Jan 21, 2012  •  In Entertainment, Funny, Personal

All 117 Things That Leslie Knope Supports, and Negative Campaign Ads

I did not like the first season of Parks and Recreation. I couldn’t help but think that the show was a major waste of talent and was annoyed at how Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler’s character) was written as a moron who didn’t know when to give up.

Now, four seasons in, Parks and Recreation is currently my favorite television show. It is quirky and charming with lovably flawed characters you can’t help but root for. And yes, Leslie is still determined more than ever, but she is no longer the vapid idiot I rolled my eyes at in season one.

Fans of the show know that Leslie is currently running for City Council, and that the latest episode featured a naively-optimistic — and completely hilarious! — campaign ad:

To my utter delight, BuzzFeed has compiled the full list of 117 things that Leslie Knope supports (funniest ones in blue):

  1. Parks
  2. Public Safety
  3. Environmental regulation
  4. Local proposition 45
  5. Local proposition 86
  6. Local proposition 102F
  7. More Dog Parks
  8. Senior Citizens Rights
  9. Safe Streets
  10. Safe Sidewalks
  11. Better Schools
  12. Lower Taxes
  13. Better Parks
  14. Better business climate
  15. Better Better Business Bureau
  16. Cleaner Streets
  17. Improve greenways
  18. More snow plows
  19. Protecting Pawneeans
  20. Improving tourism
  21. More trash cans
  22. Energy-efficient street lights
  23. Westside Detoxification and Revitalization Project
  24. Repaving Grand Avenue
  25. More Teachers
  26. Fewer Libraries
  27. Improve intergovernmental agency communication
  28. Clean-up barefoot lake
  29. Passing Pawnee Jobs Bill P-129.4
  30. Playgrounds in every park
  31. Playgrounds in every schoolyard
  32. Playgrounds in every residential block
  33. Clean energy
  34. One police officer for every 5 citizens
  35. One park ranger for every 10,000 raccoons
  36. Resodding Hilltop Cemetery
  37. Start talking to Cuba again
  38. Emergency evacuation drills
  39. Plow For Charity
  40. Forming an Ad Hoc Sub-Committee Oversight Committee
  41. Challenging the norm
  42. Pawnee Corn Subsidies
  43. Finally Passing PR-61, formally recognizing South Korea
  44. Official peace treaty with Wamapoke Tribe
  45. Four-way stops at every intersection
  46. Unionizing ice cream trucks
  47. Get Europe out of debt
  48. Free trade with Illinois
  49. Enact RRP- Raccoon Relocation Project
  50. Pawnee Community College tuition in exchange for 4 years of public service
  51. Doubling Pawnee Hospital’s emergency room nurse staff
  52. Legalize Korean
  53. Lower the obesity level
  54. Stop global terrorism
  55. Re-open the toucan exhibit at Pawnee Zoo
  56. Find Gabe the Toucan
  57. More community gardens
  58. Ordinance 11F: To re-pave City Sidewalks
  59. Budget Reform
  60. Updated Technologies for Local Schools
  61. Better retirement benefits for city employees
  62. Edward Phillips Senior Center Remodeling
  63. Speed bumps in front of elementary schools
  64. Unemployment benefits
  65. Re-installing the Main St. Farmers Market
  66. No turtles as pets
  67. New uniforms for youth sports programs
  68. Free Public Wi-Fi
  69. Updated childcare facilities
  70. Shutting down the Child Left Behind program
  71. Handicap parking placards for the obese
  72. FREE PARKING EVERYWHERE
  73. Cleaner drinking water
  74. Regulate heights of trampolines
  75. Memorial for those lost in the trampoline “incident”
  76. Control the floods
  77. Funding for public art commission
  78. Fencing in correctional facilities
  79. New police patrol cars
  80. Funding overtime for police
  81. Rebuilding the PTA
  82. Prosecuting former PTA president Linda Trifle
  83. Profitable government organizations
  84. Shutting down underground shooting ranges
  85. Making sure city contracts employ local workers
  86. Providing more economic development grants and micro-loans to small businesses
  87. Foster partnerships with sister cities
  88. More buses to speed up morning commutes
  89. More streets to accommodate additional buses
  90. Require all city employees to check and respond to email
  91. Working sewers
  92. More parades
  93. Grants for scientists to discover new forms of energy
  94. Leave a lasting impression on all visitors
  95. Challenge the norm (Ed. note: So important it’s listed twice.)
  96. Finish the statue of Burt Bacharach
  97. No more conflict diamonds
  98. Bulletproof glass everywhere
  99. Free cookies at every street corner
  100. One school for every student
  101. Require flattering mirrors in public restrooms
  102. Develop a municipal composting operation
  103. Enforce existing speeding and noise ordinances
  104. Upgrade existing parks
  105. Create an anti-graffiti youth outreach program
  106. Free cake when it’s your birthday
  107. Reevaluate NAFTA
  108. Rickshaw Wednesdays
  109. Making it illegal to refuse a hug
  110. Make downtown more people-friendly
  111. Sell candy in government buildings to pay down the debt
  112. Get Pawnee a licensed pharmacy
  113. Better screening processes at local adoption agencies
  114. Finding homes for the adopted children of Day Labor Corp.
  115. Prop 6A: To Recognize All Five Food Groups
  116. Pawnee
  117. Hot Dogs

I personally loved Leslie’s video and her disdain for negative campaign ads, where a candidate paints his/her opponent in a negative light. It is precisely for this reason that I look forward to each election season with about as much enthusiasm as I look forward to a root canal: I can’t stand the smear campaigns! In fact, I can’t remember an election since I turned 18 where a candidate did not resort to negative ads. 🙁

Would a positives-only ad campaign — where the candidate only focuses on his or her merits and never says a bad thing about their opponent — ever work in the real world? Do voters need to hear crap about your opponent in order to vote for you? If anything, I get turned off by a candidate whenever I see them running a smear ad.

Am I being too naive here?

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3 Responses to “All 117 Things That Leslie Knope Supports, and Negative Campaign Ads”

  1. Carol says:

    hahaah I TOTALLY agree! We have the same TV taste I think. Not only did the name of the show turn me off, but something in the first season was just not working… but then they magically found this GREAT chemistry in the later seasons! I love Ron Swanson!! Hilarious.

  2. Dayna says:

    Treat yo self! I <3 <3 <3 this show!

  3. Meg says:

    The reason this show is funny is because its legit. If you have ever worked closely with a small town government, this is EXACTLY what it is like. I didn’t get the first season either, and never really bothered to pay much attention to it, until I worked in City Hall for a year and then revisited it. Hilarious.

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