-Caveat Lector- http://www.wbrz.com/stories/121202/new_skulldugger.shtml
Story last updated at 7:03 p.m. Thursday, December 12, 2002 Skullduggery abounds in recent runoff Associated Press Dirty tricks aimed at smearing candidates and confusing or discouraging voters were in ample supply during the primary and runoff elections for the U.S. Senate and a Louisiana congressional seat. Mostly anonymous, the skullduggery was aimed at disrupting the usual racial and ideological voting patterns. In the Senate runoff, the targets were the liberal black vote for Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu and conservative white voters for Republican challenger Suzanne Haik Terrell. One, for example, gave voters the wrong election day. In the 5th congressional district runoff in northeastern Louisiana, losing Republican Lee Fletcher found himself the target of a Democratic pamphlet comparing him with David Duke. Donna Brazile, who works on get-out-the vote strategies for the national Democratic Party, said such tactics have a two-fold effect: they make a highly motivated voter, who has decided on a candidate, get to the polls, but discourage others who are not as committed. "We are in danger of losing those voters in the American electoral process because of the negative campaigning," Brazile said. Around New Orleans, an unsigned pamphlet circulated in public housing projects, where Landrieu wanted a big turnout, misinformed voters that if they did not cast a ballot on Dec. 7, they could on Dec. 10. One sign posted around New Orleans on election day sought to exploit Landrieu's problems with black leaders who complained that she had ignored them during her first term. The signs said: "Mary, if you don't respect us, don't expect us." But the signs were paid for by the Louisiana Republican Party, which also hired black men to wave them on street corners. GOP officials said the signs were an accurate reflection of how many voters felt about Landrieu. Landrieu said it was an underhanded attempt to persuade black voters to stay away from the polls. An anonymous "sample ballot" circulated before the Nov. 5 primary implied U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, a black Democrat, endorsed Terrell, a white Republican, and district attorney candidate Dale Atkins, who was black. In reality, Jefferson backed Landrieu and Atkins' opponent, Eddie Jordan. Signs claiming the same political alliance were put up in white neighborhoods of suburban New Orleans just before the runoff. "They put them in some suburban white areas to trick people," said Terrell aide Bill Kearney. In Baton Rouge, a handbill purporting to be a "coalition ballot" circulated in black neighborhoods just before the runoff suggested that Terrell had the backing of 17 civic groups, some of them black groups. The ballots carried the signature of community activist Tonya Pollard-Gosa, who later signed an affidavit for the Louisiana Democratic Party, saying it was a forgery. Terrell's camp said it had nothing to do with the fake ballot. "Thousands of these things had hit the streets," state Democratic Party chairman Ben Jeffers said. "This election cycle had more games than I've seen in a while. They were really trying to mislead African-Americans to vote for Suzie Terrell." In the 5th District race, a flier read: "The more you listen to Lee Fletcher, the more he sounds like David Duke," the former Ku Klux Klan leader. The flier quoted Duke's calling for strict limits on legal immigration and Fletcher's calling for curtailing illegal immigration. The bottom of the flier said: "With Lee Fletcher in Congress, are we really safe?" Democratic Party spokesman Scott Arceneaux said his party was reponsible for the filer, which he called "entirely accurate in that Fletcher made a cornerstone of his campaign the issue of sending all immigrants back COD." Fletcher said that earlier in the campaign, the Democrats had tried to paint him as a racist. Another pamphlet accused him of holding a Ku Klux Klan rally. "Their intention was to drop a hate piece on us before we could do anything about it," Fletcher said. "It's the lowest form of trash politics." Alexander said he knew nothing about the Fletcher-Duke flier. The national Democratic Party's Brazile said, "We need to concentrate on getting out the vote. These tactics are awful." <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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