Tag Archives: Todd Rokita

West Virginia GOP Senate candidate’s ad…is bad, really bad

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It’s inevitable that campaign season will produce a number of bad campaign ads. Candidates have limited money, time and manpower. Sometimes you just have to go with what you have and just hope that the candidate’s message is strong enough for the voter’s to overlook the less than stellar ad.

The contentious Indiana GOP Senate primary campaign has produced a number of them, most of them negative and most of them courtesy of the Todd Rokita campaign.

For instance:

However, as bad as those ads may appear, they are nothing, absolutely nothing in comparison to this one produced by a West Virginia GOP Senate candidate.

Don Blankenship is looking to replace Democrat Joe Manchin, but this ad will probably not put him over the top.

The music, the monotone delivery, and the lack of any kind of personality aren’t going to help. But the icing on the cake has to be his creative nickname for Mitch McConnell.

Check it out for yourself:

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Congressman Messer nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

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President of United States. Businessman. Real estate mogul. Reality TV star.

Yes, all of those currently describe the man who resides in the White House, but if House Republicans get their way, Trump could add yet another title.

A number of House Republicans, headed up by Congressman Luke Messer, have nominated President Trump for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

The letter, addressed to the Nobel Committee, says in part:

“We, the undersigned members of the United States Congress, respectfully nominate Donald J. Trump to receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring peace to the region.”

To have the North and South Korea talking, let alone discussing an official end to the Korean War, is pretty amazing and yes, Donald Trump does deserve credit for his part. Trump has been active in the region, even agreeing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Trump should get recognition for his part in that area of the world, but let’s be honest, Messer knows what he’s doing. Messer is locked in a tight primary battle against Congressman Rokita and former State Rep. Mike Braun. This letter gets Messer some earned media at an opportune time and helps tie him closer to Trump, the overriding factor in this primary battle.

However, with all the names on the letter, it’s oddly surprising that Trump’s supposed “best friend” and “right-hand man,” Rokita’s signature is missing.

 

 

 

Todd Rokita: Congressman, avid negative campaigner and …children’s author?

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Congressmen Luke Messer, Todd Rokita and former state representative and businessman Mike Braun are set to debate April 30. It’ll be the final time the candidates are together, an opportunity for the three men to give one final plea before voters head to the polls.

Expect the negative attacks to fly fast and furious in Monday’s debate. Why should anyone expect it to be any different from the rest of the race?

The Rokita campaign, before finally agreeing to participate in the debate, attacked Monday’s moderator, Abdul-Hakim Shabazz. Calling him “a compromised moderator” and “closely aligned to one of the other campaigns.”  Can we say managing expectations?

This race has been an increasingly negative affair. In fact, things have gotten so bad that the Associated Press recently labeled Indiana’s Republican U.S. Senate primary “the nastiest in the nation.”

Well, with less than two weeks to election day, did you really think the attacks would cease?  Instead of easing up, candidates are turning to other communication mediums to slam one another.

For example, Todd Rokita is now a published author. His campaign released “Oh, The Places You’ll Forget,” using the Dr. Seuss classic to slam Luke Messer and his residency.

Like everything else from the Rokita campaign, it doesn’t rely on subtly to get its point across. In the opening pages, there is a reference to both Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh. Both of whom had their residency come up in their most recent campaigns.

But the Rokita campaign saved the best for last, with this terrific passage that is sure to be remembered for generations to come:

“He didn’t support Trump!                                                                                                      Oh for the love of Pete! I’m going to join Todd Rokita and “Defeat the Elite!”

Maybe, for their next act they should have their candidate put on boxing gloves and hit punching bags with his opponents’ faces.

Oh, wait.

 

Joe Donnelly releases first campaign ad

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Indiana’s May primary is two weeks from today. However, while Republicans Luke Messer, Mike Braun and Todd Rokita are locked in a contentious race, not all candidates will be sweating it out the next 14 days.

Democrat Joe Donnelly, who has no primary challenger, is one of those candidates who has nothing to worry about – at least now, anyway. Despite this fact, that doesn’t mean Donnelly can’t get a jump of the general election.  In fact, the Donnelly campaign has been sending out campaign emails, mainly those seeking money, like crazy.  Now, the campaign has decided to release their first campaign ad.

It’s an extremely positive, get to know you ad. In an attempt to bring up memories of Mitch Daniels, Donnelly rides along in an RV. He proceeds to talk about cutting regulation, helping service members and “being the second most bipartisan senator.” Oh, he also mentions that he doesn’t work for either political party, but instead for the voters.

Anyway, Donnelly is sure to be locked in a very tight, contentious race, but he starts things off on a positive note.

Trump campaign to Rokita: Take down your yard signs

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They say there are only two things we can be sure of in life: death and taxes. Well, we might as well add another to that list: political campaigns with yard signs.

Every candidate likes seeing their signs with their name, website and ill-conceived logo and color scheme in a voter’s yard. That has to be the case, because why else would campaigns spend valuable funds on signs.

Anyway, one campaign that isn’t too thrilled with another candidate’s signs is none other than President Donald Trump’s campaign. And the candidate’s signs they aren’t real thrilled with: Todd Rokita.

As you can see, the Rokita campaign is prominently displaying the fact that they are endorsed by Trump/Pence. Except, that’s not actually the case.

You see, Rokita was actually endorsed by the Trump campaign’s Indiana leaders. That distinction is emblazoned underneath the much bigger Trump/Pence.  But hey, who really cares, right? Well, apparently the Trump campaign.

The Trump campaign has ordered those signs be taken down, stating that it gives the false impression that Rokita has the support of the president in this contentious, increasingly negative race.

The Rokita campaign’s response to demand?

“We don’t comment on yard sign strategy.”  Huh? Really?

It’s actually fairly embarrassing, especially for a campaign and a candidate that spouts “pro-Trump” ad nauseam.

Braun campaign labels Messer, Rokita ‘Swamp brothers’ in latest ad

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The May primary is less than three weeks away. And the biggest race to be decided on May 8 has become noticeably more negative as of late.

Exhibit A:  WISH-TV’s Republican debate.

Last Sunday, April 15, Mike Braun, Luke Messer and Todd Rokita took the stage in the race’s second debate.  All three candidates took nearly every question as an invitation to impugn their opponent’s record, integrity and loyalty to President Trump.

I’m not sure what we really learned from that debate, but the attacks were flying fast and furious.

In addition to using their well-honed and rehearsed attacks on one another on the debate stage, they are also becoming frequent in the television ads

Exhibit B: Braun campaign’s latest ad

In the ad, in which the Braun campaign labels both Rokita and Messer and the “swamp brothers,” they are tied to Obama, Planned Parenthood and amnesty.  You know, all things that aren’t likely to get candidates running in a Republican many votes.

Finally, for the big finish Rokita is called a “fraud” and Messer is called “liberal.”

Will the ad work? Who knows, but the Braun campaign continues to churn out the most visually and conceptually creative ads of the three campaigns, by far.

Braun, Messer and Rokita set for 2nd debate: What to watch for

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Businessman and former State Rep. Mike Braun and congressmen Luke Messer and Todd Rokita – candidates running for Indiana US Senate – are set for their second debate.  The three men are battling to become the person to take on Democrat Joe Donnelly in the fall.

In their first debate in nearly two months, the candidates will take the stage Sunday, 7 p.m. at the WISH-TV studio in Indianapolis.

Moderating Sunday night’s debate will be WISH-TV anchor Brooke Martin, WISH-TV reporter David Williams and WEHT anchor Brad Byrd.

However, before the candidates take the stage in only their second debate of the entire campaign, there are some things to watch out for and which could have a big impact on the race:

  • Syria: On Friday evening, President Donald Trump announced the “strategic and precision” bombing of locations in Syria in response to the Syrian chemical attacks. In a campaign that has been marked with the continually repeated phrase “pro-Trump,” how will the candidates react? Would they have done anything differently than the president? Would they have done it alone, without France or Britain?  Would they have done it earlier? Should America even be getting involved in Syria?
  • Negative attacks: This campaign has grown increasingly negative, primarily due to the Rokita campaign. The Rokita campaign has repeatedly called Messer a “never-Trumper,” saying he colluded to take the nomination away from Donald Trump, while providing little evidence.  Braun has called both Messer and Rokita career politicians having accomplished little. Will these attacks continue and will the candidates finally be called on to answer his claims?
  • Pro-Trump: Donald Trump has played a huge role in this race. All three candidates have uttered the phrase “pro-Trump” a ridiculously absurd amount of times, in TV ads, radio ads, speeches and campaign emails. In a campaign that has been noticeably empty of original ideas, saying “pro-Trump” seems to act as a cover for this fact of lack of ideas. Will the candidates put forth original ideas Sunday night? Also, will they explain at point, if any, do they or would they, differ from the president?

Indiana’s primary election day is less than a month away and Sunday night’s debate should serve as an excellent opporuntity to hear directly from the candidates.

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