Opinion Piece By Samuel Strait – November 6, 2016 –
Glub, Glub, that is the sound of the Triplicate and its staff circling the toilet bowl ready for the final plunge. The idea that the Triplicate’s editor had to break a standing policy “to avoid publishing controversial stories about local elections on the last publication day before a vote” is simply preposterous. The very notion that the Triplicate is fair is also preposterous. The idea that what is clearly a common election tactic and there is somehow a story worthy of a front page in the Triplicate, and a follow up editorial in the same issue as an attempt to be “fair” is beyond preposterous…… This is simply a last gasp at being the partisan rag that the Triplicate has become in trying to be relevant.
As if the print paper doesn’t know that literally dozens of slick printed political flyers find homes in mail boxes throughout the nation for a couple of months preceding any election. I can assure Editor Fornoff that Del Norte County Voters haven’t been excluded from this practice. The idea that they some how do not attempt to persuade voters to cast their ballots in a certain way is a flight of fantasy. If the Triplicate’s staff, Kathryn Murray, David Finigan, James Ramsey, and Democratic Central Committee Chair Kevin Hendrick are suggesting that the local members of the Democratic Party are “too stupid” to read a political flyer and be deceived by its contents, then I would suggest that the Triplicate’s story is nothing more than a bad case of sour grapes. Unless, local Democrats, that is actually how they view you.
As I have said on numerous occasions, elections for the positions of County Supervisor are NONPARTISAN, that’s NONPARTISAN, for the slow readers on the Triplicate’s Staff. It is not a Democratic/Republican inspired event and has nothing to do with how Republicans or Democrats endorse candidates. It is simply about individual voters selecting the candidate that will represent the voter in the BEST WAY POSSIBLE. The idea that in this case, local Democratic leadership and the Triplicate have the arrogance to imply that their voters would be in any way confused or deceived by the Election Digest flyers should be a wake up call to those voters that they are being held in complete contempt. Local Democrats may wish to show their displeasure by suspending their subscriptions to the Triplicate and changing leadership at the Central Committee.
All candidates were given the opportunity by the company who produced the flyers to get their message out to all voters, no matter what party affiliation. The very fact that the two Democratic candidates chose not to engage their base speaks volumes about how low of regard they hold local Democrats when giving them a choice to vote. Kathryn Murray, David Finigan, the Triplicate, James Ramsey, and Kevin Hendrick all seem to think because they have selected certain candidates, that you, the local Democrats must vote for THEIR selections like a bunch of lemmings that follow leadership over a cliff.
This effort by the Triplicate has absolutely nothing to do with being fair just prior to an election or trying to insure local Democratic voters are not deceived by election cycle advertising. This is about the Triplicate having a temper tantrum on the eve of an election. It is about Democratic activists being upstaged by being complacent and taking their base for granted. It is about the folly of Democratic candidates being faced with their own very bad decisions. It proudly displays to all local citizens just how childish and partisan Editor Fornoff has become. It is also a stark reminder of how many Democratic candidates view the the voting public.
November 8th, this Tuesday, is your chance to walk into a polling booth and cast a ballot for someone you think will do the best job for you.
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