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TRIB WATCH MAY 21, 2007
Hardly Objective Analysis
The Tribune-Review's May 18th post-election
"analysis" piece on the commissioners' race left much to be
desired, particularly the misleading headline. It makes an
unrealistic, yet I'm sure intentional, leap in including county
commissioners as part of an "anti-incumbent wave".
It is true that last year, our nation, state
and, yes, county experienced a rather dramatic ouster of
incumbents. But these races were for federal and state offices,
not local office. The anger of voters toward state legislators
for their infamous pay raise is well documented, and many
entrenched incumbents paid the price. And in Washington, public
dissent over an unpopular war, along with continued deficit
spending and ethical lapses, cost many incumbents.
The Trib's article is misleading on two counts.
First, the issues leading to any anti-incumbent wave, such as
pay raises or unpopular war, have absolutely nothing to do with
county government. Second, it was overwhelmingly Republicans who
paid the price for their poor choices, and poor policies, as
they controlled both the Congress and the state legislature. The
Trib, of course, left out these very important details.
Let's face it, this paper is going to do
whatever it can, and write whatever it wants, to incite
discontent among the voters while presenting a poor picture of
county government. So we need to be sure to correct it every
step of the way.
See Other TribWatch Articles:
2007 |
