted on 08/17/2003 6:14:44 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
DEMOCRATS' GIMMICK SPAWNS OTHER DEVICES
Like its cinematic namesake, the Democratic Party's Job Terminator mascot just keeps coming back.
The Job Terminator -- a giant head with sunglasses that is supposed to resemble and lampoon GOP gubernatorial nominee Ernie Fletcher -- made its debut at the Fancy Farm picnic in Western Kentucky two weeks ago where that kind of gimmickry is the order of the day.
The idea was for Democratic candidate Ben Chandler to slam Fletcher, a Congressman from Lexington, for supporting President Bush's economic policies, but it has spawned a series of theatrics that Kentucky voters can expect to see through the fall.
There is now a Web site, a letter to other governors around the country and, of course, the seemingly ubiquitous Job Terminator character itself -- a kind of a cross between an action hero and a stalker.
Tuesday, he appeared at a gubernatorial forum in Louis-ville. His posse of Democratic "Terminatorites" held signs with numbers of jobs lost in several Kentucky counties to illustrate Chandler's argument that the federal economy has hurt Kentucky.
Later, the Terminator showed up outside Fletcher's meeting with Louisville officials, much to the Fletcher campaign's chagrin.
"Clearly, there's a time and place for everything," said Wes Irvin, Fletcher's campaign spokesman. "We left those antics at Fancy Farm, where they belong."
Fletcher, for his part, seemed to shrug it off. "If that's the way Ben wants to run his campaign, that's fine," he told reporters later.
Then, referring to the look-alike head, he added, "He's not a bad-looking guy."
But Irvin said he hopes the giant foam head allows voters to see a difference between the two candidates.
"Everyone knows that Ben has wanted to be governor since he was a child, however, running for governor means you must put away childish things," he said.
'I'll be back'
While Fletcher might want to say "Hasta la vista" to the Job Terminator, Democrats say he'll be around.
"We haven't seen the last of the Job Terminator, yet," said Jeff Derouen, spokesman for the Kentucky Democratic Party, which has also given the character its own Web site.
Chandler said it's part of his effort to "engage voters" and have a little fun.
"We think that all of this is just using a lighthearted approach to very serious issues," Chandler said. "And we think it's attractive to people."
Humor and clever props have sometimes played significant roles in past campaigns.
In Kentucky, Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is well-known for his political gimmicks, particularly at Fancy Farm, where the rowdy atmosphere traditionally kicks off fall election campaigns in Kentucky.
This year, McConnell brought the Seven Dwarfs to represent "Grumpy Chandler," "Sleepy Chandler" etc.
Phil Laemmle, University of Louisville political science professor, said candidate gimmicks tend to stay with voters, especially those with shorter attention spans.
"Using a gimmick is probably not a bad strategy," he said. "The public in Kentucky is not particularly attentive to very much detail in these races. Because of that you need simple things: slogans or candidate attributes."
The numbers game
So far, Republicans have chosen not to strike back.
At a forum last week, Fletcher even sought to align himself with fellow Republican Arnold Schwarzen-egger, the actor who has played the Terminator, a robotic assassin-turned-savior, in three movies. Schwarzenegger is seeking election as governor of California.
"We need to terminate the waste, the fraud and the abuse in this state and begin to serve the people of Kentucky," Fletcher told the audience. "And this year there are going to be two terminator governors in this nation: one in California and one in Kentucky."
Meanwhile, Fletcher and Republican officials are arguing that the economy is perking up and might not be an issue by the Nov. 4 election.
They point to a report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury from last month. It says that, without economic measures enacted by Bush, such as the recent tax cut package, the "unemployment rate would have been nearly 1 percentage point higher" and "as many as 1.5 million fewer Americans would be working."
Chandler, who has criticized the tax cuts, says the "Bush-Fletcher economic policies" have bloated the national deficit to a record $455 billion and allowed 56,000 Kentuckians to lose their job.
In several speeches, Fletcher has blamed Kentucky's state government for letting those jobs slip away.
This week, the Democratic Party responded by e-mailing a letter to 37 other governor's around the country whose states also have lost jobs since January 2001.
"Hmmm ... 37 incompetent governors or 1 incompetent GOP-led Congress and presidential administration?" the letter said.
Let the words fly Chandler, Fletcher camps confirm there'll be a debate.
But not about Bush Governor's race won't be a referendum on President Bush
But maybe about mullets Some with the popular hairdo are backing Chandler.
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Reach Ryan Alessi at (859) 231-1303; 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 1303; or ralessi@herald-leader.com.
Trey Grayson for Secretary of State!
(Remember Florida in 2000? Having the above office is VERY important)
Linda Greenwell for State Auditor!
Richie Farmer for Agriculture Commissioner!
I hear tell that Republicans are pretty conservative out in Kentucky. He better knock that off if he doesn't want to chase off his base.
LOL. Kinda says it all!
"We need to terminate the waste, the fraud and the abuse in this state and begin to serve the people of Kentucky," Fletcher told the audience.
Fletcher sounds like a very sharp guy who is, at least in public, taking this with a good sense of humor. He might be well served by using his above comment in an ad campaign; consequently, rendering the dems 'terminator' either an advertisement for him or a useless mascot.
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