r/facepalm • u/Nerd-19958 • 3d ago
A political ad attacking Susan Collins’ opponent just aired in the wrong city: ‘I’m really upset’
https://www.nj.com/politics/2026/10/a-political-ad-attacking-susan-collins-opponent-just-aired-in-the-wrong-city-im-really-upset.htmlA political advertisement attacking Susan Collins' opponent for Maine Senator was run in Portland, Oregon rather than Portland, Maine.
"Sarah Chamberlain, president of the Republican Main Street Partnership, said she was “very unhappy” about the mistake. She blamed Cross Screen Media, the ad buyer, for the apparent mix-up."
Just don't hire Cross Screen Media when it's time to give out the nuclear bombing contracts...
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u/snowtax 3d ago
I consider it a good thing that her political campaign wasted money on advertising. I hope she spent a lot on that particular ad campaign.
I like an idea I saw elsewhere suggesting that you should be allowed to donate to a campaign only if you are eligible to vote in the relevant election. I feel that would go a long way toward fixing campaign financing after the Citizens United decision.
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u/AudioSuede 3d ago
This would create a steep hurdle in districts where races are less traditionally competitive but which might be in play during a tumultuous or historic election cycle, like the one we're seeing now. Studies show, for example, that while rural voters are overwhelmingly more conservative, the most consistent Republican voters in rural areas are the relatively wealthy (i.e. those in the highest income bracket for their area), while the lowest-income rural voters are less reliably right-wing, particularly migrant workers.
This matters, because if a Republican elected representative is particularly heinous or bad at their job, they'll likely maintain the support of their wealthiest constituents. They'll be able to buy more ads and hire more staff for their campaign. Meanwhile, Democrats in that area likely lack adequate funding to reach low-information voters who might be swayed to vote against the incumbent. This is where outside money can help a great deal. As a bonus, competitive races force the party to devote more resources to that campaign, so in this scenario Republicans would be forced to spend more time and money on a race they would typically not have needed to, siphoning funds that would otherwise go to other candidates in higher-profile races.
Think of it like political welfare: The higher-income cities and states pay for the welfare of lower-income cities and states. That might be unfair, but the people who need that money the most would be left struggling without it. Same goes for political donations. Most major cities are pretty handily in the Democrats' favor, to the point that Republicans don't devote a ton of money where they know they won't win. Same is true for Democratic donors and voters, who could choose to send their support to other districts where the money is more scarce and the seat is less secure. This keeps the party nationally viable despite the heavy population concentration in cities. It's not a good system, but your proposal would cede a lot of control to local moneyed interests.
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u/cannonman1863 3d ago
Valid points, but it's annoying as hell getting hit up for money from every campaign across the country. Nobody is getting my donation money at this point because I've gotten pissed off at the process.
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u/crescent-v2 3d ago edited 3d ago
Those votes in Congress impact all of us. If some Rep in another state is going to vote to take my rights away, then I want to be able to donate to his opponent.
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u/CarelesslyFabulous 3d ago
I like this in theory, but decisions made in one state or region absolutely effects others.
We just need to get the volume of money out of politics. That is what dooms us.
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u/meglon978 3d ago
Stupid is as republican does.
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u/Hefty_Musician2402 3d ago
The GOP: They may actually be sending their best. And that’s a crazy thought.
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u/Cananbaum 3d ago
Wonder how Fox is gonna spin this
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u/Hexamancer 3d ago
How did Biden do this? Are woke Hollywood cultural marxists trying to purposefully oppress Republicans?
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u/StaticShakyamuni 3d ago
The message is getting across! Citizens of Portland Oregon are not voting for Susan Collins' opponent in droves.
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u/YertleDeTertle 3d ago
Those libs in PNW Portland need to know how excellent our spineless incumbent on the East Coast is! It’s important because they’ve never seen a serpent like this!! All they have are garter snakes.
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u/Adinnieken 3d ago
I wonder if this is also why anti-Ossoff ads are running in Georgia, the country, rather than Georgia the US state?
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u/olorin9_alex 3d ago
“We aired those anti-Talarico ads in Boston, Massachusetts like you wanted”
“Boston? It’s supposed to be Austin!”
“That’s what I said, Austin Massachusetts”
“It’s supposed to be Texas!”
“Boston, Texas?”
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u/ChickinSammich 3d ago
I don't know if you're serious or kidding.
I legitimately can't even tell anymore.
Edit: I tried looking this up and the closest thing I could find was from 2024 when they ran ads in Georgia (state) with photos of Georgia (country) in them. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/09/24/trump-ad-georgia-mistakes-country-for-state/75359672007/
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u/Adinnieken 3d ago
I wish it was the truth, that would make it absolutely hysterical. But the fact that the joke is so hard to distinguish from the truth is sad.
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u/DrMoney 3d ago
You could at least mention her opponents name, its Troy Jackson btw.
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u/Nerd-19958 3d ago
The article mentions Troy Jackson; I was more interested in the "facepalm" aspect.
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u/Extra-Act-801 3d ago
To be fair, the mistake got a lot more attention for Collins' campaign than doing it correctly would have.
To be even more fair, the mistake getting attention just helps reinforce that Collins and the Republican establishment are incompetent and shouldn't be trusted to run a commercial, much less run a government.
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u/game_brewer 3d ago
So this is how the super top secret airplane parts ended up in the super top adversary of the US.
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u/reynvann65 3d ago
F Susan Collins. As much as she pretends to stand up to the current right wing cronyism BS, somehow she always lets them have their way. Mainers, you can do a lot better than Susan Collins, that's for sure.
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u/0utlaw-t0rn 3d ago
Susan Collins is very concerned…
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u/werther595 3d ago
Cross Screen Media has surely learned their lesson. She should continue employing them
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u/Rencauchao 3d ago
Ive seen ads for Ken Paxton in Florida.
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u/WillieNolson 3d ago
Saw them when I was in Pennsylvania last week. I live in Texas so it was kind of a wtf moment when I turned on the TV.
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u/TyhmensAndSaperstein 3d ago
GOP incompetence is stunning. How the fuck are they getting any votes at all? It's amazing.
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u/timothypjr 3d ago
Remember. These people are not smart. I refer the landscaping press conference.
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u/caribou16 2d ago
I maintain the Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference was a totally different situation and arguably WORSE than mere incompetence.
Think about it, in what possible world could that have realistically happened? Even if someone from the Trump campaign had called up a random business with a similar name thinking they were calling a 5 star hotel, how would that conversation have gone?
"Hello, I'm John Baron from the Trump campaign and we'd like to book your main ball room for an important press conference!"
"::confusion:: Sir, this is a
Wendyslawn service, we don't have an event space!"I just don't buy it. But what I DO buy and what I think actually happened is, Daddy Trump had already tweeted out "Yuge Press Conference at the Four Seasons, Philadelphia" but the actual hotel was already booked/unavailable.
But since it's impossible for Trump to ever admit he's ever been wrong or made a mistake, ever, they had to scramble around until they found something close enough, which happened to be a landscaping company located in an industrial park next to I-95, with a gravel parking lot, next to a sex toy shop, across the street from a crematorium, and PRETEND LIKE THIS IS WHAT TRUMP MEANT THE ENTIRE TIME.
The embarrassing thing here isn't "haha, look at how dumb they are" it's the North Korean levels of "Dear Leader is perfect and has never been wrong' and the lengths they go to cater to this phenomenal ego.
Just as with the whole Hurricane Dorian situation, where Trump tweeted the hurricane (that was going up the Atlantic coast) was going to hit Alabama and when the NOAA was like "uh, no it's not" he doubled down, insisting he was correct and went as far as altering weather maps with a sharpie marker to "prove" he was right and the administration FORCED the NOAA to retract their statement that contradicted Trump, even though by the time the forced retraction came, the remnants of the hurricane were off the southern tip of Greenland.
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u/strained_brain 3d ago
They'll give the nuclear bomb contact to Moscow, Russia, instead of Moscow, Idaho. Simple mistake..
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u/HelicopterVisual 3d ago
Oh I was wondering what that was. I was getting a ton of adds from the actual Portland ones and one day I got a few “Taxin Troy Jackson” adds and was quite confused
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u/CloisteredOyster 3d ago
They should schedule a press conference regarding this at the Four Seasons... Landscape.
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u/ChesterSteele 3d ago
Even if the Ad-Company was responsible for the mix-up, somebody at the campaign office of Collins ought to have signed-off on it.
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u/InevitableLibrarian 2d ago
Well there's two of anything so it's hard for Republicans to figure it out. Might I suggest they look on the new fangled "internet"?
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u/Mountain_Fig_9253 3d ago
Sounds like the President of the “republican Main Street partnership” is the one that screwed up here.
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u/miken322 3d ago
I’m just waiting for John Brain ads to air in Vancouver, BC instead of Vancouver, WA.
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u/TehGuard 3d ago
Why do mistakes like this keep happening lol
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u/Accomplished_Emu_658 1d ago
Because the overall party controls everything and runs the ads. They then use their “buddy’s” companies to do everything.
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u/perplexedparallax 3d ago
You couldn't pick a least likely place for her to get a vote even if she was running in Portland, Oregon.
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u/BlueRFR3100 3d ago
Oregon voters are pissed when they found out she not on their ballot so they can't vote against her.
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u/wasntahomer 3d ago
Philly area here we have been getting congressional race adverts from all over ther country.
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u/GrannyFlash7373 1d ago
No doubt, she is"concerned". That is her favorite comment. She doesn't seem to be too "concerned" about the high prices for everything, because of Trump's BULLSHIT.
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