WV-Sen: Front page backlash after GOP pins "hick" label on voters

[ProSense]

WV-Sen: Front page backlash after GOP pins "hick" label on voters

by Jed Lewison

When you run an ad that calls West Virginia voters 'hicks' you gotta' expect it'll backfire. And based on the reaction from these front pages, it has:



I can't wait to see the Joe Manchin's ads mocking the GOP and its candidate for running that stupid ad attacking West Virginians.

[BeyondGeography]

1. Seems like this opportunity has potential

And Manchin has the credibility to make the most of it.

[monmouth]

2. It was only a matter of time. I knew that wasn't a go the minute I saw it..LOL....n/t

[Cognitive_Resonance]

3. This point should be hammered home for all it's worth. nt

[KingFlorez]

4. You do not stereotype people and expect them to support you

The GOP continues to show what they are out of touch and condescending towards almost everyone.

[progressoid]

5. I can hear RWers blaming the liberal media for this.

[Nancy Waterman]

6. Kaese's Macacca Moment

I hope Manchin puts it in a blistering ad with the bit about K living in wealthy Palm Beach.

[catgirl]

7. Great timing too!

[Qutzupalotl]

8. While I'm happy to see the prominent stories,

and I'm sure the outrage will grow... the word "hicky" likely came from the ad agency, not the GOP. Granted, agencies do the bidding of their clients, but it seems more likely to me that the agency came up with the word. Casting is their domain.

[ProSense]

9. Yeah,

let's blame the next DNC ad that the Republicans don't like on their ad agency.

The GOP approved that message.

[Qutzupalotl]

13. We're not talking about the ad.

The ad didn't contain the word "hicky," the casting call did. The GOP did not approve of the casting call language as far as we know, and has since disavowed it and cut ties with the agency.

[karynnj]

16. True - but they approved the finished ad, which likely - due to the casting language -

had people who looked or sounded "hicky". This means they were ACTORS and they were acting how they saw "hicks". To the people, who by inference are being labeled "hicks", this could make that ad toxic.

(A funny story my sister tells in that when she was at IU, Breaking Away was filmed, and there was some casting for walk ons on the IU campus. Several of her friends tried out - and the ones cast were all cast as "townies" (or "stonies" in Bloomington's language). IU students were not preppy enough to play the role of ... IU students.)

[Ikonoklast]

10. You approve the work before you sign the check.

Republicans signed off on this, then needed to walk it back.


It's all theirs.

[Qutzupalotl]

14. The word "hicky" was not in the ad.

It was in the casting call.

[Cosmocat]

11. If this was a D candidate ...

the right wing would be going ballistic with it, and the media would be following suit ... It would be bitter and loving guns 24-7 ...

[KingFlorez]

12. They had to tell the agency what they were looking for in advance

The GOP bares responsibility for this, the agency couldn't have put out the casting notice unless the GOP told them that they wanted actors to play stereotypical roles.

[Qutzupalotl]

15. Not necessarily.

We don't have enough information to know whether the GOP told the agency, "We want hicks." It's entirely possible that a creative director came up with the adjective on his/her own.

[KingFlorez]

17. They didn't have to say the word "hicks"

The problem is that they resorted to stereotypical images in a ploy to appeal to voters, they knew what they wanted when they commissioned the ad. When you decide to hire an ad agency, you give them a rough idea of what you want.

[Qutzupalotl]

18. Sometimes the agency tells you what they think you need,

if they were doing market research for the RNC, for instance. We don't have enough information to know which party the word "hicky" first came from. What we do know is that it first appeared in public in a casting call from the agency. I think it is not our strongest argument, since it can be plausibly denied, and since there are more pressing issues for voters.

Now if we frame it as, where did this idea come from? and keep hammering, we could successfully make it an issue. But there might come a tipping point, when we are seen to be continually asking questions that have already been addressed, at which point this line of inquiry begins to work against us and should be dropped.

[pstokely]

19. Do hicks mind being called hicks?

Some consider it a compliment from "them New Yorkers and Hollywood"

[book_worm]

20. I'm hoping Manchin gets traction out of this--along with the fact that his opponent

has two homes outside of WVA and his own wife cannot vote for him in WVA.