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Friday, March 2, 2012

Parenting Issues / Politics / ??!! Today in Parental Puppeteering

Posted by David Schmader on Fri, Mar 2, 2012 at 10:00 AM

The creepiness commenced when Barry Hinckley, a Republican Senate candidate from Rhode Island, released a campaign ad featuring his five-year-old son explaining what's wrong with the economy and why people should vote for his dad.

This was creepy enough even FOX News was driven to question Hinckley on his motives, which brings us to the interview below, conducted and broadcast yesterday. As Mediaite's John Bershad writes,

"Look, I don’t even need to talk about the uncomfortable, Balloon Boy-esque moment where Cavuto asks Hudson if he actually cares about the economy, the boy replies “no,” and Hinckley looks furious. That’s weird enough. But the only thing I can see during this segment is the fact that, every time Hudson talks, Hinckley MOUTHS EVERY WORD HE IS SAYING SIMULTANEOUSLY."

It is really, really weird. Enjoy!

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Comments (21) RSS

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That's the worst ventriloquist act I've ever seen.

Posted by TortoiseTurtle

on March 2, 2012 at 10:19 AM

The candidate seems very nervous about having his kid on live TV. Maybe he should do the kid and himself a favor, and present his ideas in his own voice. It'll save on therapy in the long run.

Posted by YoungBS on March 2, 2012 at 10:21 AM

That's so weird. Crazy, crazy dad. Check out when the kid rolls his eyes at 2:56, and makes a puppet/mouthpiece hand gesture at 2:59

Maybe they're looking at a monitor showing themselves, so when the dad moves his lips, the son can tell which pre-scripted bit to say?

Posted by EricaP on March 2, 2012 at 10:25 AM

what a good little American, only 5 years old and already happy to volunteer as cannon fodder.

Posted by xcowardx on March 2, 2012 at 10:26 AM

He probably got the idea from Franco, the Spanish dictator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjkJILtNf…

Posted by Porcupine on March 2, 2012 at 10:28 AM

WHHAAAAAATTTT TTHHHEEEE FUUUUUCCCCKKKKK????

Posted by bearseatbeats on March 2, 2012 at 10:29 AM

Wow, to both the Hinckley and Franco videos. Maybe Jeff Dunham should run for office if this is appropriate campaign behavior.

Posted by Griffin on March 2, 2012 at 10:31 AM

Jeeezus this is creepy. "his fellow five-year-olds?????" Who the hell ARE these people. . .

Posted by Luisa on March 2, 2012 at 10:39 AM

By the way, Hudson, we're pretty sure your dad is gay.

Posted by this guy I know in Spokane on March 2, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Ugh, that dude just oozes that he's a smarmy grifter. The comparison to the balloon boy stunt seems apt. Thankfully the polling seems to suggest that good people of Rhode Island aren't enamored with him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stat…

He came out the worst of all the challengers to the Democrat incumbent. These polls were a few weeks ago, but I'd be surprised if this appearance helps him.

Posted by carrma on March 2, 2012 at 10:45 AM

Gross. That guy looks like the goblin spawn of Dino Rossi and The Joker.

Posted by T on March 2, 2012 at 10:57 AM

@6 indeed...

Posted by ScienceNerd on March 2, 2012 at 11:03 AM

Where'd you come from?
- Mississippi
And your parents?
- Very wealthy.
Where are they now?
- Six feet under.
* But she was granted one more start
- The convent of The Sacred Heart!

Posted by All That Jazz on March 2, 2012 at 11:10 AM

Drives me crazy...I can't see videos posted on the stranger. I'll have to wait for someone to post this on YouTube. Grrr.

Posted by Aurora Erratic

on March 2, 2012 at 11:31 AM

I'm guessing that there's a 3rd person, off camera. That 3rd person is typing the responses into a teleprompter. The dad is just moving his lips as he reads.

Posted by fairly.unbalanced on March 2, 2012 at 11:32 AM

Creepy and awkward all around. It's like toddlers in tiaras but for politics...

Posted by ArtBasketSara on March 2, 2012 at 11:39 AM

@15 It seems unlikely that a 5 year old would be reading off of a teleprompter. My guess is they had the questions before the interview and had rehearsed answers to the questions. The dad is just having some sort of Pavlovian "stage mom" response to hearing the questions.

Posted by carrma on March 2, 2012 at 11:49 AM

#10 has called it dead on...

His mouthing of his son's words is uber creepy.

Posted by subwlf on March 2, 2012 at 11:52 AM

This right here is why I say that people shouldn't involve children in politics. If this guy seriously thinks his kid is helping his campaign for any other reason than the fact that Dad asked him to, he's insane.

Posted by Knat on March 2, 2012 at 1:45 PM

Typical liberals, y'all have this exactly backwards. The five year old is controlling the daddy.

Posted by Fnarf

on March 2, 2012 at 3:16 PM

Honestly, until I saw that interview I thought the ad was funny. Nothing wrong with sending your message with a willing child actor, right?
But...now....uh....

Posted by tacomagirl on March 2, 2012 at 4:27 PM