As the old saying goes, you just can’t make this stuff up.
With the race to the presidential primaries heading into the final lap, two GOP stars — intent on undermining each other — fumbled this week. The first was Marco Rubio. This rising GOP star, who does not have time to be bothered with his duly-elected day job, has spent years modeling the skills of the greatest GOP president, Ronald Reagan. Reagan knew the key to electability in the TV age is being able to read off a teleprompter skillfully, empathically and with conviction.
Rubio, though, has removed the need for the teleprompter.
But, in the recent GOP debate, his repetitive responses prompted Twitter users to conclude that maybe the robot glitched and needed to be repaired.
It’s not the first time the ‘I want to be president’ candidate has struggled with looking presidential on camera. But in Saturday’s debate, Rubio repeated lines so many times that GOP comrade, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, openly mocked the presidential contender.
More Than A Pretty Face
Not to be outdone by his nemesis, perennial outsider and Canadian-born Ted Cruz, bested Rubio for Gaffe of the Week.
Since Cruz’ team felt it was time to get the negative ads flowing more steadily, they launched a short online clip to undermine Rubio. Unfortunately for Cruz, his staff did not vet the actress who delivers the ad’s punchline.
The clip takes place in a fictional support group for voters dealing with an unnamed politician’s lies (Marco Rubio). One poor sap tell the support group that he voted for a Tea Party leader only to have that politician broker a deal in D.C. after being elected. The camera then zeroes in on a female member (Amy Lindsay) who sympathetically advises the man,
Maybe you should vote for more than just a pretty face next time.
Is Everyone Watching?
The clip, designed to exploit the belief that everyone is politics is a liar (except Cruz, of course), inadvertently gave a thumps-up to porn. This proved somewhat problematic for Cruz, who espouses Christian beliefs, so he pulled down the ad. As far as the actress, she originally stated that Cruz’ campaign team knew of her film history, but later recanted.
I have clearly talked to the filmmakers and stuff and just to be clear, I assumed that they knew but none of the filmmakers or the casting director knew about my complete filmography in the past that you’re talking about, so I was wrong in that statement, she was quoted as saying.
But the real mistake for Cruz may have been in not using a better-known adult film star.
Although many of Cruz’s followers vocally oppose the industry, the $10 billion porn industry has a significant numbers of viewers in conservative pockets of the country. In fact, online searches for porn in GOP-leaning states consistently outpace the number of searches in non-conservative areas.
My Hometown: An Outsider’s View From Inside Boehner’s Congressional District
For 25 years one of the most powerful GOP leaders, former Speaker of the House John Boehner, was my Congressman. In My Hometown, I blend statistic evidence with personal stories as I seek to understand how my hometown descended from the thriving community of my childhood to an impoverished area dealing with a heroin epidemic. The eBook opens with the story of William Bruce, the man who founded Eaton, Ohio, and compares Bruce’s concepts of government and community to the methods believed and practiced today.
Charlie R. Claywell 