Democrat Fred DuVal, who is seeking to become governor of Arizona next year, had a weird early skirmish with the Arizona Republican Party this week.
It all started with a relatively lame press release from AZ GOP Chairman Robert Graham, who said that he and a crew of fellow Republicans down at the office looked over DuVal’s résumé—which includes serving in Bruce Babbitt’s gubernatorial administration in the ’80s, Bill Clinton’s presidential administration in the ’90s and the Arizona Board of Regents in recent years—and concluded that DuVal would “be perceived by many as ‘the most uninteresting man in the world.’”
The DuVal campaign responded by sending out a fundraising pitch saying DuVal—recast as “the most electable man in Arizona”—was already under attack by the GOP. The campaign raised nearly $12,000 and a few days later, Team DuVal delivered a case of Dos Equis to GOP headquarters, along with a thank-you card that featured DuVal dressed up like the beer company’s signature spokesman, The Most Interesting Man in the World. The tagline on the card: “Stay Desperate, My Friends.”
That’s when things took a really weird turn, with the Arizona Republican Party posting a note on its Facebook page asserting that DuVal “photoshopped himself to appear Latino … (and) put the doctored image out on Twitter and hand-delivered a printed copy to the AZGOP. Painful attempts at humor, especially with racial overtones, usually backfire on candidates.”
The story was first run through the Arizona Daily Independent’s loony spin cycle, which produced the fairly radical interpretation that DuVal had “waded into the murky waters of racial politics.” “Popular radio show host and BBC commentator” James T. Harris also chimed in, somehow connecting the DuVal campaign’s joke to the George Zimmerman trial.
It might be worth noting here that the person who plays “The Most Interesting Man in the World” isn’t, in fact, Hispanic, but that sort of detail-oriented thinking might be too strenuous for either ADI or Harris.
Various national news outlets, including the Daily Caller, the Huffington Post and Fox New Latino, jumped on the bandwagon, not recognizing that the Arizona Daily Independent is essentially a poorly written collection of rehashed press releases and deranged efforts at revenge against anyone who has upset the shadowy cabal that runs the website.
DuVal campaign chairman and Phoenix City Councilman Daniel Valenzuela said the campaign had just put a beard on DuVal. He said he was offended by the accusation that DuVal was putting on a minstrel show in an attempt to appear more Latino.
“Talking about a character in a Dos Equis commercial is what the Republican Party started with,” Valenzuela said. “And so Fred did a great job of spinning that and it backfires on the Republican Party. And now he’s being called racist for that? It’s offensive that the Republican Party would make such an accusation.”
This article appears in Aug 1-7, 2013.
Uh….so when a white man DuVal purposely gets his skin darkened to appeal to the Hispanic demographic its not racist? Of course it is! How about putting a real picture next to this as a comparison. Its like a neon light
Roots: If you can explain to me how the DuVal campaign would have thought responding to a dumb GOP joke would win them a single Hispanic vote, I’d love to hear/read it.
@Dan its obvious your too blind and accept this. Its a joke in very bad taste. Since your too blind and only see a Democratic vs Republican tug of war. Your obviously accepting this which makes you a racist as well.
Roots is obviously way smarter and more perceptive than everyone else… *chuckle*
The only reason I have a problem with this, is because impersonating the most interesting man is my job.
“Various national news outlets, including the Daily Caller, the Huffington Post and Fox New Latino, jumped on the bandwagon, not recognizing that the Arizona Daily Independent is essentially a poorly written collection of rehashed press releases and deranged efforts at revenge against anyone who has upset the shadowy cabal that runs the website”
And the Tucson Weekly is to be considered a non biased source of news?
Markus_jim: I don’t think anyone here would claim to be non-biased, but I also can’t imagine ADI is going to win any journalism awards anytime soon.
Thanks, I had noticed the AZ Daily Independent’s take, too. The photo didn’t look photoshopped to me, just taken in different light than the outsdie picture the ADI put next to it. BTW, here’s the article about the real guy who is the Dos Equis guy: http://nyr.kr/12YwoYi
Nice explanation of the situation. There’s some weird harmonic convergence going on when the ADI and the Three Sonorans both crack on the same guy for the same reason.
This is just another example of the desperate Republicans searching for a reason to smear a Democratic canidate. The sense of humour displayed by Mr. DuVal is refreshingly original. Leave it to the GOP to not see any of that.
Of course there is also another way to view this: If anyone knows their racism, it’s older white Republican males. They are more adept at making something out of nothing than they are at anything else though, and that is why I believe this issue here doesn’t necessarily involve their penchant for racism.
The writer kind of looses his objectivity when he attempts to smear a competitive newspaper. He makes a good case for the Republicans.
Dear diary: Today I learned that getting a tan is apparently something that people only do when they’re attempting to imitate and insult other races. Thanks, RootsRyukyu!
Fred DuVal looks sexy with a beard!
What a tempest in a teapot! It’s obvious that the GOP is trying to pull the race card to gain the interest of their #1 target in this round ..Hispanics.
Dirty politics.
@Logical Thinker: “Sexy”? You’re entitled to your personal opinion. More “interesting”? Definitely!
Can’t see why you liberals are falling all over yourselves to defend him. If he’s been on “the Arizona Board of Regents in recent years”, then he’s been out doing the express biding of our overlords in Phoenix, and cleaning out you and your students wallets for Grand New Architectural Edifices of Administration while they gut our land-grant institutions that were intended to educate Arizona’s children, not Silicon Valley’s. Further, if you will recall, it was Clinton’s watch when Glass-Stegall, et. al. were eliminated.
How about this for a new bipartisan rhetoric: “If you’re not with us, you’re with the bankers.”
The least worse choice is a loss for every American. Enough already. Let him swing on his own rope. Partisan Politics is America’s endgame.
Chubasco