COLUMBUS (TDB) -- The links have been severed that led from Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's official state Web site to her campaign committee. Brunner, the state's top election official, had the links functioning as recently as March 25, a questionable activity first disclosed HERE. If you try the links today, they no longer function.
However, Right Angle Blog captured the campaign literature off the state portal and has them posted. In other words, you can check out the scrubbed material.
Obviously, Democratic Secretary of State Brunner did the proper thing to pull down any ties to her campaign. She came into office as a reformer, and so far has been as good as her word.
Without belaboring the point about how Brunner "campaign-banner pages" found their way onto the agency's website, kudos go to Mr. Sloat for catching it, bringing it to the attention of the blogosphere and for giving credit where credit is due when the material was taken down. It's probably a safe bet that RAB won't be as quick to praise as it was to castigate, but that's their purpose in life these days. Brunner's people have made all the right moves so far, especially given the situation left to them by the previous administration. The speed with which they responded to Mr. Sloats observations show their desire to do the right thing. Speculating on how it could have occurred, it seems more of an oversight during the first days of moving into the office than an over t decision to keep the campaign alive. What's important now is that it was corrected. As Mr. Sloat said, Brunner has been as "good as her word" and should be counted on to continue to do what's right and good for voters and elections.
ReplyDeleteThanks for noting and posting about the prompt removal.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jill and OhioCentric --
ReplyDeleteI don't think JB was trying to be dishonest or trying to scam the system. Just a bit of an awkward moment at the start of a four-year term. Better at the start, I suppose, than when running for reelection. Then, everything is under a microscope and can easily be overblown (to borrow my current congresswoman's word).
Giggling - so you think we could all increase the magnification more than what we're at already!? :)
ReplyDeleteLet me think, Jill.
ReplyDeleteOkay . . .
I think stuff gets tossed around in campaigns to see what sticks, and the old rule is the more that's thrown, the more that sticks. The way you do it is to throw a lot in the last few weeks, or develop a theme, "flip-flopper," perhaps, and build off of it with example after example, a chorus really, that paints a picture of your opponent that comports with the portrait you are trying to draw. JB ran a very successful campaign against Blackwell (not Hartmann, the candidate) but Blackwell, the incumbent, by doing just what I outlined. She painted a picture of how the secretary of state's office operated poorly or unfairly under Blackwell and said she would be an agent for change and fresh air. Great politics. Her foes, I imagine, will try/hope/intend to portray her as not quite the agent of change she presetned herself to be. The less live ammo she hands them, the harder it is for them to accomplish their mission.