On the Road: Phoenix, AZ
I am not in Stillwater. I am travelling from Oakland, CA to New Orleans to help a friend recover what they can from his home, post-Katrina. I am posting this from a cheap hotel in Phoenix; no atmosphere or local color to report.
But I did vote in the School Board election before I left (absentee ballot.)
I see there's no reply from Coach Thole to the question I asked him re: his colleague Choc Junker. Maybe he hasn't checked his email yet. I was hoping to get his opinion prior to the election--I sent copies of the same question to both of Thole's public mailboxes, to the Stillwater Gazette, and to the Stillwater Courier. I hope he will find it in his heart to answer soon, and on the record--the Coach has a reputation for not mincing words; a lot of folks trust him to give them the straight poop. I'm sure he'll live up to that reputation.
Election hi-jinx while I'm out of town, eh? A source has led me to believe that colorful School Board candidate John Rheinberger mailed out some kind of imitation newspaper under the School District's name. I am led to believe that this Rheinberger campaign mailing has been designed in such a way that it might deceive an unwary voter into thinking that it is a school district publication. Did Mr. Rheinberger really put the School District's name front page as if to lead readers to believe that the School District was the publisher? By using the School District's name in the title of the publication, was he trying to deceive recipients about he nature of the publication? I understand Rheinberger's publication consists mostly of endorsements by Rheinberger of Rheinberger, it that so? I haven't seen it yet. Please write and let me know what you think; I'm so cut off out here in the desert.
posted by Prendergast @ 11:01 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
This Rheinberger ad is a deplorable example of an election dirty trick.
Here's how it's set up. It's a four-page newsletter printed on newspaper stock. At the very top of the front page, a banner headline says "Special Election Edition!" (Note the exclamation mark; Margot's handiwork?)
Below that is a boxed red "nameplate" (think "New York Times" or "Stillwater Gazette")that says, "District 834 News". Below that is the tagline "Informing 20,000 households about Stillwater Public Schools!" (think, "All the news that's fit to print.")
Below that, they even have the audacity to put in "Volume 2, No. 1" along with the date.
The main "story" on the front page is this: "Rheinberger files for School Board."
The rest of the 4-page insert is a mish-mash of "information" that seems to actually be a list of opinions Rheinberger has about the future of public schools.
At the very bottom of the final page, in probably 7-point type, is the disclaimer that the whole thing is paid for by the Rheinberger election committee.
It's amazing that such a cheap trick had to cap a remarkably civil, uncontentious school board election. Which brings up the question: Why is Rheinberger so desperate to get on the school board that he would stoop this low?
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