Wealthy developers smear progressive council candidate. Dog bites man.
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"Common Sense in Government" wants to get out the vote? Really?
Ever wonder how to run a city council smear campaign? No? Ok, I’ll tell you anyway.
1) Get a few people together and get them to pledge to give you money if and when you form a political action committee.
2) Wait until the last minute to form that committee. (The state board of elections only requires that you file your paperwork within 10 days of forming your PAC, so you could conceivably raise and spend vast sums and never have to file anything until after the election! Neat!)
3) Put together a mailing full of anything you like. Make stuff up. Only the treasurer’s name will be on file anywhere, and folks can give up to $50 before they have to have their name associated with whatever fish wrap you send out. That’s democracy!
4) This is the important part. Be sure to time your mailing so the people you smear can’t respond in any effective way. The weekend before an election is especially good.
Actually, though, that’s the way it used to be. With early voting, these little juntas are having to experiment with the timing of their attacks, as evidenced by a piece that hit mailboxes this weekend smearing Cecil Bothwell (thanks to Tim Peck for posting a link in the previous thread). The playbook is so old by now that it’s dog-eared: take something a candidate has written, pull it out of context, make an emotional appeal, and claim—without any basis—that on otherwise apparently sane and competent person is “too radical” for Asheville.
We’re lucky this year that there’s no referendum on the ballot, which means that non-PAC’s like the state and local Homebuilders associations can’t get in on the action, as they did in 2007 to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. But this does mean that voting early in the city council election -— and getting your friends to do the same — will accomplish two things. First, it will encourage the county BOE to continue early voting in city council elections, and maybe increase the number of voting locations. This, in turn, will make these sorts of tricks less and less effective in the future. Until someday the wealthy and well-connected will have to debate actual policies, rather than wait until the last minute to mount emotional appeals. One can dream.
34 Comments
October 19th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
The folks behind the mailer wouldn’t be friends of that ex-sheriff who’s cooling his heels in jail, in part, because of Bothwell’s investigative journalism, would they?
Nah.
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October 19th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Chris Peterson is president of this group. Those of you here in the early 90′s may remember when he served on City Council and, via a PAC got enough allies elected in 1993 to fire the City Manager literally minutes after being sworn in. This led to a recall petition that came very close to forcing a new election. When he ran for Mayor in 1995 he lost in a 2-1 landslide and all his cronies went down to defeat.
The funny thing about this is that it is difficult to imagine Peterson giving a flip about Billy Graham. This is just a scare tactic pure and simple to try to protect his development interests from close scrutiny by City Council.
But this is also a tactic that early voting has made more difficult. In the past a flyer like this would have gone out the weekend before Election Day. Now it has to go out a few weeks ahead of time.
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October 19th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Chris Peterson is also one of Esther Manheimer’s big contributors – or at least WAS when her first website when live. Going to look at it now his name has disappeared. Ditto with his buddy Albert Sneed.
Not that Manheimer has anything to do with this smear campaign -merely something I noticed just now.
[Asheville] Politics sure can get sticky at times.
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October 19th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
This group targets someone every year. They have been going after Brownie for years and hit me last time around. They understand Asheville elections very well. With the Robin wild card they are going after Cecil because 1. He has created a public record that can be exploited, 2. They think that he has already mobilized his base. They just have to hurt him enough to keep Mumpower in. Hopefully turn out will remain low and Cecil will increase his base turnout.
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October 19th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
While I agree with your characterization of these foul tactics, I can’t help but note that they are similar to those used by “Progressive Research Group” against candidate Kelly Miller on Sunday, October 4, two days before the primary.
PRG, led by former Asheville City Council candidate Elaine Lite and by Cecil Bothwell’s $500 contributor Charlie Thomas, distributed false and misleading statements about Miller by email (as pointed out by commenters on Ashvegas two days later). A call for decency in election tactics should cover all sides. Thank you.
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October 19th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
WGA,
I was unaware of the PRG’s tactics. Apparently I wasn’t on their e-mail list. But I have to say that in doing this they were more on the “comes around” end of things. As Bryan points out, Chris Peterson – or someone like him – has smeared progressive candidates in almost every recent city council election.
Elaine Lite was herself the victim of such a smear two years ago. From the beginning she was consistent in her opposition to partisan elections, and yet she somehow ended up being identified as a partisan elections supporter in one mailer – and omitted as a partisan elections opponent in a paid Citizen-Times insert. In short, out-and-out falsehoods – lies – were told about her position on the most important issue in that election.
Does that excuse PRG? No, it doesn’t, and I wish they’d come up with some other way of advancing the candidates they prefer. At the same time, though, we’ve got folks like Mr. Peterson pulling these stunts repeatedly on one side, and it was only a matter of time before someone on the other side decided to do the same thing.
Frankly I find it odd that the folks complaining about PRG’s tactics at Ashvegas seem unaware of this history. Coming down hard on PRG without acknowledging the context in which they acted is like expelling a boy who finally got fed up and punched the school bully while letting the bully off with a warning.
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October 20th, 2009 at 6:15 am
I posted my thoughts about this election and PRG on Sept. 20, when their Web site first came to my attention.
http://cecilsblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/a-watershed-year-in-asheville-politics/
I agree with Doug that it was only a matter of time before liberal activists in Asheville took off the gloves, given the long history of swiftboating by the right.
In the same way that I don’t hold Esther in any way accountable for the actions of her supporters, I can’t speak for the actions of mine. (At the time I composed the above-referenced post, Elaine Lite had appeared on the PRG Web site, but the BOE paperwork had not been filed so I didn’t have information about other donors.)
I heard this morning that another flyer has appeared that attempts to tar both Gordon and me, but haven’t seen it yet.
As for specifics in the weekend mailer, I find it laughable that the two observations about Graham that they attempted to tar me with came directly from his autobiography, Just As I Am. Perhaps they haven’t read it?
For my part, I think campaign material that is false qualifies as swiftboating (as in the mailer that claimed I wanted to show your neighbors your electric bill, when in fact I suggested we should include the neighborhood average figure on all bills—a practice which has proven to encourage conservation elsewhere).
Campaign material that holds us to account for our records is voter education, even if it casts a bad light. If we don’t hold public figures to account we end up mouthing platitudes about loving our families and the mountains combined with empty promises and feel good phrases.
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October 20th, 2009 at 10:31 am
“Chris Peterson is also one of Esther Manheimer’s big contributors – or at least WAS when her first website when live. Going to look at it now his name has disappeared. Ditto with his buddy Albert Sneed.”
Does this mean that she gave them their money back? I notice that Lou Bissette Jr. is still listed as one of Esther’s “Leaders for Leadership” (Department of Redundancy Department?).
It’s too bad she has felt like jettisoning people off her list of supporters just because some like us actually read that list and draw conclusions from it. I thought that was the point.
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October 20th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
If you ask me, Cecil & Chris’s mailer was ill-advised and poorly executed. These things, more often than not, have a way of backfiring (Doug Gibson’s typically spot-on analysis notwithstanding). The mailer will have no appreciable effect except to pump up the numbers for Cecil (and by extension, Gordon).
An appeal to conservative religious values in an Asheville municipal election is, in my opinion, a non-starter. Voters are tired of sanctimonious “Christians” telling them what evil socialists they are. Perhaps one day Republicans will understand this, but given our peculiar local dynamics, probably no time soon.
MM
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October 20th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Tom Sullivan above: “The folks behind the mailer wouldn’t be friends of that ex-sheriff who’s cooling his heels in jail, in part, because of Bothwell’s investigative journalism, would they?”
What a cool theory. Get back to us if you find a shred of evidence. Otherwise, you’re being just as reckless as the other side.
I find the anti-Cecil Billy Graham mailing a silly waste. That kind of tactic works only if there is an obvious “remedy” to the offending “action”, ie having one obvious candidate for whom to vote to put a stop to such sacreligious hijinks. But there isn’t a strong, focused social conservative running, so I think any upset from religious conservatives will not lead to much meaningfully directed action.
I have also been appalled by the actions of some on the liberal side (Yes- I still stubbornly cling to that label). An anonymous negative email about Kelly Miller on the eve of primary election day smacked of gutter politics, as did the anonymous negative website about Miller, Manheimer, and Mumpower. And it doesn’t matter if it is “coming around” or “going around” (See Doug Gibson above)– it is wrong, and not the way true progressives should be behaving.
There is less-than-admirable behavior coming from several directions, and it’s making everyone look bad no matter who is truly responsible. Cecil Bothwell says he can’t speak for the actions of his supporters. If he thinks any of them are involved in any of these negative tactics, he better speak TO them. Ultimately he will be held responsible for what is done for his benefit.
Thanks for hearing me out.
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October 20th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Have just learned that there is also an insert in the current IWANNA, apparently the same source.
There is no doubt that the group who did this is in explicit violation of campaign finance law. They collected their first money in June but didn’t report until Oct. 16, then reported only $200 when they had clearly already spent much more on mailing and now the IWANNA insert.
But making a case about election law violations is a stretcher (and my campaign missed one deadline during the summer – all campaigns are permitted one slip before being fined, we learned). That this group was formed further back may or may not figure into possible penalties.
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October 20th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Cecil, you get a mention in this diary on Kos as well. Best, Randall
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/20/795333/-Ashevilles-Progressive-Hope
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October 20th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
A re-read of Machiavelli’s The Prince in tandem with de Saint Exupery’s The Little Prince would offer hope to those who believe or even fear that tyranny rules the day.
“What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
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October 20th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Haven’t read The Prince since college but it has always been one of my guiding lights. It’s probably why I can’t stand Libertarian and Republican theology.
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October 21st, 2009 at 1:25 am
What is libertarian theology?
I’m confooosed.
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October 21st, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Cecil,
Which source – PRG or Common Sense in government?
AO,
Sorry, but while I agree that history doesn’t excuse Elaine Lite and PRG, it does put more responsibility on conservatives to end the vicious cycle. If Chris Peterson were to say, “You know, I don’t think we should do this anymore,” empty the bank account, and file to close his committee, that might mean something. Until then, I think focusing on what progressives are doing and saying that they’re not behaving like “progressives” seems a little disingenuous. Is Chris Peterson acting like a conservative?
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October 21st, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Oh, enough with all the whining. Someone hits, hit ‘em back harder: every attack is an opportunity for creative revenge.
Maybe I’m old school, but I think all’s fair in love and war and politics…that’s what makes it so much fucking fun. Besides, it’s a grand old tradition in American politics.
If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t play the game.
MM
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October 21st, 2009 at 2:04 pm
This is the problem, IMO. People who treat this like it’s a game. It’s not a game when real life issues are at stake. Get a copy of Stratego & sit around a table with friends if you want to play a game.
Truth is, when I hear “it’s just a game”, more often than not, it’s coming from someone who thinks they can win only by cheating.
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October 21st, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Doug, Common Sense in Government — have not seen it but from description I assume it is the same as the mailer that went out.
And I think I’m in the middle ground – I find nothing wrong with campaign information that is accurate and which comes from a legal source. If a group is ducking campaign law, that’s wrong. If they are lying, that’s wrong. But if they take candidates to task for what they have actually said and done, it is not “negative” campaigning, it is a matter of holding people accountable for their actions.
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October 21st, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Tim. Libertarian Theology is that line of thought that treats government as an unnecessary evil and does so with religious fervor.
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October 21st, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Good answer randallt.
Reminds me of Roark destroying his own building in The Fountainhead and events that happened in NYC on the eleventh of September. Remember?
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October 21st, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Like a giant Saint Ayn statue come to life, wreaking havoc through Manhattan, with erotic laser beams shooting out of her eyes, cutting through the pathetic military of the neo-Liberal nanny-state oppressors of human potential.
Wow, I want to be a priest in THAT theology.
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October 21st, 2009 at 10:19 pm
If anyone wants to hire me for a political hit job I’m available and have no moral opposition to it…and I will work for beer.
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October 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Shad,
When you’re through playing naked Twister with Esther Manheimer, you should come over…we can drink beer and play Stratego. Be forewarned, however…I cheat
MM
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October 22nd, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I love Stratego! Lemme know if/when you want to play.
- pvh
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October 22nd, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I see my plan is working to perfection. heh heh heh
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October 22nd, 2009 at 7:16 pm
You guys have been listening to way too much REM.
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October 23rd, 2009 at 8:37 am
Risk is cool too.
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October 23rd, 2009 at 9:20 am
I’m confused. How are these quotes taken out of context? Are they verbatim or not?
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October 23rd, 2009 at 10:36 am
Tyler, a verbatim quote taken out of context can easily distort meaning. But here’s a brief review of the flyer.
It claims that I imply a young Graham received inspiration from Hitler. Truth: Graham said so himself in his autobiography Just As I Am.
It claims I assert that contacts with wealth businessmen propelled Graham’s career. Yes. Graham said so himself in Just As I Am (and many other places.)
Direct, accurate quote “Today’s deep religious involvement in politics in the United States is in no small part an outgrowth of Graham’s work.” True. He even got an act of Congress to hold the first religious ceremony ever on the steps of the Capitol in the 1950s, and his White House visits and influence are legendary.
The next quote about my personal belief is verbatim but nicely excises my argument for ethics based on the Golden Rule. They then quote part of a quote from writer Salmun Rushdie, excising the specific part I agreed with, and report it as if I agreed with the part they excerpted.
Actually, I endorsed Rushdie’s suggestion that religion has not done well at answering the two questions it is most often asked to address: origins and ethics. Science keeps pushing back the “beginning” and religionists, including Billy Graham (explicitly in his writings), have continually modified the story and time of origin until saying “God set it in motion billions of years ago” is in no meaningful way different from saying “Universe started billions of years ago.” Meanwhile, ethologists have pretty clearly established that much of what qualifies as basic human ethics is innate in other species. Fairness, sharing, in essence the Golden Rule, is actually a very good survival strategy for individuals and species. Exiles die. Cooperators live.
As a concluding criticism, Cantrell and Peterson entirely misrepresent my suggestion about utility bills, claiming that I want to show your neighbor your electric bill. My suggestion is to follow California’s lead and show bill payers the average of their neighborhood bills. This has been shown to reduce energy use by 2 percent per year as people “Keep down with the Joneses.”
I’m working with others in my church to create exactly that system for our parishioners – a voluntary system in which we compare our bills to the average to encourage everyone to reduce our carbon footprints.
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October 23rd, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Shouldn’t there be rewards too for the lowest footprinter in the hood?
At least a new pair of moccasins!
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October 23rd, 2009 at 6:46 pm
the reward is a prize hog, fattened on endangered species and roasted over a styrofoam bonfire!!!
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October 23rd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Gross, I suppose.
I’m endangered myself, and anything pork or petroleum contrived makes me puke.
Fast free runners, near fliers, and free swimmers lick my my protein fancy.
Turnip greens too have been known to hop out of the garden.
Good for them all, until I catch’em. And well then……
Yummmmy
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October 24th, 2009 at 9:26 am
…destined to become a straight, square, old spinster…dateless, drugless, and a bit sweaty!
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