I live in Texas, as most of you know, and we don't get the political ads from EITHER party. It's sortof a given that the Texas electoral college will vote for Bush, so neither party wastes their time on T.V. ads, etc.

We turned on the VCR when Gore was on Oprah, and watched Gore on Letterman tonight. The man struck me as more relaxed and humorous than I'd imagined. Smirk Bush will be on Oprah next Tuesday, and we're going to tape that one as well to observe the contrast. Of course these aren't debates. Those won't come until October.

In the meantime, I'd like to hear from folks who live in swing states who have seen the political ads on T.V. I've HEARD about them from pundits on both sides, but I've not SEEN them [and I had to delete real-player a while back, so that's not an option right now.]

If you've seen some of the ads, how did they strike you? Do you think they changed your opinion, reinforced your opinion, etc.?

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 15, 2000

Answers

What's a smirk in contrast to Gore claming he invented the Internet? I happen to like people who smile, it shows that they are well adjusted.

-- smiley (smiley@smilesmileesmilee.xcom), September 15, 2000.

Would you mind showing me where Gore stated that he invented the internet, Smiley? I've read the spin from the Republican party. I want you to quote what he REALLY said. Can you do it? *I* can.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 15, 2000.

How come you don't have to watch the ads? That's not fair!

The ads haven't changed my opinion, only reinforced it. Bush has broken his promise, and is making very negative attacks against Gore. It just convinces me even more that Bush is the scum I knew he was.

-- (shrub@smirker.pouter), September 15, 2000.

The attacks have come from both sides. I really dislike it when Gore whines about the attacks and he does it himself. He did it during the repub convention.

Anita, I remember seeing the interview replayed on TV some time ago. Yes he actually said that! Unbelievable as it may be. He also followed up some time later to recant it. No, I'm sorry, I can't point to any internet article.

I've only seen a few ads, actually not very many recently from Gore.

-- Maria (anon@ymous.com), September 15, 2000.

RATS, controversial tv ad by which one? Well Bush of course.

Subliminal message, which the shrubs/opps scrub camp denies.

At the end of the ad the word RATS flashes on screen for 1/20th of a second. So the ad was discontinued.

Sorry I cant be of much help anita, but I did learn something from you. You dont HAVE to watch these boring ads. lucky gal that you are.

To be real honest, I pay no attention to any of them. All of them lie and deny and it bores me. I will watch the debates.

Loved the Hillary and Lazio debates.....

-- consumer (shh@aol.com), September 15, 2000.

I saw part of Gore's appearance on Letterman last night. I thought he came off well, especially in the beginning when he and Dave were joking around. I liked him. But when it got to the 2nd half of the interview, where real issues were covered (like global warming) I was reminded of why I will vote Republican.

This was before my time (believe it or not) but I recall a story about Eleanor Roosevelt being asked (in effect) "who would you vote for if a less appealing Democrat was running against a more appealing Republican?" She said she would vote for the Democrat. In other words, charisma and personal charm were less important to her than policy, philosophy(ideology) and power. Cynics will say there are no difference between the Republicans and Dems. As compared to Roosevelt's day, this is true but there are still significant differences in emphasis and policy. Ask any Democrat.

Bill Clinton was elected, in part, because he had more sex appeal than Geo Bush, elder. But this is an election for President of the United States not for president of the Senior class. Nothing would please me more than to vote for a witty, courageous person but there are still the nitty-gritty issues of taxes, foreign policy, government size, government intrusivness, etc, etc.

Bush and Cheney may or may not be as cool as as Gore and Liebenthal but that is not relevant.

Eleanor was right.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 15, 2000.

Guess I'm really lucky; we don't get the broadcast networks on our system, so I've never seen ANY of the ads.

Life is good ;-)

-- Patricia (PatriciaS@lasvegas.com), September 15, 2000.

who put the RAT in democRAT?

-- ratsy (ratatat.tat@hotmail.com), September 15, 2000.

Bush has a ggod one out where he has tapes of Gore saying all kinds of stupid stuff even "I created the internet".

They even set up a website Gorewillsayanything.com

I don't like being referred to as rich by the Gore camp. We need a tax cut!

Other than that the ads are so boring nothing is standing out as significant.

Now next week Pat Buchanan gets the 12 mil and I think he'll start stirring the pot a little.

-- Swampthing (in@the.swamp), September 15, 2000.

I'd like to know why Anita and Patricia should be spared the ads (from both parties). Is this some "west of the Mississippi" thing? A payoff? What? Unfortunately, I've seen both sets -- plus the state and local ones here -- algore "Mr. Stiffy" Gore is still Gore, but possibly getting better at it; and Smirk Dubya FratBoy daddy's widdle Schwubby Bush is still his very charming illiterate self. I don't think there's been anything shown from either camp to change any minds yet -- and I don't think there will, unless one side digs up photos of the other in bed with a dead woman or a live boy. The Harry Browne ads have been interesting, though. And the debates might even be worth watching this year, if only to see if Smirk remembers to wipe the powder from under his nose and hide the can of Lone Star behind the lectern before they begin.

(This self-editing stuff is fun!)

P.S. From what I remember of the Al Gore / Internet thing, he never laid claim to "inventing" the Internet per se -- but he did lay claim to getting legislation through that basically enabled the Internet to become what it is today -- and if you're skillful enough in debate, you might be able to make a valid claim to be the "creator" of the Internet (as distinctly opposed to the "inventor"). If there's anyone who can individually claim to be the "father" of the Internet (technically), my guess is that it'd be someone like Vint Cerf. Either way, it's probably more a matter of semantics than anything else -- the difference between "inventing," "creating," and all that. It should be interesting to see if the topic comes up during one of the debates. It'd be a lot of distinctions that make no difference to most people, but these guys are gonna be out for blood -- and if Smirk Bush brings it up, it'll be telling to see how "Mr. Personality" Gore pedals around it.

-- I'm Here, I'm There (I'm Everywhere@so.beware), September 15, 2000.

What has being "more relaxed in front of a camera" got to do with who will make a better president? Is this an oscar race or a presidential race? I find it quite scary that anyone could be so easily manipulated.

-- cin (cin@=0).cin), September 15, 2000.

Cin:

I think appearing relaxed in front of a camera is a requirement. As President of the United States, whoever is elected will spend a great deal of time meeting with foreign dignities [who have their own cameras, BTW], and being followed around by the press constantly [who ALSO have their own cameras.] One wouldn't want to be so nervous that they um...threw up on someone or lost their train of thought.

For Al, it's particularly important that he appears relaxed. His image has been one of "mannequin, stiff Al", etc., while Bush has enjoyed the "good old boy" back-slapper image.

Lars:

I thought one of Al's best lines was when he said to Dave, "Are you obsessed with Global Warming?" Personally, I thought Al's book on the subject was a great cure for insomnia. I'd recommend it highly to anyone having trouble falling asleep at night.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), September 15, 2000.

anita--

Yes, that was a good line. Al Gore has some good writers. But he delivered it well, I have to give him credit for that. I also enjoyed it when he called Dave a "wonk". A ittle self-deprecating irony there.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), September 15, 2000.

Ratsy, don't you mean, Who put the "rat" in "Republicrat"?

Anita, I would be jealous of your good fortune (not HAVING to watch political adds), if it weren't for the fact that I gave my boob toob the old heave-ho, in 1973.

On the other hand, as an expatriot out of Texas (in 1968), it is possible that most Texans have never heard of Ralph Nader. Too bad. Do we really want to choose EITHER of the two evils?

Even though I'm no Gore fan (and certainly no W fan -- who needs a jerk off skull and boner?), I find it less than credible that anyone in his position would claim to have invented or created the internet. Anita, would you please show us your information?

Thanks, JOJ

-- jumpoffjoe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), September 16, 2000.