THE SPECTATOR: CHARACTER DEFINES CANDIDATES

  

It’s happening again.  Outside forces from Austin and DC are trying to disrupt our local Washington County election.  They tried it in our Brenham School Board election last year, and they failed miserably.  I’m hopeful that the voters of Washington County will again reject this outside influence. This time it is not only disgusting, but illegal.  Text messages slandering one of our County Judge candidates are being sent to Washington County voters by someone named “Vanessa”.  The message is spewing hatred and not even trying to hide behind political advertising.  It’s just a smear campaign, and it makes me sick!

I’ve been waiting all week for the other two candidates to publicly respond to this smear campaign and condemn it.  They’ve had opportunities at forums, in their advertising, and in their social media posts.  I’m disappointed to say that all I’ve heard are crickets.  The only vague reference I’ve seen from one candidate was to write “No candidate can control the free exchange of ideas online or elsewhere, especially from outside groups”.  True.  But you can publicly condemn it.  Their lack of condemnation suggests several things.  Either their campaign or supporters are responsible for these vicious smear tactics.  They condone the hatred that is being spewed on social media and hope it helps their campaign.  Or, they don’t have the character necessary to publicly condemn it.  To me, it’s that simple.

Locally, one of the candidates and his campaign have been walking a tightrope between what is unethical, what is the truth, and what is an outright lie.  I understand that politics can be ugly, but I don’t believe the voters of Washington County want to be lied to.  A campaign can talk about family values all they want, but at some point you have to live up to those values.  When your family members are posting disgusting videos on social media, that’s not a good look for someone who wants to be County Judge.

When the election is over, these three gentlemen will have to face each other in the public.  They will have to face their neighbors in Washington County.  This is their home.  It’s not too late for two of the candidates to do the right thing.  Character can be defined not only by what you do….but also by what you fail to do.

And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.