Flashback: New York City Sharks
Here’s that decade-old shark ad I referenced earlier, in which the New York Republican State Committee told upstate voters that “Sheldon Silver and the New York City Democrats just picked a New York City liberal for every major statewide office.”
And they’re going to tax and spend, the ad says. While the ad only names Sheldon Silver, it was a not-so-veiled effort to protect Republican Senator Al D'Amato from his Democratic challenger that year, then-congressman Chuck Schumer.
The regional appeal is similar -- in spirit, at least -- to the plea Republican State Senate Leader Dean Skelos made in his letter to upstate billionaire Tom Golisano - who says he’ll spend $5 million in this year’s legislative races. While Skelos is from Long Island which, technically, is part of the downstate region, he notes in his letter that at least he’s not from New York City.
The ad, which was made by Mercury Public Affairs, L.L.C., was (very kindly) sent over to me by a reader. I wouldn't have found it otherwise: It ran briefly in 1998, and was too distant an event for the institutional memory even of the mighty YouTube. Any other good, pre-YouTube ads out there collecting dust next to your rotary phones?
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 49.3
- 43.3
- Obama +6.0
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 56.0
- 35.8
- +20.2
- McCain
- 51.8
- 40.2
- +11.6
The video ad recalls the Pataki eras use of Silver's (and Schumer's)religion to promote anti semitism in upstate where residents dont get to see many Jews. The Pataki Administration was notorious for playing these kinds of games while seeking favor from the most Hasidic groups (witness Dan Barry's NY Times article on the "two Josephs" from Williamsburg who became wealthy when Pataki arranged for them to get a nursing home license and appointed one of them to the state public health council). At the same time his henchmen loved to play up Silver's (horns) religion to make him look like the Shylock taking money out of their pockets.
Can Jews ever argue against a position without accusing their opponents of antisemitism?
It's getting old.
to the man or woman with a "question:" the first poster is right on...pataki used anything to get his way including the vile bigotry, racism and anti semitism of our neighbors. those are the facts and it's not about Jews in general...just in the case of the commercial in question.
Oh please, Pataki and anti-semitism..... he threw money at Kiryas Joel (sp?) faster than any Yankee pitcher throws a ball at a Red Sock (they're the Boston team, right? I get confused...)