I’ll just go ahead and say it. because it’s true- Pete Hoekstra represents everything wrong with today’s GOP. Devoid of vision and ideas, and evidently too arrogant and lazy to do their homework and construct lucid, defensible arguments, they default to name-calling, character assassination, and lies. In Hoekstra’s case, you can add blatant, unapologetic racism, propaganda, and a straw man that could pass for an 800-lb. gorilla.
Hoekstra’s ad, which has played only in Michigan, is the worst sort of racist fear-mongering, straight out of the Atwater-Role School of Character Assassination and Political Propaganda. The theory behind the ad seems to be that if you can’t beat ‘em, feel free to make stuff up to maximize fear and loathing among the electorate. Truth is immaterial; what matters is what you can convince the Sheeple to believe. Policy debates are for losers and Liberals; it’s far more effective to impugn your opponent’s reputation and integrity. That way, when they’re busy defending themselves, they won’t have the time, resources, or energy to question yours.
Pete Hoekstra shouldn’t be trusted to manage a Dairy Queen, much less represent Michigan in the US Senate. If Hoekstra has actual ideas that extend beyond smug arrogance and the rote, tired impugning of Liberals as America-hating, anti-freedom zealots, he should let us know what they are. Enunciate them, support them, and work to convince the voters of Michigan of the superiority of those ideas. Hoekstra’s problem, of course, is that he has no ideas…and so racism, character assassination, lies, and a straw man the size of a Rose Parade float are his weapons of choice.
Now there’s some fine leadership, eh, Pete Joke-stra??
