It was clear from the outset, who the DE favors in the race (even though Cole received the student newspaper's endorsement in 2003, and has fulfilled all of his promises and much more.) I think the upstate Democrat politics may have come into play in student reporter Andrea Zimmerman's time for questioning:
Mayor Brad Cole looks to continue his leadership in the city. Carbondale has done fairly well under his reign and he can only look to better his game against worthy contenders. Like any leader, Cole has made his enemies. Will they surface to unseat the 35-year-old mayor?
Carbondale councilwoman and SIU School of Law professor Shelia Simon brings a wealth of political passion to the table. The daughter of the late and legendary Sen. Paul Simon is no stranger to elections, but does she have what it takes to run what many consider the "capital of southern Illinois"? (Boldface for added emphasis)Despite mis-spelling Sheila's name, these paragraphs show a clear bias against Cole and a disingenuous view of Simon's capabilities. "Does she have what it takes," indeed.
Bob Pauls gives readers some facts and figures about the candidates in his Carbondale Mayoral Primary Primer, concluding:
"The election is shaping up to be the all too familiar downstate spitting contest between the ‘Fat Cat’, conservative, right wing, Chamber of Commerce, landlord/developer against the left/moderate-wing Democrat, academic, neighborhood oriented, home owning soccer moms and dads. – only without the spit – unless you count the drool from one local blogger. At least so far. Let us hope it stays that way."Indeed, some of the spit is far flung.
My too choices for Mayor: Cole and Simon. . . . Pepper may be the salt of the earth, but no condiments for Mayor, please, just meat and vegetables.
And for Council members, in tomorrow's primary, I will vote for a man who wants to continue to move Carbondale forward Lance Jack, because I know him, he's a good guy, pro-business, and up-front honest. (He may not be the most articulate member of council, but he's experienced, and the fact that he likes to party is a bonus). Mary Pohlmann, I don't know, but I see her signs at friends' houses, and Peter the Great gives her the nod.
I have to disagree with PG's dismissal of the sole student candidate Joe Moore as a "lightweight." Joe shows mighty good use of media of any of City Council candidate, imo. He may be only 20 years old, but he is doing what it takes to win. A cursory read of his blog shows he gets it. He also has a great campaign slogan! Exactly like mine in 2005, except for the extra "O" and no clear explanation of "more what."
Looking forward to tomorrow's vote.
6 comments:
This is getting interesting now. I had a Simon supporter show up at my door a while back (maybe two weeks ago) weilding a brochure and he asked whether or not Sheila can expect my support. Once I told him that she couldn't expect my support, and I'd be supporting Mayor Cole thank you very much, I got a pretty impressive scowl and audible "hhhmmmpphhh ..." in return, as he promptly walked away. Very professional, I thought. This is the face of the Simon campaign.
Speaking of faces, or of de-facing, I've noticed over the last day or two that some obvious MENSA member had the bright idea to spray paint black "X"'s through numerous Cole signs in the surrounding neighborhood. A brilliant move that just may tip the scales in Sheila's favor, I'm sure ...
I'm not implying the Simon camp has anything directly to do with either incident (well, maybe the first one a little), but I have a feeling that the type of people who will be supporting Simon aren't above this sort of tactic. Things are going to get a bit messy - It's a shame I'll have to walk carefully, whilst stepping outside my door, to avoid all of the spit that's assuredly going to go down in the days ahead.
I said SPIT.
Anyway, spray paint my sign all you want, I'll still be voting for the man that had proven he can improve Carbondale and get things done. No, not Dave More ... the other one ... Brad Cole!
If you think the DE is biased, you must think that Brad Cole owns the Southern. Honestly, a front page sports story instead of covering the #2 Democrat and one of the most powerful guys in the country? They're either biased or incompetent.
And there is no reason to believe that Simon supporters X'd out the signs. No one wants to see that kind of a campaign less than Sheila herself.
I had a sign stolen last night. The DE reported that 100 COLE signs have been stolen or defaced, with a 'X' thru COLE.
Signs were stolen in the last election, too. I am thinking about putting a humongous sign in the yard, in its place.
Simon signs are missing across town as well.
DE staff is mostly newbs. Zimmerman is a creature swayed by emotions much more than logic. I'd guess that Cole appeals more to the "logical minds" and Simon and her platform seems to appeal more to the "emotional ideaist."
Okay, but recall that Cole's supporters are not above this sort of shenanigan either. In the 2003 election, somebody printed up Flanagan flyers that made her sound like a hardcore socialist--way more radical than she actually is. Someone mentioned seeing one at a Libertarian meeting I was at, and I thought it sounded fishy, having met, spoken and listened to Maggie during my run for city council that year. Sure enough, the flyers were bogus, done up by...no one ever found out. But with as close as that election was (wasn't it something like 25 votes? Less?), that single piece of skullduggery might have turned the balance.
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