The Weirdest, Most Uncomfortable Political Ad -- Ever
We all know politics can get crazy, but when a
candidate in 2010 for the U.S. Senate has to defend
herself against allegations that she is a “witch,”
we have reached an all time low.
Whoever said words could never hurt you, did not
know what they are talking about.
Today, your words are recorded forever and can
indeed hurt you regardless of when you said it,
where you said it, whom you said it to and why you
said it.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell
from Delaware is trying to explain away an interview
she had on ABC’s now defunct comedy TV show
“Politically Incorrect” hosted by Comedian
Bill Maher in 1999. During that show this is
what she said she did in high school:
“I dabbled into witchcraft -- I never joined a coven. But I did, I did. I dabbled into witchcraft. I hung around people who were doing these things. I'm not making this stuff up. I know what they told me they do," she said.
"One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar, and I didn't know it. I mean, there's little blood there and stuff like that," she said. "We went to a movie and then had a midnight picnic on a satanic altar."
O’Donnell appeared as a regular on the comedy show. She appeared 22 times.
Candidate O’Donnell cannot seem to shake this story. Instead of ignoring it and concentrating on the issues in her state, she is feeding and perpetuating the story with a new campaign TV that started airing today.
Believe or not a serious candidate for the United States Senate has produced a statewide campaign ad that opens with the statement that “I am not a witch.”
While O'Donnell professes not to be a witch in the
ad, she certainly looks like one. She is dressed in
black against a black background and talks in a soft
tone with a strange look in her eye. It is probably
the weirdest most uncomfortable political ad I have
ever seen. It was definitely not “spellbinding”, it
is horrifying and creepy.
I believe this ad was a huge mistake. It shows an
acute lack of good judgment and common sense for a
candidate to believe that this commercial could be
helpful. It will only act to revisit a story that
she herself could have minimized and laughed off.
Maybe she is waiting to turn her floundering campaign and this story around by Halloween? Boo.
Bradley A. Blakeman served as deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-04. He is currently a professor of Politics and Public Policy at Georgetown University and a frequent contributor to Fox News Opinion.