Racially Insensitive Campaign Ad of the Day: Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) has come under fire for a “racially charged” Super Bowl campaign ad that relies on a variety of stereotypes to depicts Chinese people, including gong noises, a conical straw hat, and a Charlie Chan-ish command of the English language.
The ad is part of Hoekstra’s campaign for Democratic Michigander Debbie Stabenow’s seat in the Senate.
Asked to explain the ad, Hoekstra spokesperson Paul Ciaramitaro called it “satirical,” and rejected its characterization as “racial.”
“I think that China is our global competitor and the facts are what they are,” said Ciaramitaro. “They hold $1.1 trillion of our debt, their economy is booming, ours is not. It’s not a racial overtone to compare yourself to competitors on the global stage. I think the viewer of an ad is going to recognize satire.”
[politico / thanks alex!]
So I have not been a fan of Pete Hoekstra for a long time now. He represented the west side of the state in Congress for a few years. In 2009 he made the, er, wise decision to Tweet that he sympathized with the Iranian Green movement, because Democratic leadership wouldn’t let the House of Representative go into recess since Republicans were being jackasses.
I knew he was running against Senator Stabenow — not my favorite United States Senator, but she’s my Senator, dammit — but I didn’t think it would be this bad. The Republican Party of Michigan does a bang up job of making the entire party look bad.
Hell, the Republican water sanitation authority of Peoria makes the party look bad. But this isn’t any better.
