Wounded Cats

Michael J. Fox and his pro-embryonic stem cell message are apparently turning into a factor in several elections. In addition to the spot supporting Democrat Claire McCaskill in the Missouri Senate race that Glenn [McGee] describes below, Fox has also made similar spots supporting Ben Cardin in the Maryland Senate race and incumbent Jim Doyle in the Wisconsin gubernatorial contest and is making appearances in support of Robert Menendez in the New Jersey Senate race and Tammy Duckworth in the Illinois 6th Congressional District, a race we’ve written about before. Matthew Mosk of the Washington Post describes the Maryland spot and local reaction to it is here.

The wounded cat screeching from stem cell opponents attest to the ad campaign’s effectiveness, the more so because the countercharges being lodged have so little substance. Rather than being “exploited”, Fox appears to be reaching out to campaigns where he thinks his message may have an impact and appears to be doing a good job of identifying the right ones. Apparently, he volunteered. Second, the claims he actually makes for embryonic stem cell research are not overstated. Both the spots themselves and the Website of Fox’s foundation, available here avoid the claims of eminent cures made by some advocates. The word “cure” doesn’t appear in the spots at all. Rather, embryonic stem cell research is described as a promising line of research that gives hope to disease sufferers, which seems about right for this stage of things. The sneering cracks by Rush Limbaugh and fellow bottom dwellers that Fox is “off his meds” or is “acting” appear to be exactly backwards. I’m no neurologist and don’t even play one on TV, but at least one neurologist, as reported here , notes that people with untreated Parkinson’s disease actually frequently appear stiff and frozen and have trouble walking or performing simple motor tasks. The jerky, involuntary movements that make the spots so painful to watch are a commonly reported side effect of levodopa, which is a primary treatment for Parkinson’s, as reported here on the website of the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Fox doesn’t look the way he does because he’s off his meds, but because he’s on them.

Complaints that the ads are self-pitying or in bad taste also miss the mark. To the contrary, the spots owe much of their effectiveness to their understatement. Fox is an effective presenter and the implicit contrast between a straightforward request for support and the obvious effort it’s taking him to make it don’t need embellishment. Claims about the potential benefits of stem cell research may be difficult for most to evaluate, but a personalization of one of the problems that researchers are trying to fix sends a strong message that real people have things at stake in this debate. As advertising, this stuff is hard to beat.
Jim Fossett
AMBI Federalism and Bioethics Initiative

posted Oct 24, 2006 | link | jump to the comments (7)

comments

Fox could put the whole matter to rest by denying that he went off his meds before taping. He has admitted in his book doing so before testifying in front of legislative bodies to make his appearance more dramatic. So far, he hasn't.
I don't think it would be deceptive of him to do so, but it would be sensationalistic. He doesn't want people to "think" but to "feel."
It may not be working. Apparently Amendment 2 is now below 50%. It deserves to be on the deception alone.

- by Wesley J. Smith on Oct 25, 2006 at 3:24 AM | link

Fox doesn't owe anybody a denial, nor do I think that would put the whole matter to rest--after apologizing, Rush is back to his old offensive ways, and he'd be accompanied by the usual cast of characters. People with Parkinson's don't have any good choices--you take your meds and run the high risk of side effects, or you go off them and accept the loss of functioning that the disease inflicts.Showing either side of that lousy tradeoff may be uncomfortable to look at, but it's hardly deceptive.
Sensationalistic? I don't think so. Appeals to emotion in politics predate the ancient Greeks, and within limits there's nothing wrong with that. The personal isn't always political, but at some times it is. Real people are affected by political decisions, and there's nothing wrong with reminding people of that. At one level, Fox isn't doing anything that dozens of celebrities have done before--associate themselves in public with a disease or condition that they've experienced or are concerned with in some way in order to raise public awareness and appeal for financial support. In any case, attempts to label Amendment 2 as the "clone and kill" bill or surrounding yourself with snowflake children hardly qualify as temperate appeals to reason.

- by Jim Fossett on Oct 25, 2006 at 4:40 PM | link

Jim, attempts to redefine cloning are not reasonable.
The bill is, in fact, a "clone and kill" bill. It redefines cloning, it mandates killing.
I call this "I want" ethics. However, reality does not change because we want something very, very badly. If it does, whose wants and needs over ride those of others?
Will we see you at the ASBH meeting this week?

- by Beverly Nuckols on Oct 26, 2006 at 10:31 AM | link

Rep. Cleaver has a post on our site, Faithful Democrats, regarding faith and stem cell research. This is typically where people come from in this issue when they are against it so it is interesting to hear a person of faith who is for it.

- by Faithful Democrats on Oct 26, 2006 at 3:04 PM | link

While I agree that Fox's ads do not imply imminent cures, the word "cure" is stated. Here is the text of Fox's Missouri adL
As you might know, I care deeply about stem cell research. In Missouri, you can elect Claire McCaskill, who shares my hope for cures. Unfortunately, Senator Jim Talent opposes expanding stem cell research. Sen. Talent even wanted to criminalize the science that gives us the chance for hope. They say all politics is local, but that`s not always the case. What you do in Missouri matters to millions of Americans, Americans like me.

- by Jesse on Oct 27, 2006 at 6:51 PM | link

A site that may be of interest to this blog's readers:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/25/olbermann-gives-us-the-visual-to-limbaughs-attack-on-michael-j-fox/
-MW

- by Matt on Oct 27, 2006 at 8:53 PM | link

I think (hope) the Fox ad is backfiring. People can see the strings being pulled and the raw deception and sensationalism. Steel, in MD, is now neck and neck with his opponent--in a Blue State. He has a terrific ad by his sister supporting his stem cell position and mentioning at the end that she has MS. But unlike pro cloning types, she doesn't seek to appeal to the emotions by showing the extent of her own disabiliy. In MO, Amendment 2 went below 50% in the Survey USA poll. But the best parts of the ad from the anti-cloning perspective is that is is really the troops, while also allowing some of us to point out that ESCR and SCNT are not synonyms--as the more deceptive proponents of the research pretend. I have done seven talk radio shows in MO and WI that I would not otherwise have had the opportunity to do.
So, time will tell. The pro cloning crowd thinks they are great, the anti cloning crowd thinks they are terrible. But the anti cloning crowd is finally able to break through the news blockade to get our story out, none of which would have happened but for the ad.
So, rather than cat screeches. we are pleased to be able to show the raw deception of the entire pro cloning campaign so baldly displayed.

- by Wesley J. Smith on Oct 29, 2006 at 1:07 AM | link