The 'cheeky' tourism video wooing 'fleebagger' Democrats

Rockford, Ill.&#039;s tourism board takes advantage of Wisconsin&#039;s union protests and offers an open invitation for people beyond state Democrats to hide out in the town.

(Image credit: YouTube)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: Wisconsin Democrats who have fled their state to avoid voting on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's anti-labor union bill have received a "cheeky" invitation to hide out in the town of Rockford, Ill. "Looking for someplace to hide?" asks the ad, produced by the town's tourism board. "Hide away in Rockford." Various members of the Rockford elite — including Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey and Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen — make cameo appearances. An accompanying press release declares Rockford's locally-owned stores and markets to be a great please for "folks to do some collective bargaining."

The reaction: Well, "a pilgrimage to see where Cheap Trick was born was already on my bucket list," says Allahpundit at Hot Air. But if Rockford becomes a haven for "fleebagger" Democrats, it may well become a tourism gold mine for generations of "six-figure-income unionized public workers," too. When even tourist boards are humoring these cowardly state senators, says Moe Lane at RedState, it's proof the Democrats have "officially lost the public narrative." Time to go home and face the music. Here, Rockford's tongue-in-cheek "Hideaway" ad: