March 9, 2018

Weird ad for Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Rebecca Dallet that just popped up in the sidebar on Meade's browser.



Does anyone know the source of that ad? It can't be the candidate's campaign, I don't think, because it has no identification. The font seems... off, and the image is just so amateurish and needlessly extreme that I'm questioning the 3d word of my post title ("for").

(It's so bad and chaos-y that I was thinking the Russians did it.)

UPDATE: Meade saw the ad again and clicked on it and went to this page at a website that identifies itself as the NDRC — the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. It says: "Paid for by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Not authorized by any candidate, candidate’s agent or committee." Seems like those words should be on the ad, not something you have to click to see.
On Tuesday, April 3, Wisconsin voters have the chance to elect Rebecca Dallet to the State Supreme Court. Dallet has served her community for the past two decades – first as a prosecutor, then as a judge. She is committed to fighting for Wisconsin values. Putting the right state candidates in office is instrumental to the success of restoring fairness to the redistricting process. Now’s not the time to sit out....
That ties Dallet to a specific issue, redistricting. It still doesn't make sense of that image, which seems to represent Trump's judicial appointments. You can redistrict all you want and it won't change the Senate, which confirms the appointments.

What is the NDRC? From the website:
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee, chaired by the 82nd Attorney General of the United States Eric H. Holder, Jr., is the first-ever strategic hub for a comprehensive redistricting strategy. With the support of former President Barack Obama, as well as key leaders around the country, the NDRC is attacking this problem from every angle to ensure the next round of redistricting is fair and that maps reflect the will of the voters.
Why drag your reputation down with such an abominably amateurish ad that I thought it was the Russians! At least kern!

68 comments:

rhhardin said...

It's a picture of Trump

Henry said...

It's two different typefaces and the kerning is a mess.

Drago said...

It looks very "Soviet-y"....

Ann Althouse said...

I realize it's Trump (with the scales of justice forming his face). It's some amateurish artist's effort at scaring us about Trump's judges.

Notice that this is a race for a position on a state court, so it has nothing to do with Trump's appointments.

The attenuated relationship to Trump is that state supreme court cases might be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, to which Trump has appointed one Justice, but there's no way the state judge can protect us from what the U.S. Supreme Court might do. The Wisconsin Supreme Court tried as hard as any court ever tried, back in 1859, but it didn't work.

Hagar said...

OT, but it is difficult to "influence" U.S. elections when you just don't understand how Americans work.
(Americans don't either, but being born and raised here, they do not know "their skins are wet.")

Ann Althouse said...

"there's no way the state judge can protect us from what the U.S. Supreme Court might do"

There's no way the state judge can protect us from what the U.S. Supreme Court might do with federal law, but it is possible for state judges to find state constitutional rights that can "protect our rights" even when the analogous federal law rights are no longer seen by the U.S. Supreme Court (but that will only work if those rights are not preempted by or in violation of any federal law).

Ann Althouse said...

I'm a retired law professor, and sometimes I just have to tell you about the independent and adequate state ground doctrine.

Hagar said...

Looks like a cross between John Wayne and Fu Manchu.

Nonapod said...

I actually didn't "get" that it was supposed to be a picture of Trump, crappy design indeed. So is it supposed to be anti-Trump or pro-Trump?

Hagar said...

Analyze this sentence:
There's no way the state judge can protect us from what the U.S. Supreme Court might do with federal law, but it is possible for state judges to find state constitutional rights that can "protect our rights" even when the analogous federal law rights are no longer seen by the U.S. Supreme Court (but that will only work if those rights are not preempted by or in violation of any federal law).

traditionalguy said...

Yeah, it's Trump leveling the playing field for the steel workers. Big deal. If Trump fights for the Dairy Industry Cheese workers it might help her win.

It will help her with the Korean community for sure. They are in awe of Mighty Trump today. He screws porn stars and disarms three generations of evil tyrants, all without firing a shot.

Have trouble? Get Trump.

BarrySanders20 said...

I see Algore. Inventor Of The Internet and Controller of Memes.

cubanbob said...

It looks cheesy. Must be some low rent progressives behind the ad.

Curious George said...

Althouse, you are trying to find logic and reason in the actions and thoughts of the left.

Mistake #1.

tcrosse said...

Acts 9:18 “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.”

Marty Keller said...

The leftwing MSM clerisy and Robert Mueller are jumping right on this.

JohnAnnArbor said...

Maybe I'm not up on campaign law, but I thought non-campaign organizations weren't allowed to directly advocate for a particular vote (like this ad does), nor coordinate their ads with the campaigns.

Ann Althouse said...

"I actually didn't "get" that it was supposed to be a picture of Trump...."

Maybe a lot of people would see it as a picture of Dallet. If so, it sure doesn't help Dallet.

Ann Althouse said...

"Analyze this sentence..."

Ha ha.

Just reread it until you understand it -- 3, 4, 5 times. As many times as it takes. That's the lawprof advice I told you about yesterday.

Ann Althouse said...

"Acts 9:18 “And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.”"

Ha ha. Yeah. I thought of that too. I tried to google to find the source and I was worried that would make the use of "scales" unworkable.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

Creepy indeed. Reverse image search on Google has no idea wtf that is.

To my eyes, it's supposed to suggest Trump of course but also a Hitler-stache.

gilbar said...

doesn't it seem like Chief Justice Roger B. Taney really Wanted the Civil War?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

That's some freaky deaky art work there. It does have that un-American appearance, a vague disassociation from the norms of our political advertising. It certainly doesn't draw me in and make me want this person hiding behind the scales and scowling at me to sit in judgement of me. Yikes!

MadisonMan said...

That was in my Facebook Feed as well -- someone had posted it, but now I can't find it.

It is bizarre. Running against Trump in a state he carried? That's the strategy of SE Wisconsin democrats?

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I realize it's Trump (with the scales of justice forming his face).

Really? I saw a scowling dyke-ish-haired female judge behind them scales. Is it Trump?

Ann Althouse said...

"There's no way the state judge can protect us from what the U.S. Supreme Court might do with federal law, but it is possible for state judges to find state constitutional rights that can "protect our rights" even when the analogous federal law rights are no longer seen by the U.S. Supreme Court (but that will only work if those rights are not preempted by or in violation of any federal law)."

Here's an easy(ish) example. In federal law the right to the "free exercise of religion" does not include a right to be free from burdens imposed by neutral, generally applicable laws, but the Wisconsin State Constitution has an analogous provision for free exercise, and it has been interpreted to give a free exercise right to require the government to justify substantial burdens on religion by showing a compelling interest. That state constitutional law right would not survive if it violated or was preempted by an federal law, because all federal law is superior to all state law, even state constitutional law. So, if the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution were interpreted very strongly, it would trump the state constitutional law right to freedom of religion. The Supreme Court might say that the state law right violated the Establishment Clause because it gives special treatment to religious reasons for wanting or needing to do something. The Supreme Court does not interpret the Establishment Clause that way, but if it did, it would be the end of the state constitutional law right that the state supreme court had found.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

That hair is absolutely more dyke than Donald. Come on! Where's the swooshy front piece?

Ann Althouse said...

"That was in my Facebook Feed as well -- someone had posted it, but now I can't find it….”

It was not in Meade’s Facebook feed. (He’s not on Facebook at all.) It appeared as an ad on my blog, which means that it was served up by Google or Amazon. (In the old days, when I used only BlogAds, I got to see every ad before it ran and could reject it if I wanted).

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

The base of the scales appear to be red female lips scowling. I can kind of see the Trumpishness of the outline, but the two images merged make something neither human nor scale. Maybe its a scaman or a humale?

MadisonMan said...

It doesn't appear to be on the Dallet Campaigan website. (I didn't make an exhaustive look however).

Gahrie said...

This sounds suspiciously like a State's rights argument.....has anyone grilled Dallet about her secret racism?

Etienne said...

I suspect the image uses Steganography and is subversive.

Hagar said...

I still think there is a word or two missing from that sentence.

alan markus said...

This might have something to do - just came up at WI State Journal

Henry said...

Just for the fun of it, I spent a little time recreating this. The bold font is something like Questrial, a Google font in the Futura family. It's a very close match, but not quite right. I suspect the actual design used some kind of free-font knockoff given the poor kerning -- look at how close the O is to the R in PROTECT, with a gap on the other side between the R and the T. Good kerning would close up that right-hand gap. I added a lot of extra space between the characters to get a match.

The lighter font is very close to Letter Gothic Std, a monospace font. The designer severely compressed letter spacing to mimic a "condensed" look.

In both cases, I matched the weight of the font in the image by applying a thick stroke outline to the versions of Questrial and Letter Gothic Std. I had at hand.

At the links below you can type in "PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS" and "VOTE WISCONSIN STATE SUPREME COURT APRIL 3" to compare the look for yourself.

Questrial
https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Questrial

Letter Gothic Std.
https://typekit.com/fonts/letter-gothic

Lewis Wetzel said...

It is interesting how many on the left live under the delusion that we are in some kind of "Trump dictatorship." This is literally insane, it is the product of an unhinged mind. Some of the lefty commenters here entertain this delusion.

Ann Althouse said...

"It was not in Meade’s Facebook feed. (He’s not on Facebook at all.) It appeared as an ad on my blog, which means that it was served up by Google or Amazon."

Wait. That's wrong. He wasn't on my blog but another website, but it was in an ad sidebar like the one on my page.

LA_Bob said...

"I actually didn't "get" that it was supposed to be a picture of Trump...."

Maybe a lot of people would see it as a picture of Dallet. If so, it sure doesn't help Dallet.


That was my reaction, and I agree it doesn't help Dallet. She's not a looker, but she's not near ugly enough to be the character in that picture.

Her Facebook page is very "progressive". When I read it I wonder who thought it a good idea for judges to be elected. I suppose it was the Progressives!.

https://www.facebook.com/JudgeDallet/

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Weird ad for Wisconsin Supreme Court...

I misread that as Weird al. He'd win in a landslide.

Ignorance is Bliss said...


He wasn't on my blog but another website...

When a man marries his blogress it creates a... no, wait, that doesn't work...

MrCharlie2 said...

It's like a snow man face, but I got that it was trump at first glance

Darkisland said...

It reminds me of the Guy fawkes mask that was popular among the Occupy fascists a few years ago.

I have no idea why it does but that was the second thinv I thought of. First thing was president trump.

Yeah, I know. It looks nothing like the mask. It still made me think of it though

John Henry

john said...

traditionalguy said...He screws porn stars and disarms three generations of evil tyrants, all without firing a shot.

Aren't you assuming facts not yet in evidence? Is there a blue dress?

Bay Area Guy said...

Surely, this is the covert work of ex-Chief Justice Abrahamson.

Njall said...

It does have an odd, foreign appearance, like it was borrowed from a propaganda poster from 1920's Romania.

Darrell said...

Scales of justice or a cunt?
You decide.

Ann Althouse said...

It's not Dallet's ad. I excluded that possibility in the original post.

Now, I've figured out that it is by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. Dallet can't coordinate with them, so their stupid, ugly ad isn't her fault, and I feel sorry for her that she's stuck with "help" like that. I'm sure many people just think that's supposed to be a picture of Dallet, making her look creepy and ugly.

Virgil Hilts said...

Ann suggests "Why drag your reputation down..." letting us believe it was the Russians when it was really Eric Holder. One of those questions that answers itself.

pfennig said...

The National Democratic Redistricting Committee is the outfit that just filed suit against Governor Walker for choosing to wait until the November elections rather than calling special elections now to fill two vacant Wisconsin legislative seats.

Is the group spending money to support Dallet in the hope that she will support their suit against Walker if it goes to the Supreme Court?

Sal said...

It's not Trump at all. The creature has Mao's eyes, Hitler's mustache and Stalin's hair.

David53 said...

I see the scale but I also see an intrauterine device balanced on her lip. From the tips of the IUD threads hang down which are keeping her eyelids open. I need to adjust my meds.

Curious George said...

"pfennig said...
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee is the outfit that just filed suit against Governor Walker for choosing to wait until the November elections rather than calling special elections now to fill two vacant Wisconsin legislative seats.

Is the group spending money to support Dallet in the hope that she will support their suit against Walker if it goes to the Supreme Court?"

The conservatives would still have a 4-3 majority if she prevailed. But she won't.

Tina Trent said...

No point in feeling sorry for Dallet: she can distance herself from the ad if she wishes, and otherwise she owns the alliance.

Curious George said...

Let us not forget the last Democratic woman trying to get on the Court here is Wisco

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VNpKvwQeJM

I know. Hard to fathom.

LA_Bob said...

According to this article, Eric Holder heads the National Democratic Redistricting Committee

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/group-headed-by-eric-holder-spends-k-to-back-supreme/article_a6837656-cbb5-518c-8467-c0d92a5a9902.html

He needs to hire better designers and artists.

BJM said...

At least kern!

Now that's funny.

tcrosse said...

Here's your Kern

Chaswjd said...

I have no idea how Judge Dallet will protect us from federal overreach. Since Ableman v. Booth, 62 U.S. (21 How.) 506 (1859), state judges simply lack the power to force federal officials to act. While I have found Judge Dallet to be an effective Circuit Court Judge, I find this aspect of the election campaign troubling.

Saint Croix said...

the kerning is a mess

One fantastic result of having the Obama/Trump presidencies back to back is we all get to see the difference between superficial stuff and what's really going on.

This ad is like a miniature version of the release of the Obamacare website. It's bad and clunky and unprofessional. And they (presumably) hired people who are supposed to know what they are doing. It's like the people doing the hiring have no interest in checking the work out. Bizarre.

Meanwhile, Trump seems bad and clunky and unprofessional. But his administration seems to be humming along smoothly. His potential visit with the North Korea leader is a Nixon-goes-to-China moment. Way more consequential than Nixon going to China, actually. Nixon going to China was all pomp and stagecraft. Trump actually has a goal with his Nork visit. He wants to get them to give up their nukes.

One over-promises and under-delivers. The other lowers our expectations and then surprises us.

And it's more than a little hilarious that Trump is now president and Obama wants to be a reality TV star.

Ann Althouse said...

Now, I think I'm seeing, on the right side, a woman reaching in and grabbing one side of the scale, deliberately putting it out of balance. I wonder where they got the picture. Maybe it illustrated an op-ed about birth control rights. The scale does give off a female anatomy vibe.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

The pic makes Trump look like a combination of the Tin Man and the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz -- Heartless and brainless.

Big Mike said...

I don’t get why you’re in such a kerfluffle, Althouse. The ad is meant to appeal to the low information voter, and since there is nothing lower than a Democrat, it’s perfect. Of course, as a person living nowhere near Wisconsin, my first thought was that Dallet must be associated with Donald Trump, i.e., a supporter. If that’s not what the ad meant to convey then perhaps it is a failure.

Known Unknown said...

Kern, Baby, Kern!

walter said...

Probably the work of an unpaid intern...fresh from a $15/hr minimum wage campaign..

Henry said...

@walter -- that's my suspicion as well. I also suspect the horrible kerning is a software failure -- either the designer downloaded a free web font that was made by some other amateur, or the intern used some lousy graphics software that bollixed up the type rendering.

That doesn't excuse the combination of a sans-serif proportional font with a sans-serif monospace font. As for color...

From the viral point of view, Holder's organization doesn't care. They don't care that they're slinging crap design. This is exactly the kind of thing you give to an unpaid intern. Today's crap design will be gone tomorrow. Every intern should produce 10 crap designs a week. Let your lawyers make some "creative" designs in their free time and open the sluice. Quantity is the thing.

* * *

Editorial edit -- in my second post I should have written "between the O and the T" instead of "between the R and the T".

In addition to kerning failures, there are simple letter spacing failures such as the E C C A in REBE C C A.

southcentralpa said...

So, in other words, if elected she will legislate from the bench. Seriously, the NDRC-supported Pennsylvania Supreme Court usurped the legislature's role of being the sole arbiter of legislative districts in direct violation of black-letter provisions of the United States Constitution. Why the Supreme Court of the United States has not slapped those jokers silly (metaphorically) is beyond me. What are they waiting for???

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Bakersfield font from Kern County.