While I agree that kids should be off limits in political commentary, it is Cruz himself who is responsible for this. I finally saw the Christmas-time ad that featured his daughters. If the ad had simply been the Senator posing with his cute kids (and they are undeniably cute) and saying something about how he’s a family man just like me, that would have been one thing. But, he put political words in their mouths. That made them fair game, in my opinion.
Portraying the Obama girls as monkeys would be a bit different. Portraying black people as monkeys is a well-established racist depiction. An artist drawing the girls as monkeys would have to be aware of this context.
My problem isn’t that he used his girls as props. It’s that he put in the mouth of his seven year old criticism of Hilary Clinton’s email server. Turning your child into a political attack dog is not the norm. My wife doesn’t like it. Neither will other moderate swing voters.
The cartoon is about the Senator, not the girls. I don’t think many middle of the road Americans would think of the cartoon as inappropriate after seeing the advertisement it satirizes.
From a purely political standpoint, Cruz is absolutely correct to want to suppress that cartoon. It’s all too true.
Could the cartoon be redeemed if the girls were portrayed as little girls at the end of leashes rather than monkeys? Cruz could still be an organ grinder making the girls dance, but they wouldn’t have to be monkeys.
I don’t disagree, and I believe he invited this. I just don’t think anyone should take the bait. I think the kids should be left out of it no matter what the candidate does.
Maybe if the girls had been portrayed as parrots, tape-recorders, puppets, pawns, etc. might have been less objectionable and gotten the point across. Or maybe not.
I too thought that the cartoon was in poor taste until I saw the TV ad that it satirizes. Unfortunately, most people won’t see the TV spot, but will be saturated with the cartoon. It’s a minor (ha!) thing, but it gives Cruz an opening to claim that the “liberal media” is hurting him.
I think Ted Cruz already lost Wisconsin. I guess he came here and told WI repubs to help pay the $1.5 million for Scott Walkers epic failure of a presidential campaign. Walker is not doing too well lately and its reported another large company and its 1,000 jobs will be leaving for Chicago soon. Repubs in WI arent really winning any Walker related arguments and then he drops a deuce in his presidential run and then Cruz says ‘help him pay his debt’?
No, some are genuine crusaders, like Bernie Sanders, or reformers, like John McCain, or just people who feel entitled to be President, like Jeb Bush. Others play the game, but it’s not about the game, like Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
Ted Cruz plays the game because he likes the game. He wants to win the game.
Yeah, I don’t understand portraying the girls as monkeys. Given the ad they were mocking, elves would have been a better choice. But the fund raising ad in response is more disgusting to me. Phony outrage to raise money.
Since Cruz used the girls in an ad they are fair game. If he hadn’t used them, or they’d just been seen beside him, not actually “acting”, then I’d have disapproved of the editorial cartoon. Using them in response to the cartoon is disgusting.
You’re not fair game if you can’t give consent to participating in the campaign. Cruz’s girls have no idea what they’re doing. They’re just doing what their dad wants them to. Just because Cruz used them for his ad doesn’t give the other side an excuse to rope them into their rhetoric too. You can mock and criticize Cruz for being a callous jackass and manipulative father without portraying his kids as monkeys. I’m a liberal, and I hate hate hate Cruz. It was still an awful cartoon.
Oh, Christ. McCain was no reformer. He was a one trick pony, attacking earmarks which are a tiny fraction of the budget and how things get done. Vote for my dam and I’ll vote for your airport. It’s how things fucking work.
Cruz whines about Hillary playing the victim card but she’s a piker compared to him. Use your kids to deliver political attacks and it’s fucking fair to criticize that use in cartoons. Don’t want your kids attacked? Don’t fucking use them to mouth your fucking talking points, asshole.