Ok, friends. Overreaction shields up.
I get most of my network tv in the locker room and the elevator (I know, “ELITIST!!!!!!, Susan Boyle changed my life, etc.) So I may be late to the party.
But I just saw the most vapid and asinine political spot I think I’ve ever encountered (locker room, not elevator). In Texas, such ugly weeds usually spout from the campaigns of good ol’ boys. But this one comes from Perla Cavazos, a young woman with what a terrific background and what I am sure is a promising future. But check it:
Visual: A particularly menacing Valet Parking sign.
From Valet parking to $500,000 condos. Do you ever wonder if you’re still in Austin? I’m Perla Cavazos, and what makes Austin special is the people, not the buildings.
Huh?
Given that it wouldn’t make much sense to twist off on central-city density or the or the urban planning wisdom of minimizing surface parking, I’m left to suppose that this is a poke at, well, what we used to call yuppies. (It’s come to this, fellow yuppies. We’re being attacked from below on the age scale. How sad. I guess that just makes us “uppies.”) Oh, and probably real estate developers. Always a good idea for a candidate to bare her teeth at those meanies.
And then, the ad gets worse. Ms. Cavazos spends her next 15 seconds sound-biting the need to make health care and energy more affordable (which she could affect about as much from the Council as she could improve the dismal state of the Yankees’ middle relief pitching.)
So let’s spot Ms. Cavazos what I know, which is that many of my smart, civic-minded friends support her. Let’s also spot her what I suspect, which is that she got some reprehensibly cynical media advice from somebody in sandals who still thinks SOS is coming back (and mind you, I supported SOS and own more pairs of sandals than the average yuppie). But I still won’t vote for her. By making this silly and divisive ad the centerpiece of her campaign, she has demonstrated that she doesn’t have what we need most in our public servants: judgment. Maybe next time. But boy, will she have a helluva time with the valet lobby…
May 16, 2009 at 8:41 pm |
I’m just catching up with some journals today. But my comment on this one was “If you stand in front of my house and trash me, I won’t vote for you.” She was standing with the 360 as a background. Chris Riley lives downtown (albeit not in a high rise), rode his bike to lots of candidate forums and understands density. He got elected. Must be a miracle. Yeah, Perla couldn’t affect the cost of energy but living more densely and driving less? Yeah, that could do it.
May 17, 2009 at 7:07 pm |
Ok, I admit. I’m a bit behind on reading all my favorite blogs. I’ve just caught up on Insomniactive and thank you for finally shedding light on why folks went nuclear on Perla - mutual downtown friends of ours particularly. Steven and I were very-engaged Riley supporters but I couldn’t figure out why the passion against Perla. Now I get it.
As always, lively postings JT. Have missed reading ‘em. And, wish I had laid bets on your predictions from last year about the newspaper industry. Would have had some positive returns at least!
May 31, 2009 at 7:36 pm |
Thanks for talking about this. As a valet downtown who used this job to pay my way through school I was pretty upset with her ads. I guess valets are the problem not a city that can’t expand and releave overcrowding because of poor city planning. It’s also upsetting that when she says this the three major valet companies in Austin are locally owned and increase city revenues by being both local and paying for city opperating permits. I assume she tried to cater to those who are hit hard by the econmic downturn, even though as would be mayor she should know Austin is the only city in the US top 20 to post more than 3000 new jobs. She should have looked at other issues that are a local government problem such as soaring housing cost, including insain property taxes designed to push people who live in central east Austin after generations. Oh well she didn’t win no use going crazy.