It is time again for the annoying polling calls, endless ads, and verbal sparring that is the American electoral process. The November 2010 Mid-Term elections are fast approaching, with many politicians already at work campaigning. Up for grabs in the Senate are 36 vacant seats. If the special election of Republican Scott Brown was any indicator of the way mid-term elections might go, the Democratic Majority in the Senate could be challenged. These elections will be intriguing to watch, in a political era were one misstep can ruin a candidates chances. Already months before November there have been mistakes made by candidates that could prove to be detrimental in many races. Advances in technology, economic instability and general discontent with government have made this 2010 mid-term election candidate especially vulnerable to criticism, exposure, and the possible detrimental down fall of their candidacy. Gaffs while increasing a candidate’s exposure also put them under extreme scrutiny in the public eye. Will Gaffs cost election for some or only give them increased publicity.

2010 Senate Race Gaffs

Arkansas: State Senate Minority leader Kim Hendren (R) ,who is set to run against the incumbent Blanche Lincoln, has gotten into so some trouble for referring to Senator Chuck Schumer (D) from New York as “the Jew”. Hendren was the guest speaker at a 2009 Pulaski County Republican Committee meeting, during which he was answering questions from his constituents mainly questions about tax increases Hendren supported in the Arkansas Senate. Especially a cigarette tax increase and Hendren’s refusal to sign the “no tax pledge” were in question. In today’s world of Twitter, Texting and Blogging, everything a politician says is accounted for, one tweet from the meeting said that “Hendren is getting eaten alive. It’s getting ugly” during the question and answer session. (Tolbert The Tolbert Report)

At one point during the meeting a question about an appearance of Senator Chuck Schumer on MSNBC during which he stated “The hard right, which still believes that when the Federal Government moves, we chop off its hands, still believes in the traditional values kind of arguments, in strong foreign policy, all that is over.” Well addressing these statements Kim Hendren referred to Chuck Schumer as “the Jew” or “that Jew”. This Gaff while seemingly significant in its own accord was made worse when Hendren apologized about his statements to the Arkansas Blog The Tolbert Report by stating ““At the meeting I was attempting to explain that unlike Sen. Schumer, I believe in traditional values, like we used to see on ‘The Andy Griffith Show.’ I made the mistake of referring to Sen. Schumer as ‘that Jew’ and I should not have put it that way as this took away from what I was trying to say.” Hendren offered up another excuse to an Arkansas paper by saying that “he referred to Sen. Schumer as a Jew because he had trouble remembering his name” (Tolbert The Tolbert Report)

Arkansas incumbent Blanche Lincoln in all reality does not face the likelihood of defeat. However, candidate Hendren has been given free publicity from his Gaffe; he’s made it all the way to national news.

Nevada- It is impossible not to bring up Harry Reid (D) when talking about the political blunders that have been made by 2010 senatorial candidates. While Reid is the senior Senator from Nevada, serving in the Senate since 1987 he made a significant blunder. In the novel Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin they refer to some racial comments Reid made about Barack Obama. According to the book Reid described Obama as “light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one, whom many voters would embrace. (Powers January 11, 2010) While these statements were made privately and Reid has apologized for them the damage was still done. Republicans have used Reids off hand remarks to their fullest advantage, claiming double standards within parties. There was no shortage of coverage over Reid’s comments, his incumbicency could be hurt. “In Nevada, where 77% of eligible African Americans voted in 2008” what are those people thinking of Harry Reid now. The idea that he is an out of touch older white male is deferentially an issue. He apologized for his remarks and has the support of the Democratic party

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The issue of his comment isn’t going to go away the Tea Party group has announced “that it would launch $100,000 in anti-Reid TV ads this week in Nevada.” Reid’s comments have the potential to cost him the election.

These are just two examples of how incredibly difficult the 2010 elections have the potential to be. It is already estimated that this campaign season will be the most expensive in history and that is without a presidential candidacy. All candidates are under the microscope which could have potential to take away from the real issues. While both these men made truly distasteful remarks does that fact nesicarily negate their competency to do the job? On the same token the press exposure from these missteps is immense which could benefit some of the lesser known candidates. The distaste Americans feel for the political system is being surmounted by the availability of technology. This will certainly be an interesting election season, who knows what someone will say or mess up next.

Powers, Ashley. "Reid's remarks threaten to change his game." The LA Times, January 11, 2010: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/11/nation/la-na-reid11-2010jan11.

Tolbert, Jason. Sen. Kim Hendren: Without a Teleprompter! (UPDATE II – Hendren’s New Explanation. May 2009 The Tolbert Report. http://tolbertreport.com/2009/05/14/sen-kim-hendren-without-a-teleprompter/ (accessed March 2, 2010).