Jackson County executive candidate Charles Wheeler takes on the age issue in his first TV spot -- see it here.
He also has a more traditional spot -- see it here.
Note to all other candidates: we'll try and post your spots, too, if you get them to us -- e-mail them in a Windows Media format and we can get them up. (Send them to [email protected].)
We'll take a look at the claims and allow people to post about the ads, so be forwarned.
Posted by Dave Helling
"60 is the new 40" claims the ad? Last time I checked, Wheeler hadn't seen 60 in some time. Give me a break. But it's not his age that cost him my vote. More importantly, it's his poor attendance/voting record in the senate and his close, close, close connection with the Sheilds/Cardarella coven.
Posted by: CarrieB | July 25, 2006 at 05:52 PM
I viewed the ads and I am disturbed by the claim that "60 is the new 40". Nice try at trying to "spin" the age issue. Who is going to buy this? I believe Dr. Wheeler is 79 or 80. The fact that his campaign is trying so hard to downplay his age as an issue shows how much of an issue it really is. I am not someone who subscribes to age discrimination as a method of discarding a candidate. I have based my evaluation of Dr. Wheeler NOT being the correct choice for Jackson County Executive on his poor attendance and voting record. He failed to support labor in this district and believes that Matt Blunt is a "good guy" while we all are screaming for his removal before he takes more healthcare away from needy citizens or doling out another license office as a political favor. Honesty and integrity are about telling the truth and this ad about age is misleading.
Posted by: Steve | July 25, 2006 at 06:10 PM
What I want to know is, how'd they get him to skip down the sidewalk?
Posted by: Ian | July 25, 2006 at 06:24 PM
LOL, Ian. I think that was CGI.
Posted by: CarrieB | July 25, 2006 at 07:54 PM
Most voters are keenly aware that television ads spin the facts to suit their needs. Nobody getting fooled here. For anyone who attended last week's forum in Independence, a thousand TV commercials would not change the reality that Wheeler is too old. He looked old. He sounded old. He acted like an old man who can't remember very well. Maybe he can't hear good either. His voting record in the senate was terrible this year. And now this Messerli scandal. I'm afraid the wheels are coming off the Senator's wagon. TV ads will not be enough.
Posted by: John W. Burns | July 25, 2006 at 07:55 PM
Hey kids! If you're old enough to remember when Wheeler was mayor, maybe you'll enjoy this little ditty to be sung to the tune of Whizzo the Clown.
Who can't wean off the public teat? It's Wheeler!
Who just can't seem to say "I quit" It's Wheeler!
He's a funny fellow with a big red shiny nose (wink wink)
Dressed in wrinkly, stripe-y clothes from his head down to his toes!
He's got a bunch of scary friends has Wheeler!
They'll make him dance and skip and pose for you!
It's all a joke on the common folk
Made with blogs and lies and mirrors and smoke
Please don't let them fool you too!
Posted by: Diane Farnsworth | July 25, 2006 at 08:05 PM
What is sad is this "humor" strategy might have actually worked -- if it had started about 2 weeks ago.
Before Wheeler got out in public too much.
Before he fell asleep at forums too much.
Before he made publicly shady deals with Mark Bryant and Freedom too much.
Before he forgot questions at debates too much (like 'who am I, and why am I here?')
Before he got endorsed, then endorsed again, then not really endorsed, and finally un-endorsed.
Before he got all red-faced and blew up at pesky reporters too much.
Before he missed votes too much (oops, sorry, more than 2 weeks ago).
Nope. I guess it wouldn't have worked anyway.
Nevermind.
Posted by: | July 25, 2006 at 10:01 PM
Diane, LOL!!! I love it! No matter how many times the Wheelie's beg you, don't let them use that as their theme song. They will you know. They're crafty that way.
Anyhow, one of those evil, mean old Sanders people is likely to shoot this back at 'em:
"I knew Whizzo the Clown. And Senator, YOU'RE NO WHIZZO THE CLOWN!"
OMG I can't stand it!
Posted by: | July 25, 2006 at 10:06 PM
Ms. Farnsworth - you have my vote for Blog of the Week!
Posted by: | July 25, 2006 at 10:08 PM
Mr. Wheeler:
You have said over and over that age isn't an issue. Sir, if it isn't, then why are you spending TV $$$ to "take on the age issue" with your first tv spot?
Posted by: George | July 25, 2006 at 10:13 PM
Diane,
That was about the funniest thing I've read in a while. Too funny......Hey, I think I may know you. Did you graduate from southwest around 1972 or 1973? I knew a Diane Farnsworth around then.
Posted by: Kelly Wilkinson | July 25, 2006 at 10:16 PM
Sixty may be the "new forty" but eighty is still eighty! Can someone please tell Dr. Wheeler he is about to turn eighty????
Posted by: | July 25, 2006 at 11:17 PM
The issue isn't that Mr. Wheeler is about to turn eighty. The issue is that he is incapable of doing this job. Anyone without an agenda and who has attended any forum this past week will tell you this is the honest truth.
Does anyone out there have the Comcast television schedule for the League of Women Voters forum? Times & channel?
Posted by: | July 25, 2006 at 11:54 PM
I have seen Sanders TV adds, but not Wheeler's. When does Charlie start his TV?
Posted by: | July 26, 2006 at 12:08 AM
Ok. Wheeler used his “Dr.” status to be a practicing coroner, not a medical doctor. The ad is disingenuous as it portrays/implies Wheeler was a "healer" of the sick. Oh wait, are the Wheelies going to tell us he can raise the dead?
Posted by: | July 26, 2006 at 08:45 AM
So, Wheeler says he “became more discriminating” (Star) about which vote to cast in the Senate, but he sure wasn’t very discriminating when he picked out that suit. Hey Charlie, 1952 called, they want their suit and hat back.
Posted by: | July 26, 2006 at 09:59 AM
Fantastic commercial! 80 year old white guy in a plantation owner outfit will sell real well to the African-American community. Good strategy there. I'm curious, was this commercial made in 1986? Because unless I'm mistaken, that was the last time Charlie saw 60. Maybe that's some of the new math he'll be using on the Jackson County budget if he gets elected. No harm in moving a few numbers around to suit your personal needs, right Charlie? Must have got that little tip from Kathryn Shields. Of course, we don't need a "doctor" to see that Charlie's quite a bit older than 60.
Posted by: | July 26, 2006 at 10:01 AM
“Was it the gray hair that gave it away?”
“The new kid on the block.”
“60 is the new 40.”
They gave him 20 words to speak, 3 short sentences, and not ONE has anything to do with Jackson County government, the Jackson County Executive office, or his plans for the county. No vision. No plan.
Posted by: Cyndi | July 26, 2006 at 10:05 AM
“The new kid on the block.” (He winks.)
He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow; and a prating fool shall fall.
Proverbs 10:10
Posted by: Marvin Williams III | July 26, 2006 at 10:13 AM
In dog years, he’d be 560. Woof, woof. 560 is the new 370!
(Hey, it’s just as relevant as the statement in the commercial!)
Posted by: Adam Stewart | July 26, 2006 at 10:30 AM
More lies…oops…I mean “implications”! Wheeler hasn’t seen 60 in nearly 20 years. And he was a practicing coroner, not a medical doctor. Remember when HE got on these blogs and tried to imply the posts about his voting record were lies?
“By popular demand, the fund-raising letters” blog.
In response to a flurry of blogs about the Senator’s poor voting record (Hello, his job!), Mr. Wheeler posted the following: The Wheeler campaign monitors this and other blogs for their content and accuracy. Posted by: Dr. Charles B. Wheeler | June 21, 2006 at 10:44 AM. The implication being made was that the voting record posts were lies.
Misleading ads.
Posted by: | July 26, 2006 at 11:48 AM
I know folks at the Wheeler campaign are probably feeling very smug right now about their "clever" use of humor to try to take the sting out of the age issue.
Humor can be a dicey thing in politics, though. It can easily backfire. I would have thought more than twice about dressing my candidate up in a clown suit and getting him to skip down the block (wink).
Posted by: political consultant | July 26, 2006 at 02:42 PM
I don't think that was Wheeler skipping down the sidewalk.
Posted by: Mark | July 26, 2006 at 03:17 PM
All of Wheeler TV ads I've seen so far have Charlie clowning around and joking about his age. I guess his campaign thinks that having him clown around and joking will win over voters. It doesn't seem to be a good approach to me, but perhaps this high school stuff is the way to go. We'll find out on August 8th.
Posted by: John Vogel | July 26, 2006 at 06:32 PM
OK, so Wheeler's ads are running, but where is the real guy? He skipped a candidate forum Tuesday night and another luncheon event on Wednesday.
There's all sorts of speculation that his handlers have decided after his poor performances in recent appearances and his outburst following the taping of the Steve Kraske show that the real Charlie Wheeler is being safely tucked away somewhere so that the only thing we are left to decide the election on are memories of his tenure as mayor lo these three decades ago.
There's also another rumor going around that Charlie suffered a mild stroke a couple of hours after his angry confrontation with DeAnn Tuesday and that he's been checked into a local hospital under a false name to keep him out of the spotlight.
So what's really going on? Less than two weeks before the election and a candidate suddenly falls off the radar screen. That's certainly enough to raise eyebrows. Are some heavily edited/doctored commercials the only glimpse we'll see of "the icon" until after the election?
Posted by: kayceewolf | July 26, 2006 at 10:38 PM