"The GOP Newsline" is the official weekly email newsletter of the Republican Party of Minnesota. The party does not post the newsletter on its website, and not without reason. The MNGOP's website is filled with attacks that most of us would take offense at, but which we're used to seeing from mainstream Republicans. They attack Kerry for opposing the Hate Amendment, supporting a woman's right to choose, and
claim that he has used "an unprecedented amount of doublespeak." They
smear Democratic candidate Patty Wetterling with the MoveOn Hitler ads months after the controversy has been cleared up. Typical Republican attacks -- well, maybe not that doublespeak line. [much more inside]
Their website also features the "Hit of the Week," which, despite its name, is not a weekly feature. A recent Hit
claimed that unions are "so full of spite that they are unable to offer even a simple sign of respect for their political opponents." The political opponent in question is Reagan; the reasoning behind the claim that they do not respect him in death is that on June 22, their flags were not flying at half mast. That's a cheap shot. But they save the really offensive stuff for their email newsletter.
The latest issue is the worst I have seen yet. In it, they analyze Kerry's campaign slogan, "Let America Be America Again." Kerry is quoted as calling Langston Hughes, the author of the poem from which the line is taken, "one of America's greatest poets." After repeating some lines from the poem, they say this:
And not to over-analyze a simple campaign slogan, but the question should be, does John Kerry share this bleak view of America? Now we're no poet laureates, but Hughes sounds pretty anti-capitalistic and more than a little dejected and down on America. Not to mention Hughes' involvement with the Communist Party and some of his other poetry, which is virulently anti-Christian.
It's clear what they're doing here. By invoking Kerry's praise of Hughes before slamming the poet as anti-American, they're trying to create a clear association between Kerry and Hughes' alleged beliefs.
Then, they attack Kerry for being gay. Yes, that's right. As many of us Kossacks probably know by now, Drudge has a gallery of photos showing Kerry and Edwards touching each other. The MNGOP not only links to this gallery, but drops in a line which shows the true reason for the link:
Now, I would usually let this slide as just a Drudge link. But the line in parenthesis makes their intentions clear. The MNGOP is clearly implying that John Kerry and John Edwards are giving the impression that they are gay, and that such a think deserves to be mocked.
And this, an attack on Kerry's alleged use of Botox:
And finally, the first photo op of the new Kerry/Edwards ticket. Their formal introduction to the country. Their opportunity to show that they, too, can relate to average Americans... Imagine Kerry's expression (if his Botoxed face is still capable of such a thing) at seeing this photo in the Washington Post the next morning:
http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I35965-2004Jul08LYup. They just said that Kerry is so loaded up on Botox, he is no longer capable of showing any expression. Clever, guys.
In an earlier issue, they quoted right-wing talking heads playing doctor, calling Al Gore "out of control," saying he needs "[psychiatric] help," and claiming that he has "gone off his lithium again." I previously covered these same attacks from the national GOP in this diary.
I gotta give them one thing, though: they have balls the size of Jupiter. How else can you explain their use of these negative attacks after chastising Democrat Patty Wetterling for allegedly not following her pledge to run a positive campaign. But then, I guess they never made a promise like that. Not hard to see why.