Absolutely not, Certainly not what I was implying, just trying to counter the idea that it might be considered justifiable and/or ‘just a laugh’ because of who the victim was.
I agree with this. I also think it was counter-productive. The same in the US. Instead of arguing the policies of Trump, everybody instead talked about how he was not very nice, or this and that character traits.
But character traits and (public) behaviour usually go hand in hand with policies. Just saying, I don’t suggest they should be at the centre of a counter-campaign. Case in point - women rights and liberties have declined during Trump’s presidency. (aka the “pussy grabber”) It looks like the discourse and violence against women are on the rise across the globe anyway and these politicians are definitely not helping.
However, even though I find the Farage incident rather amusing (I’m almost convinced the 25 y.o. woman will “get away” with a fine) I don’t agree with assaults against politicians/vigilantism either. I believe that if they too cross some lines they should be dragged to justice courts like everyone else.
But my point is that stronger arguments could have been made against Trump in campagining, but these got forgotten in the rolling in the mud debate that took place instead. Frankly, Clinton was not going to beat Trump in a mud-flinging contest and should have picked a more advantageous battleground.
According to the tabloids there may have been another reason. They young lady apparently using her 5 minutes of fame to promote her OneFan account. Not saying this is true but, …
That is a fair point, however you assume that the electorate care more about policies than personalities. In my experience many do not, we saw this with Brexit when the Bank of England, CBI, Institute of Directors, British Medical Assoc, National Farmers Union, British Chamber of Commerce and other Professional bodies and experts were all issuing warning signs and the response from Michael Gove et al was ‘We’ve had enough of experts’.
This is a failing of the democratic system exemplified by our now fragmented media. If people are getting their facts from different sources, you will have a misinformed electorate and quite likely a tyranny of the majority if they are given a binary choice between A & B.
Finally the impartiality rules on election broadcasts are hopelessly out of date since they don’t extend to social media. The cat is truly out of the bag and if our democracies are to stand a chance of surviving, there needs to be different thinking.
Anyone remember the London owner of a plumbing business who was a vocal critic of Brexit? Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers. He has joined Reform and is saying “if there’s one man that can change the situation, it’s Nigel Farage” and that “we’re no longer in the EU and we’ve got to go along with Brexit”. From what he says, it sounds as if Reform may have wooed him for his money, though he doesn’t rule out standing as a candidate for them.
2018: Millionaire refuses to take down ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ poster
June 2024:
In this 2021 interview with Farage (where Farage does most of the talking, including seeming to want to take his wrecking ball to university education), he was still saying Brexit was the “wrong move”:
Why isn’t his name “Charlie Mullet”?? What a crying shame.
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I see someone’s flagging posts again.
I suppose the easiest way to deal with this is to ignore the dumb posts in the first place rather than waste any time replying to them.
Or Charlie Botox
Yeah, I agree…on the other hand (I think) Trump would have won anyway, if we learned something in the last years is that people are too stupid to listen to arguments and facts, they just want emotions and the figure of the aggressive/“strong” politician in charge.
Methinks you’ve been spending too much time on SF.
Well Trump has won…once! If you believe that Clinton lost because she didn’t approach her campaign in a better (non-mud-flinging) way then let’s just agree to disagree, methinks you’re thinking of me too much. 
Quotes from people interviewed in a couple of videos (Clacton: Meet the Nigel Farage voters + What does Clacton really think about Nigel Farage?):
“He shows that you can get ahead even if you’re a racist”.
“We’re surrounded by foreigners… We don’t have a voice. The Reform Party are giving people like us a voice.”
“There are no leaders. Where are the people we can stand behind with integrity? I believe Nigel’s got that.”
etc.
“He’s what this place needs, he’s what the country needs. The whole political system is just shot to bits.” [didn’t vote at last election]
“I like him because he’s like a wasp, gets on people’s nerves, and I think we need someone like that in this country. We need someone to just rock the status quo.”
“Mass immigration… there’s a handful of them on them boats what come here to the cities and kill our innocent people.”
“I dislike him, I dislike his policies, I think he’s using the town. It’s just a cheap shot, and I hope the town aren’t sucked in by this.”
“He should be nowhere near politics. He screwed over European politics and now he’s back to screw over our own. He was going to go to America and screw over theirs, couldn’t do that 'cos Trump’s gone to prison. … He’s come to Clacton 'cos he knows that’s where the racists are.” [thinks Farage will win the seat]
“I think he’s a total snake and has nothing to do with Clacton. … The townspeople are sick of being used as political fodder.”
etc.
I fear Farage is going to be voted in, not just by people who share his views but by those, including the disaffected, who want to cast a protest vote to shake things up.
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Maybe that needs to happen for people to see what a waste of oxygen he really is, and finally put his nonsense to bed.
He’s chosen well. Clacton, Essex is just the sort of place he could possibly win.
Perhaps Farage & The Reform Party have found that Essex Boys are alive & well & congregate in Clacton 
for him to stand a chance in the forthcoming General Election.
Anyway you will be pleased to know that Nigel Farage, as leader of The Reform UK Party will be in tonight’s BBC Election debate ( at 20.20 CET or 19.30 BST ) alongside other party representatives.
Let’s look at who will be representing each party in tonight’s seven-way debate:
- Penny Mordaunt - the Conservative Party
- Angela Rayner - the Labour Party
- Daisy Cooper - the Liberal Democrats
- Nigel Farage - Reform UK
- Stephen Flynn - Scottish National Party
- Rhun ap Iorwerth - Plaid Cymru
- Carla Denyer - the Green Party
I sure hope they are using the cone of silence …
Various politicians get a drubbing in the latest episode of Have I Got News for You, especially Farage. They show a very tetchy interview he’d given to the BBC, criticising the newsreader and refusing to answer questions. Ian Hislop also points out that Farage, before announcing he’d be standing for election, had indicated a disinclination to spend Fridays in Clacton. This is mentioned in several news reports, e.g. The Guardian (link includes a tweet from a Mirror journalist with a screenshot from The Times article):
Nigel Farage says he came to the decision at 2pm yesterday, and he will be reminded of this quote a few times over the coming weeks you suspect. In February he told the Times “Do I want to be an MP? Do I want to spend every Friday for the next five years in Clacton?”
