I must say I am and always have been a big fan of Michael J. Fox. This video is a little scary for me because I am such a big fan.


Does this political ad hit a new low in politics? Using a famous man dying of a disease to get voters to vote you? Maybe Fox pushed to do it, but I question the judgement of the Senator using this. What if a person against partial birth abortion showed a real partial birth abortion on TV and said, "My opponent voted to keep this procedure legal." President Bush could have aired something like that against Kerry and dozens of other senators that voted to KEEP partial birth abortion legal.

This ad will definately shock a lot of people on both sides. In my view it is a big gamble and the senator using it must have been behind in the polls by a large margin.

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I think it shows a very strong reason to advocate stem cell research. Sure, it pulls at the heart strings... but it's the flip side of the argument. Is her opponent diametrically opposed to stem cell research, regardless of the benefits? If that's the case, that's Michael J. Fox's right to advocate against her opponent and to ask for votes for this candidate. Regardless of how we may feel about it. Last I checked, stem cell research does not equate to partial birth abortion, even though that is a possible origin of stem cell material.

I never said they had anything to do with each other. I stated partial birth because it would shock and it is something many Democrats voted to keep legal to include John Kerry.

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Gotcha.
but what does that have to do with Michael J. Fox advocating a candidate who espouses an issue he feels strongly about?
How does Michael J. Fox pushing for an issue equate a 'new low'?

Bob, you did read my first paragraph, right?

As I stated, Michael J. Fox is one of my favorite actors, especially as a kid. I have no problem with him doing this ad. If I were dying of a terrible disease I would do as much as I could to bring funding to my disease and awareness.

What I think is low is the candidate using Michael J. Fox as a tool for a campaign. I could see an ad like this back firing. Some will be shocked into seeing him shake and others will be turned off seeing him shake. Personally I was shocked seeing one of my childhood idols shaking from a terrible disease. I hate that a person running for senate would use him like this.

Why not an ad raising money for the disease? If she wins, who says anything will change?

Ads like this make me disappointed in politics. By watching this ad you would think Talent was against stem-cell research.

Here is is interview in Newsweek.

Why do you oppose stem-cell research?
Well I don$)C!/t, but !& the [state] ballot issue in Missouri creates a constitutional right to clone embryos, the earliest stages of human life, and I!/m not in favor of human cloning.

So what kind of stem-cell research do you support?
I!/ve pushed very hard for the alternatives that science is now developing which will allow us to get all the stem cells we need without having to clone an embryo. The connection between the two issues is that there!/s a particular kind of stem cell that until pretty recently—about a year ago—scientists believed they could only get from a cloned embryo. But now there!/s a very significant push in the scientific community to develop other methods to get that stem cell. And once they do, then we won!/t have a connection any more between cloning and stem-cell research.

What do you say if a constituent comes up to you, whose family member has Parkinson!/s, and says that getting this done now is their only hope?
All these technologies are very speculative. Now I think they!/re promising and we need to pursue them. But my objective is to get us into a world where 10 years from now, if you go into the hospital, you know you!/re getting the best possible treatment and you know you got it in a way that doesn!/t trouble your conscience at all. And I think we can get there with these alternatives.

Is he against stem-cell research? Certain kinds. I for one and not for harvesting embryos to this. If we allow this we will be like the machines in the Matrix harvesting human being to cure disease. Are you for cloning? I am not.

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I read your first paragraph Mike...
but you stated that she is USING him and his disease. On the contrary, it seems like a clearcut case where he is pushing a candidate who espouses an issue he feels strongly about. How can he be used when he can't be forced to make this ad? Of course, if she does nothing to advocate Parkinson's research dealing with stem cells after she gets elected then, yes, she did use him. but that's something to be determined after the fact.

Why support political candidates vs a fundraising campaign? Quite obviously, politicians can affect change in policy. All the money won't help if an avenue of approach is cut off.

Time is of the essence and Michael J. Fox recognizes that. While the other candidate advocates pursuing alternative methods for stem cell line generation, time that could be spent on using existing methods is slipping away. While the other candidate is cognizant implicitly if not explicitly that stem cell research is making headway into Parkinson's and other neurological diseases, he is tapdancing for time until more palatable methods of stem cell line generation is discovered... so he's putting people's lives on hold with his balking while the candidate Michael J. Fox advocates doesn't.

Anyhoo. This isn't a 'new low' it's the status quo. A low is using fake testimony to achieve a goal, like disputing the validity of someone's Vietnam War credentials.

That point can't be made enough. Politicians can effect change unlike fundraising. In my homestate of Wisconsin, the republicans are trying to ban embryonic stem-cell research altogether, even though the University of Wisconsin is a leader in the field and has a lot of funding. Also, the federal government can provide better (and more consistant) funding than fundraising campaigns. Also, if embryonic stem cell research is unequivocally supported by the government, private funding will increase too.

Here is the response ad.

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I have to say, the ad poses the most idiotic argument I've heard this election. If you followed its logic, we should ban organ donation to prevent accidental deaths.

We don't know what the fruits of embryonic stem cell research will provide. They may fall short. However, they may be much more beneficial than we have imagined, which is why we are continuing to do research.

Problem is, even if it worked there would be others trying to make money off it and it would be too expensive for most people because insurance would want their money also. I feel God made us a certain way and if something happened to me, like Parkinson's disease, He can heal me of the disease. Remember, God also has a say in this also. People forget that. The only way that a human should be make is by God. God made us for a reason and we should not be making clones for our reasons. My oppinion only of course. That ad to me is, you scratch my back and I will scratch your back. Everyone lies in their lives, including politicions.