I first caught this on Saturday, when I was walking a neighborhood less than one mile from me in Green Valley. My Assembly Member, Ellen Spiegel, was the intended victim of this anonymous hit piece... A hit piece likely to have come from her Republican opponent or one of his allies. But whomever is responsible for it, they were too cowardly to own up to it...
And too stupid to do it smartly! For one, this was dropped in front of doors, bundled with ads for taco shops and pizzerias. Basically, it was bundled with "junk mail so crappy, it can't even go in the mailbox" and distributed as such. Usually for a hit piece like this, a campaign targets who they want to see it. I figured this would go to Independents and Republicans, but I found this in front of everyone's door. Do you really think any thinking Democrat would give this the time of day?
And even worse, this hit piece was not even going to all the right homes... As this was also being sent OUT OF DISTRICT! Yes, you heard me right. I saw more of these this morning when walking a neighborhood near Maryland & Pebble... An area FAR outside Assembly District 21! So not only did the perpetrator clumsily agree to send this out with junk ads for tacos and tires, but they couldn't even manage to send it entirely to people in the district!
And worse yet, this hit piece couldn't even get the facts right. Never did Ellen Spiegel vote to double her salary and/or "make taxpayers pay for it". Nope, that vote was actually a consideration of allowing for annual sessions of the legislature... You know, enabling our legislators to actually work for us more! (Plus there were many more things in AJR 6, nothing saying anything about raising lawmakers' salaries.)
So yet again, a group of Nevada Republicans (whoever they may actually be) got dirty... But couldn't be smart about their dirt. It was sent to the wrong houses, likely tossed directly into the garbage bin by many recipients, and contained outright lies that just took a little bit of research to debunk.
And worse yet, this may really backfire on them. Most of the neighbors I've spoken with don't even remember it. (It must have taken all of ten seconds for this to go from doorstep to trash can.) And of the ones that did remember it, they REALLY didn't like it. Again, a campaign needs to be smart when going negative... And this hit piece was anything but smart.
Oh, and by the way, did they really have to stoop so low as to find the most unflattering photo of Ellen they could find? Here's how she really looks.
Fools. I pity them sometimes. And this week, their botched attack on Ellen Spiegel is simply pitiful.
Of all the politicians I've talked to about the state of Nevada's education system Ellen Spiegel was one of the very few that actually wanted to sit down and discuss what could be done to fix it and asked repeatedly for further information, as well as the background research behind possible solutions. Attack her if you must but be warned that unless you spend the time she does with her constituents, which is a LOT, you're not gonna bring her down!
ReplyDeleteEllen Spiegel is a dedicated and thoughtful legislator. She works hard to reach out to EVERYONE in her district. Not only is this a shameful attack ... pretty sure it's also in violation of state election law. Any piece for or against a candidate requires a disclosure of who paid for it.
ReplyDelete