{"id":15530,"date":"2016-11-05T11:18:29","date_gmt":"2016-11-05T15:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=15530"},"modified":"2016-11-05T11:21:18","modified_gmt":"2016-11-05T15:21:18","slug":"dems-mailer-crossed-the-line-in-158th-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=15530","title":{"rendered":"Dems mailer crossed the line in 158th race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Both parties deserve hit for tone and conduct of 2016 campaign<\/em><\/h2>\n

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"timespoliticsunusual\"<\/a>And so, finally, it comes to an end.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s little glory to be had by either party \u2014 whether you look at the national operations, or the local county parties \u2014 as no one has much to be proud of for the their conduct and willful deceptions in advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n

While there is a price to be paid for that \u2014 that is a discussion for another time, post-election.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where the usual \u201che said, she said\u201d goes beyond that is something we saw on a mailer by the House Democratic Campaign Committee going after Eric Roe, the State Representative candidate in the 158th District.<\/span><\/p>\n

Democrats spent much of the week on the war path about whether Roe meets residency requirements and filed criminal charges, alleging voter fraud. We covered it, in a story that gave both the Democrats\u2019 allegation and a rebuttal and denial of the charges by the GOP.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nasty \u2014 but, unfortunately, the way politics is now played.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem comes from a mail piece sent out from the House Democratic Campaign Committee which used quotes from our publication \u2014 and from a story I wrote \u2014 in a deceptive way. The first two quotes were fractions of a larger passage representing both the allegation and the denial \u2014 specifically, county GOP chair Val DiGiorgio\u2019s suggestion that the charge is \u201cridiculous.\u201d Bad, but only about a 7\u00a0on the 1-to-10 weasel meter.<\/span><\/p>\n

The third quote is a quoted statement from Chester County Democratic Committee Chair Brian McGinnis \u2014 expressing a rather negative opinion about Roe\u2019s eligibility \u2014 but attributed to us, so as to appear as if it was something we \u2014 or I \u2014 wrote. That\u2019s about a 14 on that same 1-to-10 scale.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I got word of this mailer, I was furious. We weren\u2019t then \u2014 and aren\u2019t now \u2014 passing judgment on Roe\u2019s residency. We just reported the allegations that led to criminal charges being filed \u2014 no different than we might for any other pending criminal case. I assume an investigation will determine whether the charges are valid or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

DiGiorgio and the Republicans are understandably angry \u2014 and DiGiorgio called for us to withdraw our endorsement of Susan Rzucidlo \u2014 the Democrat running against Roe.<\/span><\/p>\n

My first call after finding out about the mailer was to Rzucidlo \u2014 to make it plain how unhappy I was. She said she was surprised to hear about the contents of the mailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

I asked her about her involvement:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was notified NOT consulted about the recent negative mailer that the HDCC and CCDC put out against my opponent,\u201d she said in an email describing what happened.\u00a0\u201cThis was done with their money and their legal counsel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>This is not the kind of mailer that I have ever put out.\u00a0 I have been focused on the issues that face the people of the 158th, putting out position papers, sending letters to the editor, calling voters, and knocking more than 11,000 doors. In all the years that I have run I have never run an ad like this and I would not. It crossed the line.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>When I put out a statement or mail piece, I sign my name to it. I won\u2019t hide behind someone else. People who know me know that is true.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>There has been a lot of line crossing in this election from both sides, but I want to make sure that voters know that the only literature that I have control over is that literature that says \u2018Paid For By Susan Rzucidlo.\u2019\u00a0 If a piece of mail says that then you know it is from me. Otherwise, look at the paid for by statement to know who developed that piece of mail or that advertisement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>This election cycle has been ugly and awful. I have been working at letting people know that it is better out there than they think it is. That the people of the 158th are interested in learning about this race and I am interested in hearing from them what they need and want from a state legislator.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DiGiorgio and the Republicans aren’t mollified by this \u2014 and DiGiorgio again called for us to withdraw our endorsement of Rzucidlo. Republicans note that her finance reports show in-kind contributions from HDCC, including the mailer.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the day, we choose to take Rzucidlo at her word and lay the blame on HDCC and Chester County Democratic Party.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have given the GOP the opportunity to offer their side of things \u2014 agreeing to run their press release<\/a> on the issue. It is unedited and run as submitted and can be found here.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, there you have it.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Although right now, I feel like an eight year old caught up in the worst divorce custody battle in the history of ever \u2014 probably something a lot of voters can relate to right now \u2014 soon, it will be over after Election Day.<\/span><\/p>\n

The key thing is after surviving this is to make sure you vote on Tuesday. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are multiple options on the Web to guide you to your local polling place. If you are a new registered voter \u2014 especially one who registered in the final week \u2014 and are worried, a couple of words of advice: bring your photo ID and even if challenged or are told you are not registered, ask to cast a provisional ballot. With the recent questions about registrations by FieldWorks, it is possible some legitimate registrations will be discarded \u2014 as Republicans claim voter fraud took place.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it seems likely that FieldWorks was filing fake registrations \u2014 a bigger issue for the Democrat-leaning groups that hired them \u2014 it was done to fill quotas and get paid, not to cause\u00a0voter fraud. Numerous experts note that first time voters need ID that matches their voting address, making the false registrations useless for anyone wanted to commit voter fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also important to note: a Federal judge threw out an attempt by the state Republican Party to allow out of county residents to serve as poll watchers \u2014 so anyone with a poll watching certificate in a Chester County poll must be from Chester County. Still, there is some concern that folks from either party may engage in voter intimidation at the polls.<\/span><\/p>\n

County Democratic leaders called on Republicans to abide by the Republican National Committee 1982 consent decree and accept the results of the election, concerns they say are based on comments from GOP nominee Donald Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe call on the Chester County Republican Committee leadership and Committeepersons to request that their partisans respect the rights of voters of all parties on Tuesday and abide by the RNC consent decree, which is enforceable against them, and to abide by any other Court orders that are announced in the coming days, including Election Day,\u201d said CCDC Chair McGinnis. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe may disagree with political views of the Republican Party, but as Americans we should all be able to agree to respect the outcome of this election, a peaceful transfer of power and Democracy itself, as has been the case throughout our history as a country. No one, no party and no candidate should be attempting to undermine the well-deserved faith in democracy and our democratic institutions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Will there be issues? It\u2019s unclear \u2014 but there have been issues at times at some polling places in the last decade, so it\u2019s important to be aware of the situation, exercise patience and know your rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

If challenged, or not found on voter rolls, you should still cast a provisional ballot. If you don\u2019t \u2014 there\u2019s no way for your vote to be counted if the challenge is without merit or you should have been included on the registered voter lists. If you were not eligible to vote, said provisional vote will be cast aside \u2014 meaning no harm, no foul.<\/span><\/p>\n

So while left-leaning groups have been attempting to pad the voter rolls \u2014 again with dubious benefit to Democrats \u2014 right-leaning groups have been buying Web ads, some in Spanish,\u00a0 <\/span>telling people to vote via text, email and phone, which is not possible. In Pennsylvania, you may only vote in person or by excused absentee ballot (and that had to be received by Voter Services by yesterday at 5 p.m.) \u2014 that\u2019s it. <\/span><\/p>\n

In short, you need to go to your local polling place and cast a vote. Both Lyft and Uber are offering free rides to the polls, use the code \u201cVote PA\u201d if you need a ride on Election Day. <\/span><\/p>\n

But you must vote in person \u2014 don\u2019t be fooled into thinking otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Democrats and Republicans have a lot to answer for in undermining the legitimacy of this election, again, another conversation for after this election. <\/span><\/p>\n

The best way to fight back is to vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Enjoy the extra hour of sleep tonight \u2014 undoubtedly it may sooth tattered nerves.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Both parties deserve hit for tone and conduct of 2016 campaign By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times And so, finally, it comes to an end. There\u2019s little glory to be had by either party \u2014 whether you look at the national operations, or the local county parties \u2014 as no one has much to be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[213,1588,3592,5525,3912,5801,212],"class_list":["post-15530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-158th-district","tag-chester-county-republican-committee","tag-election-2016","tag-eric-roe","tag-featured","tag-mailers","tag-susan-rzucidlo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15530"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15533,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15530\/revisions\/15533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}