(VIDEOS) Fields Ad Says Striking Deer More Likely Than Ellison Bill Passing
MN congressman, GOP rival issue YouTubes.
A new, web-only "Super Bowl ad" from GOP congressional candidate Chris Fields hits U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL-MN) for having few of his bills pass.
The ad, titled "We Deserve Better", has music (but no voiceover) accompanying a series of images of Ellison—including a recent photo of the congressman on the floor of the House of Representatives holding an Elmo doll—and this on-screen text:
"Meet career politician Keith Ellison. He's good at giving speeches. He gives a lot of interviews. And he has a lot of friends. But what has he accomplished? Not much. Since 2010 Rep. Ellison has authored or co-authored 302 bills in Congress. Only 3 of these 302 bills have become law. Less than a 1% success rate. In the next two years you have a greater chance of hitting a deer in Minnesota than Keith Ellison has of passing a bill in Washington. We deserve better."
The ad's fine print cites Zuma, a news agency; Fox News; and GovTrack.us as sources for its claims.
It's not the first time in recent years that a Minnesota politician has made use of deer vs. vehicle crash statistics: In his 2009 State of the State Address, Gov. Tim Pawlenty said "almost every one of us has hit a deer with our car."
Fields' ad appears, however, to be the first from the trio of Republican challengers to Ellison. DFLer Gary Boisclair has released graphic anti-abortion and anti-Islam ads that like Fields are so far online-only.
Fields Joins Watts
Fields was among the local politicians welcoming former Oklahoma congressman J.C. Watts at Fabulous Fern's in St. Paul, according to Paul Demko of Politics in Minnesota.
Watts was in town to campaign on behalf of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential bid, ahead of Minnesota party caucuses Tuesday.
Ellison Revamps Website
Meanwhile, Ellison unveiled a redesign of his official government website, with a higher profile for social media and multimedia—in a work week when new clips of him appeared at YouTube almost daily:
- Welcome to My New Website
- Ellison on MSNBC discussing his bill to constitutionally curtail Super PACs
- Ellison on WCCO-TV discussing voting rights and payroll tax cuts
- Ellison on the House floor discussing long-term care for senior citizens
Ellison also released statements on the the voter-ID constitutional amendment in Minnesota and the latest unemployment figures.
Kevin O'Donovan
4:17 pm on Monday, February 6, 2012
Ellison says he will fight efforts to take voting rights from Minnesotans. Doesn't an illegal vote by an unauthorized voter do just that? It displaces a valid vote's value. Immediately after the Revolutionary war only property owners twenty one years of age or older could vote. Seventy percent of those who were eligible voted. New Jersey was the only place that allowed women to vote and Free Blacks property owners could vote. Now we have rightly expanded voting rights. I don't see the requirement for a Photo I.D. to be so onerous. I do see it as a safeguard that protects a person's vote in having its fair value.
Donna Schmitt
9:42 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
I would like to see my representative's bills pass. That proves that they are effective in communicating the necessity for that bill. But, I don't believe it is necessary to pass a lot of bills to convey that message.