The Best Political Ad of the Year

Friday, 29th January 2010

No doubting this. Apparently you need to win an election to become Coroner in New Orleans. This is good news since it has produced the strangest attack ad I've seen in ages:

By way of background:

The spot portraying [Dr Frank] Minyard as a Frankensteinian crazy was paid for by Dwight McKenna, MD, a convicted tax evader who's running against Minyard. It's airing on local TV in the area.

The video highlights a mini-scandal from the 1990s, when Minyard was sued for allegedly removing bone pieces and corneas from the deceased and passing them onto transplant centers without permission. "It's contemptible," McKenna said in an interview.

Of course, some people are going to find this ad is contemptible, but McKenna defends the spot. "The ad is, we believe, factual," he said. "It's fair play. It's done in a humorous way."

McKenna didn't want to talk about his 1992 conviction on federal tax charges for underreporting his income by $367,000. He served nine months in prison.

As for Minyard, he said his office never sold body parts, as is suggested by the ad, and noted that he was dropped from the lawsuit. In fact, Minyard said, "organ donation is the thing I'm most proud during years here as coroner."

The coroner thinks the spot is actually helping him. "People are coming up to me and saying it's atrocious," he said.

Be that as it may, I think neutrals should be supporting Dr McKenna.

UPDATE: Jon Chait disagrees and recalls a Kentucky ad that might be even better.

[Hat-tip GFR via Twitter. My Twitter feed is here.]

Filed under: Advertising (30 more articles) , Americana (478 more articles) , New Orleans (1 more articles)

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Stephen

January 30th, 2010 12:00am Report this comment

This is why we need a federal UK with elections from everything from the local head of police to mayors and county governors.

We're missing out on so much hilarity!

ndm

January 30th, 2010 12:04am Report this comment

The proliferation of elected officials is one of the great failures of Democracy in America. No one has the time or energy to understand what most of them do making election about the least effective way possible of ensuring accountability.

Beefeater

January 30th, 2010 3:14am Report this comment

ndm:

Ah. I understand now why European commissioners are appointed. People are too busy to understand what they do, so why bother ensuring the commissioners' accountability to them by election - or at all? American democracy is still so naively focused on the people's vote. Eventually Americans will understand that governance is just a series of jobs at different pay-grades, from dog-catcher through to commissar, and who does the jobs need not concern them in the least.

Beefeater

January 30th, 2010 3:19am Report this comment

-"I think neutrals should be supporting Dr.McKenna."

Neutrals?
With Dr. McKenna's record, he should be in the running for a White House appointment.

Edward

January 30th, 2010 11:03am Report this comment

Beefeater, you understand that the Commission is the equivalent of the Cabinet? Do you really want an election where people vote on cultural and language lines like in Belgium, or should they stick to the great British tradition of parliamentary approval?

ndm

January 30th, 2010 7:44pm Report this comment

Beefeater writes:

-- People are too busy to understand what they do, so why bother ensuring the commissioners' accountability to them by election - or at all?

A few years ago I had a ballot in which between offices and propositions I was expected to make more than 60 choices. I doubt if there was a single voter who understood each of these choices to the level they could make a rational and justifiable choice. The propositions never mean what they say and the candidates never say what they mean.

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