When you’re trying to shake off this image of yourself, and you’ve already shelled out a million dollars of your $217 million net worth on slick campaign ads on a new “more carefully-calibrated blue-collar image,” you probably shouldn’t accidentally make a parody ad of yourself.
And yet, here we are.
In Stewart Mills III’s latest ad “Deadwood,”* new “blue-collar” Mills is now traipsing around a woodpile. He calls himself an outsider as he splits logs…in slow motion.
Thing is, he’s not the first candidate to do this on television. There’s also Jonah Ryan, the woefully inept character on the HBO series Veep, who used a similarly manufactured “rugged outsider” look to appeal to rural voters in his congressional run as well.
This comes after Mills admitted that this retooled image is an expensive act to serve as – in Stewart Mills’ words – “inoculation” against the reminders that he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
So far, Mills isn’t saying whether the similarities were intentional. But I think we can all agree: when you’re trying to look blue collar, don’t accidentally compare yourself to a satirical TV show making a mockery of fake blue-collar candidates.
“Stewart Mills III as a rugged outsider simply isn’t believable because the real Stewart Mills is still a multi-millionaire who believes ‘all options are on the table’ when it comes to fixing Social Security, supports more tax cuts for the wealthy, and opposes raising the minimum wage,” said DCCC Spokeswoman Sacha Haworth. “Northern Minnesotans have seen through this act once before, and will again this November.”
*Fun fact: firewood isn’t actually deadwood!