Many bloggers have been following the story of  incumbent Paul Nichols having his NC arrest record plastered all over a mailer sent out in the 51st district by challenger Rich Anderson. Today the Manassas News and Messenger and its sister papers have taken a stand on what has happened. The paper  suggests an apology.

The editorial:

Politics in the race for the 51st District House of Delegates seat recently took a turn toward the irresponsible, and Paul Nichols deserves an apology.

Nichols, the Democratic contender in the 51st, was the focus of two recent mailers sent out by his opponent, Republican Rich Anderson.

The mailers show Nichols’ arrest record from a 2006 incident in North Carolina.

Together, these pieces of campaign propaganda play up the fact that Nichols and a friend were stopped for suspicion of a DWI, and that Nichols was arrested for “resist, delay, obstruct and assault on a
public official.”

What is left out is the fact that the charges were dropped, the record expunged, Nichols wasn’t driving and nobody was charged with a DWI that night.

And Nichols also says that he has witnesses who can confirm that he was the victim of police misconduct that night, rather than the perpetrator of a crime.

We can see where the Anderson campaign would think this 2006 arrest would be a powerful weapon against Nichols, but when it left off the truth and included only the sensation, it did a disservice to the
constituents of the 51st District.

Furthermore, and perhaps more disturbing, is the fact that the Anderson Campaign did not black out Nichols’ Social Security number, which is displayed on the arrest record.

Even if the Anderson campaign felt it necessary to launch this attack on Nichols, it should have at least had the decency and respect to keep Nichols’ personal information off two mailers that were sent
to many homes.

In this day of identity theft, that action reaches a new low. In fact, Nichols was forced to cancel credit cards because of the mailers.

These mailers are just another example of the depths to which politics has fallen, and they cross the line from mean-spirited into harmful.

Rich Anderson owes Paul Nichols an apology.

Releasing anyone’s social security number is just negligent and anyone who wants to be our delegate should know better.  Was it a careless campaign staffer who actually did this?  Who knows.  But the buck stops with the person running for office. 

Another local blogger printed the Nichol’s arrest record  in an attempt to trash Nichols.  Interesting that the same blogger supported Nichols last election cycle when he ran against a candidate named Faisal Gill.  There was never any conviction and the arrest record was supposedly expunged.  Innocent until proven guilty has never been a standard on that blog anyway. 

 

It seems as though Mr. Anderson has made a very bad choice here. Can we expect him to make better choices in Richmond, should he be able to overcome this mistake and win the election?

24 Thoughts to “News and Messenger Lambastes Anderson”

  1. A PW County Resident

    I have decided over the years as an independent that I would take into account character and demonstrated thought processes of a candidate rather than the made up “what do they want to hear” approaches.

    So I figure that negative campaigning reflects on character and I almost automatically vote against the negative campaigner. I am tired of candidates looking for dirt and pose it like it reflects some serious flaw of a candidate. Not working now and won’t in the future. And until others adopt the same approach, we will continue to be at each others throats.

    As far as why the thought process is important to me? No one can predict with certainty what issues will actually come up. So I want to elect someone who should make good decisions no matter what comes up. Also rarely can one individual really significantly change things on their own. Usually our system of checks and balances has some cooperative effort of a number of people rather than the dictates of one person. Chief Executives can do a lot with edicts as long as the legislature or the constitution of the organization permits it. A delegate has even less control.

    By the way, I am not in the Anderson/Nichols district so I don’t really care about the specific election.

  2. A PW County Resident

    Wow, a first for me. Never put in the first comment before.

  3. Moon-howler

    I have to say I agree with 99% of what you have just said. I am tired of candidates digging up dirt and/or other people finding dirt. I do think it reflects on character.

    Additionally, I am tired of weasel words being used to attack people. The gubenatorial race is full of that from both candidates. I am thinking it is too bad we even need a governor.

    Thanks for putting in the first comment, PWC Rez. I hope you don’t hate my nickname for you.

  4. Last Best Hope

    Not my district either but I agree an apology is in order.

  5. Moon-howler

    I don’t care about the outcome of the 51st either. I don’t live there. However, I care about how politics in general are conducted. Fighting somoene to the death on policy is one thing. fighting someone to the death on personal issues is another. Then there are those in-between issues….

    I do have different expectations for candidates than for rank and file citizens.

  6. A PW County Resident

    Don’t mind at all, Wolfie 🙂 just kidding about the Wolfie part. Couldn’t resist!

  7. hello

    “I have to say I agree with 99% of what you have just said. I am tired of candidates digging up dirt and/or other people finding dirt. I do think it reflects on character.”

    Kind of reminds me of Deeds… all negative all the time.

  8. Mando

    Dirt sells, gets attention, and requires relatively little work. A lot of bang for little buck.

    Plus, I think dirt is in the eyes of the beholder. Dirt to one person is damnation to the other.

  9. A PW County Resident

    Mando, I agree with what you say. I don’t mind when they trash the approaches of the other person. And sometimes it is hard to say when they are trashing personally or about the position. I guess with me is that I don’t know where the line is but I will know it when I see it.

    It has always been that way and through times, sometimes it is worse than today. That’s why I think we should shorten the election season, have the candidates say what they want in short order and then vote.

    But then I realize that will never happen.

  10. Moon-howler

    Wolfie is just fine. I sort of like that actually. Wolfie is it!

    There is some stuff that is just over the top. The Deeds campaign is not worse or better than the McDonnell campaign. Both have gone negative early and often.

    I have gotten furious at campaigns I have worked on. If the person is that bad, no need to put words in someone’s mouth for political advantage. The distortions bother me.

  11. Moon-howler

    This situation in the thread post is simply unsubstaneated. Before arrest records are flashed around, it is probably a good idea to check it out more thoroughly and see what happens to said arrest record.

    I am surprised the paper took a stand on this one.

  12. Mando

    Moon-howler :
    it is probably a good idea to check it out more thoroughly and see what happens to said arrest record.

    That just raises more questions. Why was he pulled over? What did he do to get arrested? Why were the charges dropped? Why was the record expunged?

    The answers to those qestions could very well be worse then the arrest record itself.

  13. Moon-howler

    You familiar with Outter Banks cops? I don’t even need to ask.

    If there aren’t answers then it probably shouldn’t be brought up. I expect the judge knows or we might just take the gentleman’s word for it if he has not done anything to make us think he is a liar.

    I just think it is sleazy politics. One of our foundations is innocent until proven guilty. Mr. Nichols has explained himself. Unless someone has evidence (not rumor and innuendo) to the contrary, then that should be good enough. We are getting into the neighborhood of , ‘Why Mr. Mando, when did you stop beating your wife and raping the neighbor’s dog?’

  14. Lafayette

    Mando, Delegate Nichols was NOT pulled over. His friend travelling in another vehicle was. More details in this story.
    http://www2.insidenova.com/isn/news/politics/article/mud_slinging_starts_in_51_st_district_race/44956/

  15. Moon-howler

    Thanks, Lafayette. I should have been more on my toes to clarify that. It was before the big rainy-day nap. 😉

  16. Lafayette

    You’re welcome.I’m so sick of the negative campaigns on all levels. I’m so sick of seeing/listening to the commercials and mudslinging mailers.

    Has anyone seen the newest McDonnell TV ad with Sheila Johnson?

    What about the blog report that Deeds wasn’t going to campaign in PWC?
    Yet, the very office in question has activity every time I’ve drove by the last couple of weeks. I was getting Chinese tonight near the Deeds office in Sudley and I saw people in there. It did not look like a “ghost town” in there when I drove by.

  17. Moon-howler

    They most certainly are active. They call my house all the time looking for Mr. Howler.

    I have not seen a commercial with Sheila Johnson in it. Is she mimicking Deeds again? I don’t think I could watch it. That pushed me over the edge….beyond the bridge of no return.

    How was Chinese Imperial tonight? I still have some in the refrige…hmmmm….

  18. Lafayette

    haha…no she wasn’t mimicking Deeds. I couldn’t watch the whole thing. The funny thing about the commercial is she’s still being billed as a “Democrat”. I got sick to my stomach when I see “Kookinelli” making his bid for AG and slamming former prosecutor Steve Shannon.

    Chinese Imperial was excellent tonight. Sweet & Sour Shrimp in the fridge, it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of surviving the entire day. 🙂

  19. Moon-howler

    I finally saw it. She is billing herself as a Democrat. I find it arrogant for her to be making commercials after getting caught on tape mimicking Senator Deed’s speech defect. She is taking not admitting wrong-doing to a new high.

  20. Lafayette

    Or is it a new LOW? 😉

  21. Moon-howler

    Dependings on one’s perspective. definitely a low.

    I don’t get it. Why, after the mimicking, would McDonnell even want her associated with his campaign? Doesn’t he have enough to overcome with his thesis?

    She obviously was mimicking Deeds. There are just some things you cannot take back. And she has not yet really apologized. She equivocated.

    “Two weeks ago I made reference to Creigh Deeds’s inability to clearly communicate effective solutions to the serious problems facing Virginia,” Johnson said yesterday evening in a statement sent to the Politico. “I shouldn’t have done it in the manner in which I did and for that I apologize for any offense he, or others, may have taken.”

    She never said she should not have done it. She said she shouldn’t have done it in the manner she did it. big difference.

  22. Moon-howler

    Her billions sure haven’t bought her any class.

  23. Lafayette

    One would think the McD camp would want her far away as possible after that video a few weeks back. Her apology is weak at best. You are right she did NOT apology for mimmicking Deeds, just for the fact she got caught doing pubically on video.

    Class clearly can NOT be bought.

  24. Moonhowler
    Billing herself as a democrat? Maybe it’s because She is one. She gave craploads of Money to Obama, Warner and Kaine, Was Warners campaign co-chair, Kaine’s Inaugural Committee co-chair.

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