Minn. GOP’s women video gets national attention

WOODBURY, Minn. – A female GOP candidate said a local Republican Party official’s decision to post a video on the party’s website that showed attractive photos of Republican women and unflattering photos of Democratic women was “juvenile” and distracting.

“It was a very juvenile act,” Minnesota House hopeful Andrea Kieffer of Woodbury said. “Frankly, I really don’t know what the thought process was in doing that.”

Kieffer, a candidate in District 56B, said she and fellow GOP House candidate Kathy Lohmer of Lake Elmo demanded the video be removed from the site.

It was taken down, but the episode drew criticism from Minnesota Democrats and national left-leaning publications and cable television commentators.

On Thursday, liberal MSNBC host Keith Olbermann dubbed Senate District 56 GOP webmaster Randy Brown, who apparently had posted the video, the “worst person in the world.”

The nearly five-minute video, found on YouTube, begins with photos of Republican women, including U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin and other national figures. The GOP photos are set to the Tom Jones song “She’s A Lady.”

About halfway through, the video switches to unflattering photos and illustrations of Democratic women, including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Michelle Obama and Janet Napolitano, the Homeland Security secretary. That slideshow plays to “Who Let The Dogs Out?” by Baha Men.

After the video appeared on the website, a link to it was posted on the local GOP’s Twitter account. The tweet read: “Republican women vs Democrat women.”

Scott Wente is a reporter at the Woodbury (Minn.) Bulletin, which is owned by

Forum Communications Co.

Tags: news, minnesota, gop, republican, video