Accents an Issue in Va. Governor's Race

"Quick with a quip, the smooth-talking Democrat, Lt. Gov. Tim Kaine, is trying to goad his opponent into debates — the more and the sooner, the better."

"But the Republican, former state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, says Kaine is making fun of his coal-country twang and trying to make him look like a rube, a complaint that could get rural Virginians really fired up."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/virginia_accents


If this isn't the quintessential bullshit Republican issue to run on, I don't know what is.

Read this clip from the article, and tell me who is trying to obfuscate the issues and run on pure hate:

Whether the accent slur is real (as Kilgore contends) or contrived (as Kaine insists), the culture clash has consumed pundits, bloggers and the two campaigns....

Last month, Kilgore's campaign aired a radio ad in which a mellow-voiced announcer with no discernible accent tagged Kaine with the deadliest of political labels in conservative Virginia: "liberal activist," "worked with the ACLU," "opposed the death penalty" and "supported gay adoptions."

Here's his platform:

"I can't promise you any jobs or health care or anything like that, but I will give you the most meaningless lifestyle affirmation of any Governor in the history of Virginia. I will accomplish this by speaking like a grossly exaggerated caricature of a rural Virginian as proof that I ain't high falutin'. Furthermore, I promise four years of schadenfreude, as I will relentlessly persecute anyone who is at all different from us. I may not be able to give you any greater health, security or satisfaction, but we can have ourselves some fun at the expense of those homo city slickers."

"...Kaine also launched jerrytheduck.com to mock Kilgore for ducking debates. The site features an unflattering eight-second audio file of an exasperated, angry Kilgore in a 2003 debate brushing off Kaine's aggressive questioning. ..."

Hahaha! Let's hope the voters hear for themselves how Kilgore sounds.

the video. Very funny.

You don't see many parody-type political sites actually launched by one of the candidates in a race. I find that an EXTREMELY encouraging indication of what Kaine could bring to the table as governor, because it shows that he's sharp-as-a-tack and it illustrates that he knows what he's talking about while his opponent (Ugh...Kilgore) doesn't.

As a Virginian, I sincerely hope we get Kaine elected, because smart observations like his could go far.

:hi:

The most impressive thing is that Kaine's video and audio start right up no downloading. I have no idea what program does that.

http://www.kaine2005.org/

Virginia has a strange rule that limits their governor to one term of 4 years. Therefore, they don't get a chance to re-elect their best governors (such as Warner) and they end up with some mediocre ones.

Basically if you get a law degree from UVa at some point you get to be governor or at least Lt.Gov or Attorney General and immediately start running for governor. Virginia is a politician creating machine.

That's definitely no "coal-country" twang.

Nonetheless, it appears obvious who the Associated Press company is biased towards from the tone of this article.

Or at least it's an inaccurate description of what Kilgore's accent *was* less than 4 years ago.

Growing macadamias, or something. And the only one in denial is ole Gomer, I think. He really should come out in his old age.

But in the big picture, the story is that the person on that show with the most out of the mainstream sex practices in Mayberry wasn't gay Gomer, but hetero Andy! Run away, ladies, if the sherriff is in town!!!

this is a repost of the text from a GD:Politics thread earlier

First don't be fooled by what this is-this is Kilgore trying to turn it around on Kaine. Kilgore won't debate him because he isn't very good on the fly (suit with a haircut) and because he is trying to wage this whole campaign WITHOUT speaking in public, or as little as possible. Kilgore is going to run a purely W campaign-no substance

Second- If Kilgore isn't worried about it then why did one of his supporters hire a voice coach TWO YEARS AGO? (On the highest authority for the source). Kilgroe knows that his base will be quite squeamish about his voice. He should just get it out there so people aren't as surprised by it when they first hear it. BTW- Kilgore has a very normal sweet SW Virginia accent nothing strange there only to people who haven't heard it before.

Lastly Kilgore mother just got busted for hiring and registration violations.

BTW- Kilgore has an exact twin who is in the General Assembly-just a side note but they are pretty much creations of their mother and the VA. Repub party.

...Jim J. Bullock, heir to the Hollywood Squares throne that once belonged to Paul Lynde...

but when I listened to the audio file ("I have no duty to you...") all I could think was, "Oh, Mary!"