Quoting BlueOregon comments costs GOP candidate Gazette-Times endorsement
The Corvallis Gazette-Times has endorsed Representative Sara Gelser (D) for re-election - and explicitly declined to endorse Republican candidate Robin Brown.
Among the reasons noted was the attack mailer sent by Brown that used anonymous comments from BlueOregon that criticized Sara Gelser.
More troubling to us was that under the heading, “What Are Democrats Saying about Sara?”, the mailer included three anonymous statements critical of Gelser, erroneously citing the source as “OregonBlue.com.”Kari Chisholm, who describes himself as “the guy behind BlueOregon.com,” the Democratic Web site where the statements were posted, noted that one came from someone who signed it only as “Another Benton Democrat” and the final two were signed only as “Ask Questions First.”
Brown said there was nothing wrong with citing anonymous blog postings because there were plenty of people who did sign, and they appeared to be Democrats.
That statement is mind-boggling.
Brown said she hadn’t meant the mailer as an attack. Voters who see it can make their own judgement.
The incident confirms our misgivings regarding Brown’s readiness to enter the political fray. We still see strong leadership potential in Brown, but she has stumbled this time out. We hope she learns from these miscues.
Editors' note: We originally learned of the attack mailer when a guest column was submitted to us by Robin Ozretich, posted here. Kari Chisholm contacted the Gazette-Times to set the record straight about the misuse of anonymous comments in campaign mailers. The original post can be found here.
|
Oct. 18, 2006
Posted in in the news 2006. |
More Recent Posts | |
Albert Kaufman |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
Kari Chisholm |
Final pre-census estimate: Oregon's getting a sixth congressional seat |
Albert Kaufman |
Polluted by Money - How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America |
Guest Column |
|
Albert Kaufman |
Our Democrat Representatives in Action - What's on your wish list? |
Kari Chisholm |
|
Guest Column |
|
Kari Chisholm |
|
connect with blueoregon
Oct 19, '06
Driving down a street in Corvallis, I noted a house with Vote for Brown signs. Pulling out of the neighbor house driveway was a big ol' white Chevy Blazer looking SUV except it had those big monster type tires on it. On each door was a magnetic Vote for Brown sign. Geez, I said, I wonder if that is Robin Brown. If she is blond with straight shoulder length hair, that must be her. The person sitting next to me said, "it would figure."
When I got home I looked her up. Yeah, that sure did look like Robin Brown, and I got a pretty good look (call me a gawker). I just had to wonder why someone running for office would drive such big old ugly gas guzzler? Wouldn't they at least have the sense to hide their toy and borrow a more sensible car?
Oct 19, '06
Cool.
You mean I can go over to Republican blogs and anonymously post nasty stuff about Republican candidates and then quote my own posts in campaign mailings as "what Republicans are saying about...."
This is just too ridiculous for words.
Oct 19, '06
Sure you can, Kent. And you'll get the same result as Robin Brown. The best bet here is just to laugh at stupidity, not pick up campaign strategies.
Oct 19, '06
Well, the newspaper also endorsed DeFazio, a fellah as left-wing as they come. It is not very likely that the paper endorsed the Democrat because the Republican quoted comments and attributed them to known sources.
Oct 19, '06
Hey Dicky have you seen that massive 4' x 8' Saxton sign on that house over on Western Ave? It takes up half that guy's front porch.
Oct 19, '06
Ray - yes I have. I was wondering how long it would stay up until someone took it down. Absolutely huge as a single poster, but there were two of them side by side.
Oct 19, '06
Governor Kulongoski will be here in Medford on 24 October to open the new Amy's Kitchen plant which will provide l,200 jobs for Oregonians. Ted personally negotiated with the corporation to build the plant in Southern Oregon. Just how many jobs has Ron Saxton produced ?
Oct 19, '06