Michelle Malkin » A new attack ad: Meet Senator Switchback

A new attack ad: Meet Senator Switchback

By Michelle Malkin • June 28, 2007 04:27 PM

Bryan and I cooked up another Kaus-inspired shamnesty Hot Air ad just for Senator Switchback. Thanks to Allahpundit for clipping the switchback moments that will live in infamy. Enjoy:

Script:

Meet Sen. Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas.

He wants to be President of the United States. But on the most critical homeland security issues of our time, he can’t make up his mind and stick to it.

On the morning of June 28, 2007, he was for the illegal alien amnesty bill…before he was against it…

For it…then against it…

That’s right. He changed his mind and changed his vote in the span of 11 minutes!

Sam Brownback. Leadership only John Kerry could love.

***
Related vid: Bush is feeling blue. Boo-freakin’-hoo.

***

We’ve had fun at Hot Air cranking out shamnesty ads all week in response to Mickey Kaus’s call for citizen vids. You can find links to the rest here.

The open borders Wall Street Journal thinks there are some nefarious dark forces behind the little video spots Bryan and I collaborated on in our home offices–and behind the videos produced by other independent bloggers (hat tip: See-Dubya):

Hot Air Network’s Web ad, viewable at left, urged “conservatives fed up with Republican scheming on this bill, [to] do something about it. If you gave to the party in the past year, you can demand your money back. Call the Republican National Committee today and demand a full refund. If you gave to any senator or congressman in the past year, call their office and demand a full refund.” Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear.

Who “sponsors” our ads? What the —-? Did the reporter get her training at Media Matters?

No Wall Street Journal reporter bothered to e-mail us. If they had, the facts would have gotten in the way of their tinfoil-rattling. Sorry to disappoint you, but no one “sponsored” our videos. I’m sure Kaus will find out if any of the other grass-roots YouTube ads his call inspired were “sponsored” by some Invisible, Deep-Pocketed Special Interest.

Is it so hard for the WSJ to get its head around the concept of independent videoblogging and an Army of Video-Editing Davids? Or at least to e-mail video producers to ask them directly before embarrassing themselves?

***
More: Allah is on a roll. That’s what our Super-Secret Puppeteers pay us to do!

Update: Giggle.

Ace has an R-rated takedown. Viewer discretion advised.

Allah notes a WSJ “correction” and Bryan weighs in.

Some of the comments left at the WSJ site:

HotAir.com is a conservative political commentary website with an emphasis on video blogging. It was started by Michelle Malkin. No one “sponsors” the ads; their crack young staff does this kind of thing for fun.

Full disclosure: I’m one of their occasional guest-bloggers.
Comment by See-Dubya - June 28, 2007 at 4:58 pm

“Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear.”

Wow. Had to check the url there for a sec… thought I was at The Onion’s site!

Please do a bit of research before you write next time.
Comment by Citizen Duck - June 28, 2007 at 5:42 pm

LOL! Who sponsors Hot Air? It’s a mystery cloaked in darkness! Get someone on it immediately, I smell a Pulitzer!
Comment by WisCon - June 28, 2007 at 5:48 pm

“I think the main question here is, will we ever really know who’s sponsoring the comments left by See-Dubya, Citizen Duck, and WisCon?”

Or Adrian. Who’s behind the mysterious comments left by Adrian????
Comment by PRCalDude - June 28, 2007 at 5:57 pm

The WSJ asks, “Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear.”

To quote Animal House, “Gee you’re dumb.”

I suppose whoever splurged for the camcorder “funded” these ads.
Comment by paul zummo - June 28, 2007 at 6:00 pm

Hmmm…the mystery deepens:
Comment by See-Dubya - June 28, 2007 at 6:03 pm

“Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear.”

You can’t be serious. Who’s behind Hot Air? Michelle Malkin, the nationally known syndicated journalist, that’s who. How hard is it to click on the About tab at the site and read that information?

Rather than sounding like a paranoid, why didn’t you just e-mail Michelle and ask.

Oh, and by the way, it costs virtually nothing to produce those videos.

Next time research your subject before writing about it - something the WSJ should have done before supporting the amnesty bill.
Comment by Sensible Mom - June 28, 2007 at 6:08 pm

Well, whoever “sponsored” the ads, that budget of about $1.49 must have been hard to come by…
Comment by cirby - June 28, 2007 at 6:16 pm

Ms. Carnevale:

“Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear.”

Did HotAir’s Ms. Malkin refuse to share that information with you? Did you even ask?

It’s worth noting that in addition to mounting the YouTube ad above, Ms. Malkin was one of the very first people on the web to make an actual copy of the last minute 300+ page amendment available to anyone who care enough to wade through it. You might want to ask her how many folks downloaded that PDF. She knows her readers expect to do their own filtering. When so many people are trying to access your site that it crashes from the overload as hers apparently did this morning, we’re light years beyond “buzz.”

Talk radio and buzz don’t create opposition out of thin air, they give it voice and focus. Until the WSJ crowd figures that out, the real political dynamics here were remain “unclear.” Some of those voices are vicious, crude, and shallow but the idea that they are representative is a serious, self-serving misconception.
Comment by JM Hanes - June 28, 2007 at 6:31 pm

‘Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear.’

God forbid that concerned Americans made cheap little video ads, listened to talk radio and read some blogs. It has just not occurred to a single liberal reporter idiot that people did these things because they were already furious - they did not get stirred up by them. They were merely informed by them. Just about every talk show I listened to recently revealed a lot more facts about the amnesty legislation, and did a lot better reporting on the situation, than anything I read or heard from the major networks and papers. The ‘big guys’ can no longer control, distort or hide, the truth, and it’s tearing them apart.
Comment by JsinGood - June 28, 2007 at 6:32 pm

“Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear”

LOL that ‘ad’ cost less to make then the beer they cracked open after they finished it. Long Live the New Media
Comment by Suze - June 28, 2007 at 6:32 pm

Hoo-boy, that was gut-busting.

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#1

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:30 pm, bloodhound said:

Michelle ~

You have a second (or is it third?…fourth?) career! Great job!
#2

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:32 pm, dustoffmom said:

Is it any wonder he is among the ’second tier’ candidates? Folks can see easily that the man does not know what he stands for……only those issues he thinks might help him get elected.
#3

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:37 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

Niiiiice

That’ll leave a mark.

Okay Brownback - clue.

If Reid and Kennedy think it is a great idea, it is not - duh.
#4

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:37 pm, jrlingreenbay said:

Outstanding! I came to work this morning worried about how this day was going to go.

I leave work today in a fantastic mood:
No Amnesty - SCOTUS does good - A great video raking Senator Switchback….

Smile, Conservatives - it’s a great day!
#5

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:38 pm, PBoilermaker said:

It’s nice to see the true colors on display for all to see.

Honestly, though, he’s a bit player. This just affirmed his irrelevence.
#6

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:40 pm, PBoilermaker said:

~~affirmed~~ confirmed
#7

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:43 pm, The Raging Republican said:

That guy is a disgrace.
#8

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:51 pm, Dersu said:

What a wonderful video.

And it is so well deserved
#9

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:54 pm, coffee said:

¡Muy buena chiquita!
#10

On June 28th, 2007 at 4:56 pm, El Chupacabra said:

SWEET!

Now do one for Hagel!
#11

On June 28th, 2007 at 5:04 pm, schratboy said:

SHAZAMNESTY! You’re now all legal citizens…and Sam, you’re a dunce.
#12

On June 28th, 2007 at 5:19 pm, Hookecho said:

being a Republican from Kansas, this makes me wince….good god what a moron.
#13

On June 28th, 2007 at 5:22 pm, Schweggie said:

Switch!
#14

On June 28th, 2007 at 5:23 pm, Hookecho said:

oh lord…look at his news page….your gonna love this…….

“Brownback Votes Against Cloture on Immigration Bill
Says the current system is broken, but the country is not ready
Thursday, June 28, 2007 ”

Nice, like we are not a punchline as a state enough
#15

On June 28th, 2007 at 5:29 pm, Stillwaiting said:

Bush should feel blue…he’s been acting like his base is in the blue states.
#16

On June 28th, 2007 at 5:35 pm, Sumrica said:

Oooo…that’s a tough video to be immortalized in. I’m so thankful for the technology we have these days. Those guys are having a hard time hiding what they do from us.
#17

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:11 pm, lgm said:

Comparing Brownback to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. For that matter, comparing almost any Republican Senator to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. Kerry is a man of principle who put his life on the line for his country.
#18

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:16 pm, Sick of RINOs said:

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:11 pm, lgm said:
Comparing Brownback to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. For that matter, comparing almost any Republican Senator to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. Kerry is a man of principle who put his life on the line for his country.

Nice try troll!!!!!! That is hilarious!!!
#19

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:18 pm, Sick of RINOs said:

Need to do a video for McConnell too. He held his vote until it was clear which way it was going to go. To me that is the same as voting yes, and I WILL remember this next year when he’s up for re-election. He’s gonna get the Donald Trump treatment……“YOU’RE FIRED!!!!!
#20

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:19 pm, DanME said:

I noticed that during voting. I said what?
The ad is great. Sam was wimp before today and he’s still a wimp.
#21

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:21 pm, sharinlite said:

Here’s the email I just sent them:

HELP!! It appears that “some reporter” from your organization wondered in a column who sponsored the video ads on hotair.com, Michelle Malkin’s site. Is
your reporter for real? Surely she emailed Michelle or the others at the site to
ask about the video and her questions. No, she never did. Had she done so and checked out her facts like a good reporter should, she took the low tinfoil hatted leftist loon road and just opened pen/typewriter/keyboard and inserted BOTH FEET IN HER MOUTH!!! I know WSJ is as biased as the rest of the MSM, but, to cast aspersions and lies? Really!

Sue,
California
#22

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:22 pm, DanME said:

I just got home and turned on CSPAN. Salazar is blabbing away. He sounds like Lott.
#23

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:28 pm, E. M. said:

Ouch.

Romney and Brownback out on the same day.

I say Freds behind this. Has to be.
#24

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:41 pm, William Teach said:

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:11 pm, lgm said:
Comparing Brownback to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. For that matter, comparing almost any Republican Senator to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. Kerry is a man of principle who put his life on the line for his country.

From what I hear, he served in Vietnam. Not quite sure if that is true or not
#25

On June 28th, 2007 at 7:28 pm, ThackerAgency said:

That picture of Kerry is hillarious. It has to be a photoshop, but he still makes a funny bunny!
#26

On June 28th, 2007 at 8:40 pm, jukin said:

No dollar internet ads are making the elite think twi…thr…four times.

Great work!
#27

On June 28th, 2007 at 8:43 pm, CC said:

Watching O’Reilly and totally disagree with Dick Morris who says this immigration kill will strengthen the dems’ chance at the WH in 08.

A Republican president was pushing this bill with everything he had, and quite a number of dems voted no, because they knew their constituents were against it, so it’s Dick Morris’s Hillary “thing” again.
#28

On June 28th, 2007 at 8:49 pm, feralcat said:

#18 You beat me too it Sick of RINOs.

Kerry got his 3 purple hearts, so that he could get the HELL out of there, by going around his CO, who said that he had gotten worse “wounds” from a rose bush, and got his bronze and silver stars by phonying up after action reports.

If he had tried that $hit in the Army he would still be doing push ups.
#29

On June 28th, 2007 at 9:47 pm, PhillytoDC said:

Senator: You have just destroyed your career.
#30

On June 28th, 2007 at 10:40 pm, feralcat said:

Brownback Scrubs Website of Earlier Immigration Vote
#31

On June 29th, 2007 at 12:06 am, get2djnow said:

I don’t think I had a great day, but I did accomplish 1 (one) thing, besides putting the babies to bed: check out Brownback’s Wiki page. Thank you very much for the idea Charles.
#32

On June 29th, 2007 at 9:29 am, Dread Pirate Roberts VIII said:

Too dang funny. The WSJ nitwit must surely be enduring major ridicule at this moment, unless she is part of a protected group, then they are probably lamenting the racists at MM.com, of course. Losers.

Great fun to see the taunts from WisCon, PRCalDude, and See-Dub on the WSJ page. Truly, those twits must have been trained by Kos.
#33

On June 29th, 2007 at 9:48 am, tilthen said:

flipper,brownbeck so whats new were back to flip flop politicians!
now WHERE’S the FENCE…

DO I SEE KINNEDY NOT SMUGG AND SMILEING..’ or singing ?’GUADALAJARA! GUDALAJARA”,OR WAS It ‘JALISCO JALISCO, never the less the new song i here is ..its the yellow rose of texas la-la-la-l
#34

On June 29th, 2007 at 12:00 pm, student said:

I have often remarked to my friends that the “old media” is dying and not really worth reading or watching anymore, but I never realized to what extent that is true until I saw that nonsense in the WSJ. The Hot Air crew takes a few static photos, Bryan adds a voice over, and the chowder heads at the Journal wonder where they got the funding? Someone needs to get out more.
#35

On June 29th, 2007 at 12:01 pm, franksalterego said:

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:11 pm, lgm said:
Comparing Brownback to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. For that matter, comparing almost any Republican Senator to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. Kerry is a man of principle who put his life on the line for his country.

I’m so glad you feel that way.

John Kerry made a better case for removing Saddam, than Bush did.

So, we can assume, THAT case is closed, right?
#36

On June 29th, 2007 at 1:22 pm, Dread Pirate Roberts VIII said:

On June 28th, 2007 at 6:11 pm, lgm said:
Comparing Brownback to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. For that matter, comparing almost any Republican Senator to Kerry is an insult to Kerry. Kerry is a man of principle who put his life on the line for his country.

Pansy-boy makes a good point, folks. As much as my first instinct is to support anyone who runs against Brownback, who is apparently not ethically grounded enough to properly represent Kansas in the Senate, by bringing up Kerry — the poster child for ethical failure — he puts Sam back into proper perspective.

So, hopefully a solid conservative will run against Brownback in the next primary, and there will be a serious examination of public policy views and personal character. But there are almost no DemoRats in the Senate that you would trade straight up for Sam.
#37

On June 29th, 2007 at 10:17 pm, dadling said:

I’m so tired of being treated like a mushroom by our so called “Leaders”..
I cannot trust any of them, it seems….

Michelle, PLEASE, Run for office….I will vote for you…..America will vote for you….because you are one of the “people”….and obviously “FOR” the people….

Keep it up…..
#38

On June 30th, 2007 at 4:06 pm, jimC said:

“Just who sponsors Hot Air’s ad, and other similar ads popping up across the Internet, is unclear”

LOL that ‘ad’ cost less to make then the beer they cracked open after they finished it. Long Live the New Media
Comment by Suze - June 28, 2007 at 6:32 pm

LOL, that one’s great!!

Jim C