By now, some of you may have seen the video John Chapman, Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. William Keating, has on the front of his website. Titled “Bill Keating: Invisible and Ineffective” this video shows people from the 9th Congressional district attempting to name their Congressman and failing. Today’s Patriot Ledger called the video an unwise stunt, but it is way worse than that.
During the debate between Keating and Chapman this evening, it was revealed that one of the gentlemen filmed in the video is a mentally disabled person, incapable of even answering the question. This despicable action cannot be tolerated. Taking advantage of the political disengagement of certain residents for political gain in itself is bad, but then irresponsibly using video of a mentally disabled man is grounds for disqualification. John Chapman has proven himself completely unworthy of having his name on the ballot next Tuesday and should be ashamed of himself for this extremely shameful act.
Update: Here is the audio from the debate. The disclosure about the video is at the 32 minute mark.
…as much as I wish this were not the case, a lot of people can’t name their member of Congress.
Sad
The fact that the Chapman campaign would take advantage of a handicapped person for political gain is disgusting. I’ve seen cheap political stunts before, but this is ridiculous. And even more disgraceful is the fact that right now, almost 16 hours after this debate (12:18pm on 10/28/14), John Chapman still has the video as the splash page on his website. That shows that he is not at all remorseful for his despicable actions. He should issue an apology to the man, his family, and the voters of the 9th Congressional District and immediately take down that video.
It looks like the video has finally been removed, but it never should have been up in the first place.
Organizations like NAMI and the Disability Law Center have done a great deal of advocacy to ensure that the mentally disabled are allowed to vote. In MA, they may vote unless they are under a guardianship agreement that prohibits them from doing so. If they are independent, they certainly may.
So why should this man be treated any differently than any other voter? IS he legally barred? Why is asking ‘taking advantage’?
C’mon, porcupine: the ad was purporting to illustrate the opinion of “the man on the street” and they chose, as a “representative” or “typical” voter, someone who was especially unqualified to answer the question.
Would you want your family treated in such a way? The candidate retreated immediately and apologized; there’s no need for you to embarrass him by trying to defend the indefensible.
There are times when, rather than trying to defend something, it is best to say nothing. The idea that any political ad, regardless of candidate is not carefully scripted, is absurd. Are people so naive that they think otherwise? Chapman is a liar and has now shown he lacks basic decency.
One of the most obnoxious operatives on the #mapoli twitter feed weighs in on this ad.