Associated Press reports termed-out Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine) and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, who are vying for the Republican nomination to face U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer in November, are still mining fund-raising gold from a video of the fiery liberal reprimanding an Army Corps of Engineers general for calling her “ma'am.”
That reprimand, during which Boxer insisted Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh refer to her as “senator,” was issued during a hearing last June.
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Her full quote: “Do me a favor? Could you say
'senator' instead of 'ma'am?' It's just a thing. I worked so hard to
get that title, so I'd appreciate it. Yes, thank you.”
Boxer said later the general was not offended by her remarks, but Fiorina found it was so memorable that her campaign created a Web site–CallMeBarbara.com–that uses the exchange to raise money and keep in touch with supporters.
As Spencer Kornhaber has reported, DeVore is being sued in federal court by Eagles' singer-drummer Don Henley over the use of his songs to rip Boxer and President Barack Obama. DeVore has juxtaposed the Boxer “ma'am” clip with an Austin Powers movie frame showing the
Dr. Evil character upbraiding those who dare refer to him as “Mr.
Evil.”
The counter as of 5:30 p.m. Monday showed 109,517 people had viewed the 30-second spoof on YouTube. According to the DeVore campaign, it's become one of the most popular tools to reach potential supporters.
“Whether it will have currency beyond next June's Republican primary,
when the winner will have to appeal to a much larger and more diverse
audience, is an open question,” concludes the AP about the dualing video clip campaigns against Boxer.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.