Black Monday
There is no good reason why today should be a dark day, but given the way the opponents of the legislature's success have conducted their campaign, we suspect that they will try something underhanded. All through this campaign, they have offered rumor, innuendos, misleading statements, and personal attacks. We have offered a record of success and a plan for tomorrow.
They have a record of using the day before the campaign to sow Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD).
In 2001 - on the Monday before the election - they distributed a flyer on blue paper, known as the "Chicken Little" flyer, misleading county voters about the impending mega tax increases. We ran predicting that they were coming - a look at the budget and a little analysis showed that a huge property tax increase was inevitable. Voters didn't get the truth until after the election, which is why getting the budget out before the election became one of our main goals - a goal that we have met.
In 2003, they laid low, as the "leadership" of the Democratic party was not the same as it had been in 2001. Also, voters' memories of 2001 - and their 30+% increased property tax bill - ensured that it would be hard to run a campaign against what we had predicted, and which had (unfortunately for all of us) come true.
Now the "leadership" of 2001 is back and they are running the way they know best: personal attacks. It is so bad that one of the office holders who narrated a false and misleading radio ad thought about what he had done, and called the radio station to ask that the spot be pulled from the air. Stop and think about that for a moment...
When you vote tomorrow, focus on the important things:
I truly do not want to believe that my friends and neighbors will overlook my decade of contribution to this community because some who approach politics not as public service, but as blood sport, try some underhanded tactic at the last minute.
I have enjoyed being a part of this community for nearly ten years. I have contributed to it as best I can, giving of my time and talent. I have been successful as your representative in county government.
I ask you again for your support, and thank you for the opportunity you have given me - not just as a legislator, but to have a career, raise a family, and be a vital part of a great community.
PS: Here is today's Channel 2 schedule
11/7 @ 9:00 AM Cortlandville Legislative Forum
11/7 @ 5:30 PM Meet Candidate Paul DiGiovanni
11/7 @ 8:30 PM "Cortland County: Past, Present and Future" (Kurt Behrenfeld)
UPDATE: Sein-FUD!
Well, as expected, the FUD arrived in the mailboxes of the voters today.
In my case, it takes the form of a postcard alleging bad behavior at a polling place - two months ago.
But I have this site to tell my story, so I will.
On the evening of the primary (Tuesday, September 13), I had been at the JM McDonald Center with my son at The Fitness Gap. After we finished and I brought him home, I went over to Parker School around 9 pm.
I stood outside the Madison Street entrance, with no plans to go inside, until I was invited in by an election official. She indicated that she and the other officials were having trouble turning the crank on the machine and would like some help. I took her up on her offer, and cranked the handle several dozen times, without delivery of any paper. They (and I) concluded that they had to try something else, so I backed away as they tried to unlock the machine.
At this point, Scott Steve asked me to go to the other end of the hallway and see if they had the results from the other district. I went down the hall and stood opposite the election workers' table, along with a couple of other people. One of these folks was Ken Tobin, with whom I later spoke. Behind the table was an election official whom I did not know by name, but recognized. She started asking me questions that had a certain "edge" to them. But I didn't rise to the bait, and waited along the wall for the results to be announced.
I simply observed as the officials struggled to open the machine (HAVA can't come quickly enough!). I didn't move toward the table until one of the officials, who was struggling to read the numbers on the page, made eye contact with me and asked me if I could read the numbers. I moved toward the table as she turned the pages so that the orientation would be appropriate for me (and Ken Tobin and the other person on the other side of the table), and told her that although I also was having a hard time reading the numbers, I thought the 3-digit number in question was "010".
At about this time, I noticed that a group of people had formed behind me. I was feeling a bit claustrophobic and tried to make my way out from the crush of people leaning in to see the results. I excused myself and moved away from the table. I heard Scott Steve suggest to the election official (the same one who had asked me to look at the sheet) that if she were to turn to a different sheet (there are multiple sheets), she would probably find another one with a much better imprint of the vote tally. She turned the page, and was satisfied that the number in question was in fact "010". At that point, the vote was known, and Scott and Ken Tobin started down the hall. I stayed behind for a moment, as Ken Tobin and I had a disagreement about whose numbers were whose. This disagreement wasn't spoken aloud; I just thought that Ken was inverting the columns of him and his opponent, and when the crowd thinned, I went in for a second look to see if it was Ken or I who had inverted the columns. (It was Ken.)
I caught up to Ken and Scott as they were walking toward the Madison Street entrance. Scott didn't realize that I had never formally met Ken, and introduced us. I distinctly remember Ken reaching the end of the hallway and greeting Shannon Terwilliger with "Congratulations. You win Round One", or something very similar. We then went outside and talked with Patrick Ruppe and Brian Liberatore, among others. These two reporters from the Cortland Standard witnessed everything that happened that I just described. Scott and I have asked them subsequently if anything untoward happened that night, and they both said "No".
This never would have been a ginned up issue but for an anonymous e-mail, delivered with the headers trimmed off a sheet of paper, alleging some sort of inappropriate behavior. One of the reporters, I am told, declined to write a story when given this e-mail, saying that he had observed the scene and that nothing had happened. However, the letter writing campaign was begun, and then this Seinfeld episode (a political attack about nothing: Sein-FUD!) took on a life of its own.
I didn't learn until later that the official who asked me to look at the tally sheet was a woman named Kay Smith. Scott Steve asked her, at the League of Women Voters forum on October 19, whether anything inappropriate had transpired that night. She said no.
But there are those who know they can't win without trying to destroy their opponent. And I apparently have reached the state of grace that makes me a marked man. Lying about something that never happened is the method du jour.
I would like readers to think about this: if anything truly happened that evening that merited anything even close to the hysteria that my opponents are trying to whip up, then where is the election official's formal complaint? Why did he not say anything to me when this happened, if what I allegedly did was so out of bounds? Why did the Cortland Standard not write an article about it, when they had two reporters there? Why did he wait two months to send out a postcard on election eve?
The answer is that no complaint was made and no article was written because nothing happened. It appears, though, that friendship with Scott Steve and proximity to him is apparently enough for opponents of progress to try to create a controversy.
Once again, the Election Eve FUD has been spread. Don't buy it.
All Looney Tunes and other commercial graphics are the sole property of their owners. This site is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Warner Brothers or any of its affiliates. Characters and all related slogans and indica are trademarked. The materials provided herein are intended solely for the personal use and enjoyment of the general public. The use of such material falls under Fair Use Provisions act.
They have a record of using the day before the campaign to sow Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD).
In 2001 - on the Monday before the election - they distributed a flyer on blue paper, known as the "Chicken Little" flyer, misleading county voters about the impending mega tax increases. We ran predicting that they were coming - a look at the budget and a little analysis showed that a huge property tax increase was inevitable. Voters didn't get the truth until after the election, which is why getting the budget out before the election became one of our main goals - a goal that we have met.
In 2003, they laid low, as the "leadership" of the Democratic party was not the same as it had been in 2001. Also, voters' memories of 2001 - and their 30+% increased property tax bill - ensured that it would be hard to run a campaign against what we had predicted, and which had (unfortunately for all of us) come true.
Now the "leadership" of 2001 is back and they are running the way they know best: personal attacks. It is so bad that one of the office holders who narrated a false and misleading radio ad thought about what he had done, and called the radio station to ask that the spot be pulled from the air. Stop and think about that for a moment...
When you vote tomorrow, focus on the important things:
- the record of the incumbent legislators
- the plans that we have offered
- the violence to public spirited-ness that rewarding personal attacks will do
- the hurt that our families have suffered, hearing and reading hateful things about their friends, their spouses, their moms and dads
- the fact that attacking someone else does nothing to advance what's good for the county
I truly do not want to believe that my friends and neighbors will overlook my decade of contribution to this community because some who approach politics not as public service, but as blood sport, try some underhanded tactic at the last minute.
I have enjoyed being a part of this community for nearly ten years. I have contributed to it as best I can, giving of my time and talent. I have been successful as your representative in county government.
I ask you again for your support, and thank you for the opportunity you have given me - not just as a legislator, but to have a career, raise a family, and be a vital part of a great community.
PS: Here is today's Channel 2 schedule
11/7 @ 9:00 AM Cortlandville Legislative Forum
11/7 @ 5:30 PM Meet Candidate Paul DiGiovanni
11/7 @ 8:30 PM "Cortland County: Past, Present and Future" (Kurt Behrenfeld)
UPDATE: Sein-FUD!
Well, as expected, the FUD arrived in the mailboxes of the voters today.
In my case, it takes the form of a postcard alleging bad behavior at a polling place - two months ago.
But I have this site to tell my story, so I will.
On the evening of the primary (Tuesday, September 13), I had been at the JM McDonald Center with my son at The Fitness Gap. After we finished and I brought him home, I went over to Parker School around 9 pm.
I stood outside the Madison Street entrance, with no plans to go inside, until I was invited in by an election official. She indicated that she and the other officials were having trouble turning the crank on the machine and would like some help. I took her up on her offer, and cranked the handle several dozen times, without delivery of any paper. They (and I) concluded that they had to try something else, so I backed away as they tried to unlock the machine.
At this point, Scott Steve asked me to go to the other end of the hallway and see if they had the results from the other district. I went down the hall and stood opposite the election workers' table, along with a couple of other people. One of these folks was Ken Tobin, with whom I later spoke. Behind the table was an election official whom I did not know by name, but recognized. She started asking me questions that had a certain "edge" to them. But I didn't rise to the bait, and waited along the wall for the results to be announced.
I simply observed as the officials struggled to open the machine (HAVA can't come quickly enough!). I didn't move toward the table until one of the officials, who was struggling to read the numbers on the page, made eye contact with me and asked me if I could read the numbers. I moved toward the table as she turned the pages so that the orientation would be appropriate for me (and Ken Tobin and the other person on the other side of the table), and told her that although I also was having a hard time reading the numbers, I thought the 3-digit number in question was "010".
At about this time, I noticed that a group of people had formed behind me. I was feeling a bit claustrophobic and tried to make my way out from the crush of people leaning in to see the results. I excused myself and moved away from the table. I heard Scott Steve suggest to the election official (the same one who had asked me to look at the sheet) that if she were to turn to a different sheet (there are multiple sheets), she would probably find another one with a much better imprint of the vote tally. She turned the page, and was satisfied that the number in question was in fact "010". At that point, the vote was known, and Scott and Ken Tobin started down the hall. I stayed behind for a moment, as Ken Tobin and I had a disagreement about whose numbers were whose. This disagreement wasn't spoken aloud; I just thought that Ken was inverting the columns of him and his opponent, and when the crowd thinned, I went in for a second look to see if it was Ken or I who had inverted the columns. (It was Ken.)
I caught up to Ken and Scott as they were walking toward the Madison Street entrance. Scott didn't realize that I had never formally met Ken, and introduced us. I distinctly remember Ken reaching the end of the hallway and greeting Shannon Terwilliger with "Congratulations. You win Round One", or something very similar. We then went outside and talked with Patrick Ruppe and Brian Liberatore, among others. These two reporters from the Cortland Standard witnessed everything that happened that I just described. Scott and I have asked them subsequently if anything untoward happened that night, and they both said "No".
This never would have been a ginned up issue but for an anonymous e-mail, delivered with the headers trimmed off a sheet of paper, alleging some sort of inappropriate behavior. One of the reporters, I am told, declined to write a story when given this e-mail, saying that he had observed the scene and that nothing had happened. However, the letter writing campaign was begun, and then this Seinfeld episode (a political attack about nothing: Sein-FUD!) took on a life of its own.
I didn't learn until later that the official who asked me to look at the tally sheet was a woman named Kay Smith. Scott Steve asked her, at the League of Women Voters forum on October 19, whether anything inappropriate had transpired that night. She said no.
But there are those who know they can't win without trying to destroy their opponent. And I apparently have reached the state of grace that makes me a marked man. Lying about something that never happened is the method du jour.
I would like readers to think about this: if anything truly happened that evening that merited anything even close to the hysteria that my opponents are trying to whip up, then where is the election official's formal complaint? Why did he not say anything to me when this happened, if what I allegedly did was so out of bounds? Why did the Cortland Standard not write an article about it, when they had two reporters there? Why did he wait two months to send out a postcard on election eve?
The answer is that no complaint was made and no article was written because nothing happened. It appears, though, that friendship with Scott Steve and proximity to him is apparently enough for opponents of progress to try to create a controversy.
Once again, the Election Eve FUD has been spread. Don't buy it.
All Looney Tunes and other commercial graphics are the sole property of their owners. This site is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Warner Brothers or any of its affiliates. Characters and all related slogans and indica are trademarked. The materials provided herein are intended solely for the personal use and enjoyment of the general public. The use of such material falls under Fair Use Provisions act.
posted by Doc Paul @ 6:33 AM
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