Associated Press
Those who followed the 2004 race closely may recall a campaign commercial called, "Ashley's Story." A far-right group blanketed the airwaves in swing states with the ad, featuring a photo of President George W. Bush hugging an Ohio girl named Ashley Faulkner, whose mother was killed in the 9/11 attacks.
It became one of the year's most important moments for the right -- conservatives created the now-defunct AshleysStory.com, printed 2.3 million brochures with pictures of Bush comforting Ashley, and used the story as the centerpiece of massive media campaign.
A few days after the 2004 election, Salon called this television ad the one "that put Bush over the top." This brief hug in Ohio was "an emotional, unscripted moment that set in motion perhaps the most widely seen, and effective, television commercial of the 2004 campaign."
I thought a lot about Ashley yesterday, right after President Obama hugged a woman in Ohio named Stephanie Miller.
After Obama's speech in Sandusky, he encountered a sobbing Stephanie Miller, who later told reporters about her encounter with Obama.
"I thanked him for the getting the Affordable Health Act passed," Miller said, referring to the health care overhaul the Supreme Court upheld last week.
Miller said her sister passed away from colon cancer four years ago -- partly because she could not purchase health insurance.
The above photo shows Stephanie meeting the president, but it's also worth taking a look at the Reuters photo of Obama comforting her.
Now, I have no idea if anyone on the left is poised to launch StephaniesStory.com, making her the centerpiece of a massive media campaign. For that matter, if anyone wanted to use this emotional moment to make a larger point, I suspect the right would start peeking in her windows in an effort to discredit her.
But the larger point is there are a lot of Stephanie Millers in America and far too many people who've found themselves in the shoes of her sister, Kelly Hines. And while Republicans continue to argue that the uninsured just aren't important, for now we have a president who's championing those who know better.
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Elections are won on moments like this. (And, a picture is worth a thousand words.)
Remember what Joe Biden said recently:
"They say all politics is local. They are wrong. All politics is personal."
This and every other narrative like it needs to be pushed . Everyone and I mean EVERYONE rich or poor knows someone who has suffered for lack of insurance .
How about some interviews of people who attend the Doctors Without Borders rural clinics.
No more knives at the gunfight .
Take ownership of the health care reform , debunk every Republican lie, tell people every day how it will make their lives better and how Republicans want to take that away .
Republicans will make your life worse . Keep it Simple
I wonder what the Republican reaction would be if Obamacare rescued another Terri Schiavo whereby her family could now finally afford and obtain the health insurance needed to care for her?
President Obama:
Has a heart, a moral compass, has long term vision, and is humble enough to know that "it's NOT ALL about him"!
4 MORE YEARS - VOTE OBAMA 2012!!!
GOTP:
Have NO HEART, are immoral, selfish, greedy, and hate filled, don't like women/minorities/LGBT/and life - if that "life" needs a hand up, are borderline sociopaths!
GOTP so wrong for America, VOTE THEM OUT EVERYWHERE IN NOVEMBER!!
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/07/05/obama-returns-to-retail-politics-in-ohio/
I was also struck by the Reuters photos of President Obama interacting with the children at this campaign stop. In one photo, he collapses his tall frame to speak face-to-face with three young children, and in the other Obama gives a child a lift so that he's shoulder-height to the president.
It truly bears repeating that how one treats the least of our society -- whether it be the working poor or a gaggle of 4-to-6 year olds -- is greatly indicative of how treats all people in society. That is the true measure of our president.
Can anyone doubt some Republican wingnutdicks like Joe Walsh, who has no qualms questioning the heroism of his opponent who lost both legs in the Iraq war, would find no problem in going in full attack mode on this woman, Stephanie Miller?
What America is facing in the current day Republican party is the most small-minded, unempathic, amoral, reality-denying bunch of asswholes representing the worst of the legacy factions of the smoldering ruins of the Goldwater campaign that has ever existed. And it better understand it's a war and they need to be defeated. The Republicans are simply so nasty, so nauseatingly obnoxious, so dangerous to the health of the future of the country and the world that, at this moment, the ends justify the means.
well said Dis...very scary
Joe Walsh is an embarrassment. Too bad Tammy Duckworth has more tact. If I were running against Walsh, I'd have no problem turning my head when supporters launched a "real dads aren't deadbeats" campaign against him. What boggles my mind is that there isn't the same amount of outrage towards Walsh that the Right waged against Chris Hayes when he discussed the use of the word "hero" on his show.
YES, there are millions like this young woman and they know what Obamacare means.
The lady in my office said that everyone she talked to didn't like ACA. Trouble is, she wouldn't discuss it with me because I support it. These people are so scared they will hear something that might change their minds about ACE. What would they "believe in" then, if they realized how their conservative leadership is screwing them over and they aren't on a winning team after all.
Time Magazine has a special edition about ACA, good reading. Now is the time to speak up in support of it. But, since the media is so busy repeating the opinions of the opposing right, the left needs to use alternative methods of showing support.
We can present the facts in positive ways, write letters to editors of our local papers, blog about on FB and other social media, post a sign in our front yards, put a bumpersticker on the car.
Support from the media isn't going to happen, but grass roots support could spread from community to communty if those who aren't insured speak out, those whose kids get to stay insured speak out, if those who believe that the government should step in now that the health insurance companies and the for-profit health industry have proven it's profits first, process second, patients last.
This topic brings home to me how Republicans can take their spectacular failures and make it into a glorious triumph for the right - no matter how spectacularly they've failed. Condoleeza Rice declared "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in United States" a "historical document," Richard Clarke was running around with his hair on fire trying to get the Bush administration to pay attention to the threat, and afterwards Cheney stonewalled and obstructed any genuine investigation of the administration's actions with regard to 9/11.
Yet, a "far-right group" takes the photo of Bush hugging the girl whose mother died on 9/11 and makes him a hero for having spectacularly failed to take the threat seriously.
Conservatives are supreme masters of propaganda.
They are also masters at negative spin. Obama can do exactly the same thing as Bush and get torn apart for his efforts.
People who support Obama also face the wrath of the right, like Ms. Fluke at the mouth of Limbaugh.
Democrats have been cowed for too long by the wide and varied circles of conservative bullying, from political forums, from church pulpits, from vicious emails, from mainstream folks who call themselves patriots and call us Haters of America, not to mention the daily negative spew from radio, TV, and print at us. We've been cowed because our leaders seem cowed, they don't speak up for us. And now we're not as able to speak up for ourselves, as channels of communication narrow and dwindle away into more conservative avenues.
How many of us liberals know that should we voice our support for our president and his policies in our communities, our places of worship, even our family circles, how many of us don't speak in anticipation of some measure of derision or censor?
This scoffing at liberals, this societal undermining of a Democrat's validity as a thoughtful caring human being, this din belittling liberalism has increased slowly enough that we really have gotten used to being treated less than respectfully because we hold opinions differing from those who consider themselves the authority on what is best for
Americafor their personal gain. If Mitt Romney takes the White House, who among us believes that liberal censure will ease up? Who among us believes that this trend of hating on anyone not conservative will reverse itself?The Right says it will Save the World, but we know better. We know better and we can do better. Liberals, free thinkers, Democrats, those who value independence, speak up for yourselves, for ACA, for our president.
We've got 4 months left.
We don't need to wait for a PAC to get this photo around. If multiple people start posting this on every blog and website it may have an impact. There are plenty of Republicans who don't care for the way the House is acting. Get one or more involved in posting at Red State and more.
Try to get your local paper to run with the story. Work at it. I've got it up at two places now but it need repetition. Go for it.
This image is what humanizes the ACA and makes the Republican argument about a government takeover sound shrill. It needs to be repeated as many times as possible for all Dems. Bury the Republicans with these individual stories. Even Rush Limbaugh would face criticism for dismissing these stories.
Who could have foreseen that 90% of the comments about this story on Politico would turn out to be vicious and hateful?