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CounterPunch
October
11, 2002
Stayin' Alive:
Notes on Facials and Losing Face
by ANTHONY GANCARSKI
Had enough of free elections yet? On the heels
of the Torricelli for Lautenburg substitution by New Jersey Democrats,
the Republicans in far-flung Montana have countered with an eleventh-hour
switcheroo of their own.
The October 10 BILLINGS GAZETTE reports
that Republican Senatorial candidate Mike Taylor is terminating
his bid to unseat Senator Max Baucus, and not just because he's
nineteen points down in the latest poll. According to the Billings
paper, Taylor took umbrage to the following advertisement from
the incumbent camp:
What incensed Taylor was the film clip
accompanying the ad. Taylor had a twice weekly segment in the
early 1980s on a Denver television station. The clip shows Taylor
applying lotions to the face of a man sitting in the barber chair
and discussing techniques. The ad shows Taylor, then slender,
sporting a full beard. He is wearing a tight-fitting, three piece
suit, with a big-collared open shirt ala John Travolta in "Saturday
Night Fever." Taylor's top two or three shirt buttons are
unbuttoned, exposing some bare chest and a number of gold chains.
Is Baucus accusing Taylor of giving substandard
facials? Not according to Taylor, who interprets the Incumbent's
use of the facial footage as an attempt to cast aspersions on
his sexuality. Of course, he may have a point. As folks may remember
from 2000 when Gore operatives speculated on the sex life of
Ralph Nader, the Democratic party is not above violating the
spirit, if not the letter, of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.
Despite understanding the Democrats'
tactic and its effectiveness, it is hard not to see Taylor's
withdrawal based on this negative ad as one of the most gutless
and most symbolically significant moves of this campaign season
so far. There is something utterly reprehensible about these
politicians of the center, who construct "reasonable arguments"
for US troops to be in over 100 countries where the inhabitants
despise us, turning tail from election campaigns when it appears
likely that they'll lose. Our Senate is chock-full of sweaty-palmed
chickenhawks prone to bribery and blackmail; though Mike Taylor
is not destined to join that august body of deliberation, one
look at C-Span tells us that he has been there in spirit for
many decades now.
Anthony Gancarski is a Spokane, WA-based freelance writer. He
welcomes comments at Anthony.Gancarski@attbi.com.
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2002
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