|
Posted by Bayonne Civic Advocate on May 15, 2003 at 11:07:59:
To all "Get NJ.Com" readers, on behalf of Melba Walsh candidate for County Executive, and myself, Councilman Tony Chiappone, candidate for State Assembly, I am posting a page from our newsletter, the Bayonne Civic Advocate. We've been forced to produce our own newspaper in Bayonne as a result of the Bayonne Community New's decision to not accept personal ads and press releases from us (and they call themselves the "Community News". Anyway, we are running with the Column B Democrats along with Glenn Cunningham for Senate, Lou Manzo for Assembly, and Willie Flood for County Clerk.
I thank the host of this website for allowing me the opportunity to post our articles here for you to read.
Thanks again. - Tony :)
It's an interesting primary in that for the first time in many years, Democratic voters will have a choice in candidates. I can tell you, as an elected official, and a candidate, one of the things that disturbs me most about politics in the necessity for some to attempt making themselves look good by making their opponents look bad. I am of course, referring to negative ad campaigning, and the following article was written with those thoughts in mind. Before I move on to the article, I would invite anyone who wishes to speak with me personally to call me at 201-437-3242 or to email me at achiappone@yahoo.com if you'd like to drop me a line.
“When the Going Gets Tough, the Weak Get Nasty!”... This was the comment made by Councilman Tony Chiappone in last year’s election when a negative flyer distributed by Team Doria resulted in a huge backlash from the public and backfired. Simply put, stated Chiappone, “The people of Bayonne don’t like mudslinging personal attacks. As in every election, I would hope that all candidates would stick to the issues and conduct themselves with dignity and respect for his or her opponent.”
Recent polls done by both Cunningham and Doria camps show Glenn Cunningham ahead of Smith by a wide and comfortable margin in both Jersey City and Bayonne. Obviously, by the look of mailed literature sent to the homes of Bayonne voters, Doria, DeGise, and Smith have decided to use negative mudslinging tactics in an attempt to tear Glenn Cunningham down.”
The most recent pieces of attack literature, labeled “When Prisoners Escape, Our Families Are At Risk” attempt to scare the public and blame Glenn Cunningham for attempted breakouts by prisoners in “his” jail. Of course, Glenn Cunningham never owned or even ran the the Hudson County Jail, but because he was a Public Safety Director for Hudson County the ad takes liberty at making a direct connection between him and the contraband found on the prisoners (there’s not a jail other than this one in which prisoners had contraband!) and attempted prisoners escape (hey, that has never happened before in the annals of American prisons!). In any case, take a look at the prisoner in the photo on the left. He or she (with the name “Prisoner” superimposed over the back of his or her shirt) has just blown a huge hole through the prison wall. Now the ad attempts to make you think he or she is climbing the fence to not only to escape, but rather to then attack the kids in the playground. In an inset, a blowtorch, saw, hammer and other tools are shown. Obviously, though equipped with such an arsenal, the “prisoner” doesn’t have a pair of simple wire cutters.
In any case, it really doesn’t look as if the person is serious about escaping. In fact, it looks as if he or she is just enjoying the ballgame on the other side of the fence! Finally, the ad doesn’t really tell you who it’s from. In the return address, it says it’s from the Hudson County Democratic Organization. But do people know when they get it that it’s being sent out by Doria, DeGise, Smith and their team? It’s like they are shoveling dirt but don’t want you to know they are holding the shovel!
In a way it’s easy to laugh at flyers and mailouts that are so patently ridiculous as to warrant a quick deposit in the trash can. Negative personal ads such as the “Chiappone Mailout” attack leveled by Doria last year (shown in the flyer on the left) are not as easy to brush off. Yes candidates should expect to be attacked and called to task on the issues.
But in doing so, let’s not distort the truth. And let’s not get attacking to the point of maliciously dragging into and hurting the families of candidates. As Democrats we have to come together after the primary. Before we get there, let’s treat each other with the respect and dignity we deserve as candidates, and our residents deserve as voters.
Follow Ups:
Post a Followup
| |
