Spin Control: College Republicans’ ‘fun’ in poor taste
The Washington State College Republicans have what some might consider a strange sense of humor.
On Thursday they held a demonstration out on the Glenn Terrell Mall on the Pullman campus, which they called “Vote for Your Favorite Domestic Terrorist.”
This was not, as one might infer, a plebiscite on whether Timothy McVeigh is a better terrorist – or should that be worse terrorist? – than Erik Rudolph, Ted Kaczynski or someone else with a track record of wreaking havoc. That might be a bizarre contest but arguably would create an interest ranking among the perpetrators of heinous acts.
The ballot for WSCR, however, consisted of Jesse Jackson, Hillary Clinton, Michael Moore and Rosie O’Donnell.
“It’s an event that will be poking fun at these figures,” Daniel Schanze, the group’s president, said in a press release announcing the event.
That may sound odd to people who think of “poking fun” as something between harmless joshing and a knee-slapping practical joke, as opposed to, say, straddling the line between McCarthyism and accusing someone of a federal felony.
Asked how the group concluded that these four were candidates for “favorite domestic terrorist,” Schanze explained that all four have a history of making “anti-American remarks.”
For example, Schanze said, Moore had the temerity to tell a German newspaper that Americans were “possibly the dumbest people on the planet.” (If that’s an accurate quote, it’s admittedly not terribly bright for someone who relies on the world’s dumbest people to buy tickets to his movies, but it’s probably not a reason to call Homeland Security and get them to train the spy satellites on Moore’s substantial frame.)
The others have said things that were condescending to their country or their countrymen, he added. “I think we were just responding equally.”
Equating criticism with terrorism seems like a giant leap, even if the group was, as Schanze contends, just trying to inform the voters.
Reminded that domestic terrorism is a serious crime, Schanze seemed to backpedal. They never thought of it that way, he said. The title of the contest was just a come-on, sort of like the headline on a news story, he added.
But headlines are supposed to accurately reflect a story, just as this contest seems to accurately reflect the College Republicans’ feelings about people who stray from their view of patriotism. Trying to judge which political opponent is the bigger domestic terrorist goes beyond Love It or Leave It to something akin to Love It or Go to Guantanamo.
The College Republicans were out on Terrell Mall for about four hours Thursday and had more than 150 students cast ballots. More than half marked their ballots for Clinton, with the rest going to Moore, O’Donnell and Jackson in that order.
It would be tempting to write this off as just a sophomoric college prank for those of a political bent, even though the country is coming up on an anniversary of Sept. 11 and in the middle of court battles over the Patriot Act. Still, the fact that the CRs could think up this exercise and get more than 150 students to participate in it, does make one wonder.
Isn’t there a course down in Pullman that teaches students about the First Amendment and the value of dissent in a free society? And if so, is it only an elective?
By the numbers
Spokane County’s final ballot count Wednesday had a few interesting footnotes.
Councilwoman Mary Verner gained a bit of ground on Mayor Dennis Hession. On election night, he was a full percentage point ahead, up 400 votes. In one later count he was ahead by 500 votes, but on Wednesday he finished about 300 votes ahead. A win is a win, of course, but this is a sign that the mayoral primary was very close, and perhaps tightening as the deadline approached. Ballots counted last tend to be the ones mailed or dropped off close to Election Day.
George McGrath, who spent about $4,400 on his campaign – mostly on yard signs, it would seem – did only marginally better than Karen Cannon, who spent next to nothing after paying her filing fee. His third-place finish was just 341 votes above her fourth-place tally. In this case, a loss is a loss, but it does show that spending and voting don’t always go hand-in-hand.
While the city’s Northeast Council District had the fewest voters, as usual, it arguably had the most decisive voters. The county reports the number of “undervotes” or ballots in which no candidate is selected on a ballot. This can be a sign that a voter either dislikes all the candidates or doesn’t know enough about any of them to make a choice.
There were just 490 undervotes in the Northeast District. The South District had 961 ballots with no candidate selected, and the Northwest District had 1,131.