Republican candidate Gabriel E. Gomez ignited controversy on Thursday by calling his Democratic opponent for US Senate, a sitting congressman, “pond scum,” in an interview with a National Public Radio reporter on Thursday.
Asked whether his candidate regretted his remarks, spokesman Will Ritter recounted that Gomez not only didn’t regret it, but went further in a television interview Thursday evening:
“I was surprised at the controversy,” Ritter recounted Gomez saying. “Pond scum currently has a higher approval rating than Congress.”
Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, has been emphasizing the bruises he is getting in his first statewide campaign, to claim his Democratic opponent, US Representative Edward J. Markey, is waging a dirty campaign. Meanwhile, Gomez’s own claims are also harsh, as he bats back Markey’s negative advertising with increasingly vitriolic language.
The video that spurred the “pond scum” reference was Markey’s Web ad showing Gomez on a split screen with Osama bin Laden.
Here’s the full quote:
You know, I’ve got four young kids, and they’ve got to sit there and they gotta see an ad with their dad, who served honorably — talk to anybody I served with, whether as a pilot or as a SEAL or anybody I’ve worked with — and for him to be as dirty and low, pond scum, to put me up against bin Laden, he’s gotta be called what he is.
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Comments
Hmmmm…….this fellow shows promise.
Very uncivilized.
Uncivilized men will not stab you in the back and smile at you.
They won’t let you call them names, either. Not for free.
Hmmm. Part of me says not to lower yourself to your opponent’s level and take the opportunity to separate yourself from a scummy opponent by keeping the high ground, especially in a leftist, snooty state like Massachusetts where swing voters may object to juvenile name-calling. Another part of me says an eye for an eye, fight fire with fire, etc., especially since Markey really is lower than pond scum. Ultimately, I defer to the candidate’s judgment on this one.
There is no benefit to taking the high road. This is, after all, Massachusetts; where the enemies of the Constitution control the government completely; and more to the point they count the votes. As I see it since he has no chance of winning, he might as well do as much damage to the Enemy as he can. Do not depend on “swing voters” in Massachusetts; especially any “swing voters” who would be offended by a Republican who does not follow the Marquis of Queensbury rules while the Democrat fights like a Jihadist. Those “swing voters” always vote the straight Democrat ticket anyway.
Subotai Bahadur
Anyone who says that swing voters hate negative campaigns, lets ask President Romney how he feels about it. All negative, all the time got Obama re-elected.
It’s Massachusetts too, so no surprise if Markey wins because many “independents” are just straight dem ticket voters and the parties split there is like 5-1 in the dems favor. You need a critical mass of independents, crossover dems, and all republicans to win as a republican in Massachusetts. So go for the throat Gomez! Energize your base and kill the dems enthusiasm as well. Negative campaigning works!
But, for Gomez to win, he will need a perfect storm a la Scott Brown. It is a special election, and anything goes, so we will see if he pulls it out.
Pond scum?
Heck, manure a greater approval rating than Congress.
At least manure has a purpose, helps things grow and builds the economy.
Congress doesn’t.
Well at least Congress doesn’t DO anything. Obama likes to snuff out his opponents. I’d rather have a do nothing congress than an overzealous and out-of-control, dictatorial executive branch!
I’d rather have a Mama Grizzly Congress that slaps the over-blown ego right out of an out-of-control narcissist dictator-wannabe POTUS and puts him in his place.
Plus a Constitution-loving pitt bull watchdog SCOTUS that attacks any and every encroachment by said ego-bound POTUS…until he backs down and cowers in his place.