Sunday,
June 29, 2008
WA Democrats to Change Sopranos-Themed Gov
Candidate Dino Rossi Ad
The
ANNOTICO Report
We
are making progress, but it doesn't seem that it should be necessary to fight
SO many battles. But if we must, we MUST!!!
If
your sister was characterized or insinuated to be a whore on the front page of
the daily paper, how much good is an apology going to do?
You
can not "unplant" the seed. The concern is
forever more there. Make them pay, or they can slur and apologize, and still
have damaged the Italian candidate,often
irreversibly, and accomplished their "dirty tricks"
WA Democrats to Pull Sopranos-Themed Rossi
Ad
The
Washington state Democratic Party says it will pull a video ad that pictures
Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi accompanied by the theme song
from "The Sopranos," after a Seattle group said the ad was offensive
to Italian-Americans.
The Washington
state Democratic Party says it will change a video ad that pictures Republican
gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi accompanied by the theme song from "The
Sopranos," after a Seattle group said the ad was offensive to
Italian-Americans.
The Italian Club
of Seattle sent a letter Wednesday to Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire,
calling for removal of the video and asking for state Democratic Party Chairman
Dwight Pelz to step down.
The video played
the theme song from the hit series about Italian-American mobsters, while
criticizing Rossi's ties to the Building Industry Association of Washington, a
powerful lobby group in the state. A black-and-white photo of Rossi, who is of
Italian descent, is on-screen the entire time.
"We
understand that in this gubernatorial election, various claims will be made by
candidates and interested parties against the other candidate," wrote club
president Brian DiJulio. However, the video
"attempting to associate Dino Rossi with criminal activity through the use
of negative ethnic stereotyping is beyond offensive.
"Whether the
State Democratic Party thought it clever to link Rossi to Italian-American criminals
through the use of a popular mobster TV show is irrelevant; it is distasteful,
and it is racist."
Democratic Party
spokesman Kelly Steele said the video was not meant to imply a tie to the mafia
or organized crime.
"It's a
catchy song, which we thought jibed stylistically with our communication about
Rossi's designated attack squad - the BIAW - who continue to pour millions into
false and misleading attack ads against Gov. Gregoire,"
Steele said in a statement.
Steele apologized
to DiJulio and "anyone else we may have
inadvertently offended" and said the video would be replaced by one
offering the same message, but a different song.
Steele said Pelz would not step down, something that DiJulio said he still wanted.
"They can
pretend they didn't have any intention of overtones of him being mafioso or mobster-like or on the
take, but that's exactly what it was implying," DiJulio
said.
Rossi campaign
spokeswoman
"It's clear
they are willing to say and do anything to win," she said in a statement.
Gregoire's campaign spokesman Aaron Toso noted that her office didn't make or approve the
video.
"We think
the party has taken the appropriate action in changing the music for the
video," Toso wrote in an e-mail.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008017910_apwarossiaddemocrats2ndldwritethru.html
---
On the Net:
State Democrats
YouTube videos: http://youtube.com/wademocrats
Italian Club of
Gregoire campaign:
http://www.chrisgregoire.com
Rossi campaign: http://www.dinorossi.com
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