Republican U.S. Senate candidate Terrence Wall has a new ad out, and while it’s not nearly as negative as his previous ads, it’s still a pretty poorly done ad. The ad starts out with a voiceover noting, “Terrence Wall’s never forgotten how his business started,” and while the ad paints the image of Terrence Wall as a guy who hiked up his bootstraps and got where he is purely based on his own hard work, the fact of the matter is Terrence Wall got where he is no doubt in part because of hard work, but also thanks to the financial generosity of his wealthy father. Wall is the son of John Wall, the owner of DEMCO Library Supplies, the world’s largest library-supply company, and Terrence Wall got his start in the real estate business thanks to his father’s willingness to guarantee loans and family investments in T. Wall Properties .
It’s not one bit surprising Terrence Wall’s most recent ad didn’t mention the role his family’s money money played in his success in real estate, especially considering the press release his campaign issued announcing Wall’s candidacy conveniently forgot to mention Wall came from a family of great means while attempting to tell a rags-to-riches narrative of Terrence Wall’s life.
The fact is, Terrence Wall has no understanding of what it means to have to worry about whether this month’s bills are going to get paid, and he has about nothing in common with those of us in the middle class that he aspires to represent in the United States Senate. To be honest, I’m just wondering when Terrence Wall is going to tell voters in Wisconsin his real life story – the story of a man who grew up as a child of wealth and privilege.
I’m sure if you had a rich father, you would have done the same. Or, perhaps you would have given all your money to Moveon.org. I guess that would have been noble.
PM, if I had money, I wouldn’t give all of it to Moveon.org; that’d be a waste. There are much more deserving organizations to give one’s money to.
I should hope there would be, like a deserving charity.
That said, you are right about the ad itself, it is horendous.
It amazes me how the liberal dems spout off their mouths without understanding what they are saying But I don’t like to waste words on elitests like liberal Dems.
In Re: To Terrence Wall, I know him personally and have started busineses with him and i also have had the pleasure of working for his Father John. Terrence is Deserving of the Privelge of serving, this administration under Obama and the corrupt politicians that are incumbents now, all should be replaced they all have had a hand in trying to destroy the greatest country ever some more than others.
Terrence may have found loopholes in the tax code, that just proves he is smart, I guarantee that the socialist Obama has many times dsone the same and is still doing it. Terrence is successful because of drive and his parents and sorry all you weak minded liberals, but success breads success.
Dave, if anyone’s an elitist, it’s Terrence “mansion in Maple Bluff” Wall. You won’t find many elitists among the liberals who frequent this blog.
It doesn’t necessarily negate the successes he did work for on his own.
Got any issues with Al Gore Jr, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, or Herb Kohl?
Ah, but the issue isn’t his success, but Terrence Wall’s description of his success. For example, from his initial press release: Wall is a Wisconsin-raised, self-made entrepreneur who started from nothing and built a number of successful businesses.
I’m not saying he didn’t work for his success, but I don’t think he started from nothing either.
Exactly…..I have no doubt Terrence Wall worked hard to get where he is, but he’s making it seem like hard work alone got him where he is, when in fact his family’s money certainly helped.
Captain Renault: I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
I’m shocked, shocked to find out that this guy is running ads highlighting his positives and ignoring his negatives. Next thing you’ll tell me that it’s actually not an isolated incident – that this sort of thing is common in political ads. 🙂
But having family money isn’t necessarily a negative…particularly not in the Republican Party.
Particulary Republicans? Yeah right Ed. Get off that old stereotype and look at the Kennedys, Gore, Kerry, Kohl, etc. I don’t see too many on that side exactly coming from humble beginnings.
The point I was trying to make, and forgive me for being too oblique for you, is Mr. Wall appears to be embarrassed about the help he received from his family. Otherwise why ignore that fact? For the most part Republicans have never held wealth (whether inherited or personally earned) against an individual when qualifiying them public office. Why does Mr. Wall think that’s different today?
I don’t have a problem with Mr. Wall’s wealth. I don’t have a problem with Mr. Wall’s inheriting wealth and getting help from his family to start his business. More power to him for being successful. Good for his family for providing encouragement and support. But he should take credit for what he accomplished and give credit where he got some help. It isn’t a bad thing. Pretending it didn’t happen though is a questionable position.
I don’t remember JFK, RFK or Teddy denying their wealth or the help provided by their family. In fact it seems they were proud to be able to work together in a supportive family environment. Herb Kohl has a similar history. I don’t think he ever denied his family’s support. As for Mr. Gore and Mr. Kerry, I don’t know that much about their family background…but when asked I doubt they would deny their wealth…and might actually know how many homes they have.
And the point I made quite clearly is that political always talk about the attributes they think are positive and don’t mention ones that in anyway might be negative or viewed in a less favorable light. One need not be embarrassed by something to choose not to mention it in an ad. I suspect very few politicians will mention they voted in favor of the bailouts. Does that mean they’re all embarrassed by them?
It’s called a double standard. Wall is denying his family wealth because he doesn’t mention it in an ad. The Democrats with rich families mentioned – I’m quite certain none of them ever mentioned their family’s wealth and the role it played in their success in their ads.
I was being very nice initially…but here it is in a nutshell. Mr. Wall is taking credit for being a self made man. He isn’t.
For what it’s worth, John Kerry didn’t come from a family that was fabulously wealthy….he just happened to marry into wealth.
Well as a boy John Kerry attended the same boarding school as Ted Kennedy, so you might need to define “fabulously wealthy.” True, he didn’t not have hit the jackpot until the Heinz fortune came along, but this is an odd statement to make coming from the guy criticizing Scott Walker for having a swimming pool.
Maybe he got financial aid to attend the school?
Not everyone who attends boarding school does so because they’re from a family of great means.
From what I know about JFK (John F. Kerry that is), I don’t think he was a charity case.
It just takes a second of bing to google being cuil to find out:
“Kerry is the child of Richard J. Kerry (1915-2000), a Foreign Service Officer and an attorney for the Bureau of United Nations Affairs, and Rosemary Forbes Kerry (1913-2002), a World War II nurse and member of the wealthy Scottish-American Forbes family”
“His immediate family members were reportedly observant Roman Catholics. As a child, Kerry served as an altar boy. Although the extended family enjoyed a great fortune, Kerry’s parents themselves were upper-middle class; a wealthy great aunt paid for Kerry to attend elite schools in Europe and New England. Kerry spent his summers at the Forbes family estate in Brittany, and there, he enjoyed a more opulent lifestyle than he had previously known in Massachusetts. While living in the U.S., Kerry spent several summers at the Forbes family’s estates on Naushon Island off Cape Cod.”
So we were both right…
Well true, but I think an argument can be made that a politician is more convincing the more truthful they are.
Lukas, Bill Clinton was very convincing and more often untruthful.
So it’s ok for Mr. Wall to ignore something because you think President Clinton did?
Gee Ed I don’t think I said that at all. I was just saying there’s a fallacy in Lukas’s argument that being convincing necessarily has anything to do with being truthful.
All I know is I look Terry Wall in the eye, listen to him talk, and all I think is, “Is this guy telling me the truth?” He should be confident, all full of wealth and success that he is. But he isn’t comfortable talking to me, a guy who makes $40,000 a year. How than can he represent me?
But why do you inject money into every aspect of the situation? If he didn’t seem to be comfortable talking with you – that’s one thing. If he hasn’t figured out how to be comfortable talking to somebody he doesn’t know, it’s reasonable to question whether he’ll be a successful politician and elected representative. But what does his wealth or your income have to do with any of it?
Just to interject, I get the sense that Terrence Wall isn’t comfortable talking to folks who aren’t in his income bracket because he really doesn’t understand the issues we’re facing. Terrence Wall doesn’t know what it’s like to have to scrape by month to month, and he doesn’t know what it’s like to have to make tough choices about which bills to pay, thanks to his wealth and the wealth of his family.