Early Saturday evening, Minnesota Republican US Senate candidate Jim Newberger tweeted a campaign ad in which one of his own yard signs is set on fire with a sound track of sound bites from liberal figures playing in the background:
Amy Klobuchar sides with the extreme. This November 6th, don't let the mobs win. Vote for Jobs not Mobs! pic.twitter.com/OUSZHx3iN3
— Jim Newberger (@NewbergerJim) November 4, 2018
Nothing owns the other side--or supports suspicion of violence by your opponents--than torching your own sign in a campaign ad.
Perhaps the self-immolation is visually signaling something else. On Halloween, Mike Brest at the conservative Daily Caller reported in Minnesota Senate Dems Raise Significantly More Money Than Republican Challengers:
. . . Klobuchar, who is running against Jim Newberger, has raised $7,412,107 for her reelection campaign, according to the Star Tribune. Conversely, Newberger has only raised $210,846, which is only 2.8 percent of Klobuchar’s war chest. . . .
According to a Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll released last week, Klobuchar leads Newberger 56 percent to 33 percent. The poll, which was conducted in the middle of the month of October, also revealed 60 percent of those surveyed did not even recognize Newberger by name.
With that sort of money to burn on Klobuchar's part, we'd have to wonder why anyone other than Newberger would burn one of his signs.
Sadly, yard sign stealing, defacing and destruction by others is a constant problem for all campaigns we've observed since we returned to the upper Midwest in 1996. It's just wrong--and we don't think pouring gasoline on your own sign and lighting a match is a helpful action to stop the destruction of property. Just say no, Jim.
Twitterverse responds
As one might expect, the Twitterverse has offered constructive advice to Jim Newberger, who is in his last months of serving as a state representative for the area around Becker.
Here’s a thought, how about wages, not cages? How about that?
— Deborah F. Donovan (@iratewoman) November 4, 2018
Pretty much sums up your campaign.
— Paul Peltier (@PaulPeltier) November 4, 2018
At the KSTP debate, you came across as a "nice guy", but unprepared. Now, it's hard for people to take you seriously with this attempt to create drama.
I'm sticking with @amyklobuchar because, instead of creating drama, she gets things done.
— Chris (@murphtoned) November 4, 2018
— ArtBob (@BobPollard16) November 4, 2018
Uff dah, that’s really stupid. Last time I looked Sen. Klobuchar’s approval rating was way higher than your name recognition. Try a slogan with full couplet. Here’s some help: snobs, slobs, doorknobs, Lou Dobbs.
— Brian Rusche (@brianrusche) November 4, 2018
I see why your former House GOP colleagues laughed at you behind your back, one saying you were the dumbest legislator in St. Paul.
— Tim O'Brien (@TWOBrien) November 4, 2018
Wait, did you set your own sign on fire because you're conceding?
— Andy (@trtx84) November 4, 2018
Is that like tipping over your king in chess?
Someone is running against Amy? And it’s someone dumb enough to light a lawn sign on fire on a lawn covered in dry leaves? Is that a supporter? Not a bright one! This is not a good look....
— exstpaul (@lisapr66) November 4, 2018
Who are you and why are you vandalizing signs?
— Essential(ly Illegal) Consulting, LLC (@PrincessSoupCan) November 4, 2018
This may not be the WORST tweet by a senatorial candidate ever, but it’s GOTTA be in the bottom 500, right? pic.twitter.com/dsEC9aBs3d
— Barbara Reed (@CrabbyPatty1117) November 4, 2018
You okay there, buddy? Why are you burning down your own sign? You got some feelings you need to be talking about? You need a hug?
— T. S. Pumpkins 👻🎃👻 (@only_living_grl) November 4, 2018
Those are in the reply threads. Other observers retweeted the ad under their own comments. From a couple of people our editor follows:
Republican Jim Newberger lights his own campaign sign on fire in a last-minute appeal to fellow arsonists. https://t.co/nZez2YYa7J
— Tony Webster (@webster) November 4, 2018
LMAO. This is right up there with standing in front of a literal dumpster fire. No, this is better. Burning your own lawn sign is certainly a memorable image to put out there. https://t.co/43CZfVOFSw
— Javier Morillo 🇵🇷 (@javimorillo) November 4, 2018
The visual image in the unusual ad reminds us of a 2012 post that condemned repugnant graffiti on signs for Alexandria-area Republican Mary Franson, Signs don't vote--and vandalism wins no votes. The visuals in Newberger's new ad are a slap in the face of all candidates who, like Franson, faced genuine vandalism.
Newberger's own extreme past
As far as the underlying message goes, this is entertaining stuff from a guy who came to the GOP via the Tea Party and anti-Agenda 21 fearmongering as we reported in 2012's Scary MN: Representative-elect Jim Newberger totally freaks about EQB & Citizens Forums.
There's also Mention St. Cloud & visions of prison & North Minneapolis pop into Jim Newberger's head from 2015.
In 2017, we reviewed the Newberger Legacy in In a perfect world, state rep Jim Newberger's challenge to Klobuchar would be a sure thing. See also Mike Mullen's consideration in the City Pages, Are Rep. Jim Newberger's ideas bad enough for the United States Senate?
Photo: A dumpster fire.
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