Funkhouser goes to the dogs

   With some of the KC mayoral contenders starting to rack up endorsements, Mark Funkhouser finally landed one of this own -- from his dog.

   In what may go down as funniest, looniest and certainly the most amusing advertisement in the mayor's race, Funkhouser posted a video with his 3-month-old toy poodle, named Maria, in his lap. (For those of you, like me, who are not dog versed, a toy poodle is a real dog.) With the poodle's lips and tongue moving, a voice-over goes on to provide the dog's perspective.

   Such as: "I see the side of him that is not in the newspaper. I see a human I can really trust."

   The video slides between the black poodle "talking" in Funkhouser's lap and tootling around his house. The video's creator, Joe Miller, got the poodle to move its mouth by feeding it peanut butter, and the voice-over was provided by an 8-year-old girl.

   Out of nowhere, the ad is getting national buzz. It's been picked up by Salon.com's Video Dog and by onegoodmove.org, among others. See the add for yourself on Funkhouser's Web site.

Posted by Jeffrey Spivak

Comments

[Swift Dogs for Truth]

We just wanted to let everyone know that Mark Funkhouser's dog is NOT speaking for itself. It is clear someone has manipulated the video to make it appear the dog is speaking for itself but IT IS NOT! It is appalling a mayoral candidate would stoop so low as to literally put words in the mouth of a canine, as if dogs could not choose candidates on their own.

Hold Mark Funkhouser accountable for his canine lies!

*PAID FOR AND APPROVED BY SWIFT DOGS FOR TRUTH, A REGISTERED 527 ORGANIZATION*

[unbelievable]

i mean, are you serious???
you think a man that would let his dog endorse him should be your next mayor???

[agog]

that's one of the stupidest things I've seen in my life. It doesn't even look like the dog is "talking." Unfunny and lame. Even the voice over script (not blaming an innocent child here) is pathetic. Humor can be a powerful tool. Lame humor is just sad.

And are we to assume that his lab's silence equates to a non-endorsement? Could it be that his "yellow dog" is supporting a better candidate?

[Anonnymous]

"We just wanted to let everyone know that Mark Funkhouser's dog is NOT speaking for itself..."

LOL. I'm rollin ...

[FUNK]

BRING ON THE FUNK!

FUNK_A_DELIC baby!

Now that was a legitimate endorsement.

[Da]

To unbelievable, wow you are really taking this serious! lighten up a little bit, you might not think its funny but wow does it anger you that much? You sound like your feelings are hurt, why so much anger? lol

[CMR]

Agog got it exactly right. The yellow lab's refusal to speak is a non-endorsement, exactly right. *sarcasm* I gotta agree you guys are really taking this serious. First you people slam Funk for being to serious "doom and gloom" and than you do a complete reversal and accuse him of not being serious enough. Whatever Funkhouser is doing it is working because the money and endorsements your candidates are recieving are obviously not making up for their lack of appeal!!!

i find this all too healthy. someone will inevitably feel compelled to put a stop to our fun.

probably by demanding payment. and so i would like to say to the kc star owners: you already have enough money, mofos, let us alone.

[w-six]

John Fairfield for Dog Catcher!

I thought the ad was funny and shows Funkhouser is not taking himself too seriously. I am really starting to warm up to this guy and I think he's got my vote.

[Smoke Up]

This group is funny not a serious contender but at least funny. F and his staff must be smoking some real good stuff over at his house. Next they should try putting F in a shot with Cheech and Chong and they could title it Funkhouser Up In Smoke. Keep on drinking the Funky Kool Aid and Eating his brownies and you will be happy even when he looses. Funkhouser has been almost as entertaining as Stan Glazier.

[unbelievable]

point taken.
about lightening up his character and such.
but geez, he's still not a mayor.
maybe like a gotham city mayor, but not for KC.

Maybe I'm too thin skinned for some of the junk, but I am very offended at the 10:36 post.

I am a Funkhouser supporter and I find it offensive that you lump us all into a particular group--pot smoking etc.

I read the article on Jeff Roe today and I suppose nothing should surprise me, but I realize that this is a "blood sport" and until blood has been drawn, then some would say it isn't fun anymore.

Those of us who know and care about Mark and his children's new little Maria find this to be something that is lost on the likes of you et al.

We've got some real rough days ahead and if you are already picking on this innocent video, heaven help us all. Literally!!

[CMR]

"smoke up" prepare to eat your words, anybody that has payed a shread of attention to this race knows that Funk is in the mix. Just a quick run through to the uninformed:

1. At almost every forum it has been reported and I have witnessed that Funk has received the most applause and cheering. Take a second and skim through KC Star archives or check out the Buzz Blog headlines

2. Sunday's KC Star declared Funkhouser as a clear second concerning the first released polling info. You are probably not aware that only two candidates move foward.

3. Funkhouser has decisively won the only two forums that have been scored, you can find the results linked through the buzz blog

4. Funkhouser has been the only candidate to recieve political jabs from others such as Redierer and Fairfield-a clear sign of nervous fear

I apologize for making a fool out of you and I'm not sure why I or anyone would respond to such a ridiculous post. It gets under my skin when teenagers get on here and waste others time.

[guy]

Hey smoke up will he lose or loose? Just curious because I find it ironic that you accuse the Funk campaign of this and that yet you have a couple spelling issues. Maybe you should head back to english class, your hall pass has already expired. Seriously though, you are lucky this blog is anonymous-I would be pretty embarrassed if I was as out of touch with the political scene as you are. Go read up on the race a little bit and than come back and tell us "whats what" in this race. On second though-don't come back.

[guy]

Hey smoke up will he lose or loose? Just curious because I find it ironic that you accuse the Funk campaign of this and that yet you have a couple spelling issues. Maybe you should head back to english class, your hall pass has already expired. Seriously though, you are lucky this blog is anonymous-I would be pretty embarrassed if I was as out of touch with the political scene as you are. Go read up on the race a little bit and than come back and tell us "whats what" in this race. On second thought-don't come back.

This little dust up over the cute little puppy is a good one to have. I wouldn't want to be in Reiderer's shoes right now after I read that article on Jeff Roe this morning in the Star.

That is going to get real nasty because Nace has a whole lot to lose if Reiderer's camp continues to manipulate and call in favors as it appears he may be doing now. There may be a whole lot of skeletons to be found in some of these closets.

I'm thrilled to death that Funk's only problem right now is Maria.

[pot calling the kettle black]

Guy: If you are going to try to bust someone for typos, you should make sure your post doesn't contain so many grammer mistakes.

"Grammar," that is.

[kettle calling pot calling kettle black]

back at ya!

[joe MIller]

I'll tell you what. There are an awful lot of people who read this blog without commenting, because the hit count on http://www.markfunkhouser.com/ has gone up significantly since this post. More than 1,000 in two days. And we're tracking most of the traffic right back to KC Buzz Blog. And a lot of them are sticking around, clicking on more than one page, reading Mark's blog, and watching the other movies, which have logged close to 5,000 hits all together.

Seems to me our little poodle is one of the buzziest endorsements in town!