i do not approve this message

have you noticed how more and more political advertisements end with the candidate declaiming, "i'm richard cranium and i approve this message?" what is that?!

it's you asshole!?! it's your message! you're the freaking candidate-it was your campaign money that paid for the television time, of course you approve the message!

(maybe they could point out some other obvious stuff?
i'm wearing 3 pounds of make-up.
you only see my face in this ad because i'm an obese behemoth who snacks on small farm animals.
i'm focusing on my adversary's negative points because i have no positive points of my own.
i invented the term "washington insider."
i lie for cash.
self-loathing is a lifestyle.
or best of all, "i'm trying to trick you.")

it seems to me this phenomenon started with president bush. he is the first one i remember with that tag on the end of his commercials, "i'm george w bush and i approve this message." at the time, it seemed to be happening for a couple of reasons. first, it was in line with his bumper stickers, which had only a large 'w' on them. i read that the 'w' was a means for republican voters to show their support for the candidate and the party without creating the kind of conversation that might bring out the various inconsistencies in bush's policies, etc. it was akin to a secret handshake. (it was a bit like whispering to your like-minded neighbor, "i don't care about the common man either. let's get ours." wink-wink.)

and, bush ran a negative campaign against john kerry. so the commercial would put forth a pack of lies, (e.g. 'john kerry stole his purple hearts and was actually a killer of babies in vietnam,') then put up a small picture of the president in the corner of the screen and his voice over, "i'm george w bush and i approve this message."

now i am seeing this marketing strategy all over the place. i guess it is now a market-tested strategy for candidates who cannot trumpet their own deeds. Here is an example courtesy of bob corker's website.

http://www.bobcorkerforsenate.com/video.tb1.aspx?video=commercial19

this particular ad is layered in innuendo. harold ford jr is not from tennessee, he's from washington d.c. ford has only worked in politics. while he may be handsome, ford does not bring substance to the table. he was born with a silver spoon.

all those messages are slyly delivered in bob corker's commercial but we the voters have only ourselves to blame because the commercials are market tested. it's been proven we respond to them. now, it may not be you personally, (just as it may not be me personally,) but somewhere along the line we all have to take responsibility for each other. if our relatives in the midwest are voting differently because they don't know any better, we need to straighten them out.

there seems to be this idea that people should not talk about politics, (among other topics,) at family get-togethers or with strangers and this idea is born of insecurity. generally all parties in such discussions have about the same values, but by allowing this idea, that it is okay to be offended, (thereby muting the more informed,) the values are trumped in favor of niceties.

i say let the new value be that we have little tolerance for those who are easily offended. we should push back on these people, so the conversation can move forward, so candidates like tennessee's bob corker can be made to talk about his record, his accomplishments and his shortcomings.

when a candidate can be heard to "approve this message," we the voters should automatically dismiss them as a viable candidate. they are not appealing to our reason. they are trying to circumvent it. they are not representing themselves honestly, they are pandering to the lowest common denominator.