For those of you who don’t know, I manage the campaign of Ron Shepston in CA-42. This post does not address, or otherwise represent, that campaign. Instead, it’s about CA-44, one of our neighboring districts that is also part of the “Triangle of Corruption” represented by Gary Miller (CA-42), Ken Calvert (CA-44), and Jerry Lewis (CA-41).
On Sunday, someone whom I think we can assume was a GOP smear operative (high UID with no previous diary or comment history) posted a troll diary on Daily Kos. You can read it here: http://www.dailykos….. This was a scurrilous and baseless attack on Bill Hedrick, the candidate who has raised the most money, leaving open the inference that it was posted by a supporter of 2006 nominee Louis Vandenberg. The diary quickly rose to the top of the Google charts for Bill Hedrick, which suggests that it was part of a Republican Googlebombing strategy.
What did Hedrick and Vanderberg do after this attack? They should true class and cooperated in producing a joint statement that appeared today on DKos: http://www.dailykos….
The first comment to today’s diary asked that it be cross-posted to Calitics (which I know is generally a wise idea.) My sense, though, is that the diary author (an infrequent participant) probably didn’t get the message. As I was contacted yesterday and asked to help out as I could, I’m going to take the initiative to post it here on their joint behalf. Because the diary content was styled as a press release, I am reprinting here in full. (If the proprieters here consider that improper, please go ahead and spike this, but know that I’m posting it in good faith.)
This is a joint statement by California 44th Congressional District Democratic Candidates Bill Hedrick and Louis Vandenberg regarding postings on the California Inland Empire Craigslist and the Daily Kos. The Daily Kos posting is entitled “Democratic Candidate for Congress Accused . . . and I am Pissed.” The link to the diary posting is: http://www.dailykos….. Together, we condemn this posting as nonsense and baseless slander. Our statements follow:
Statement of Louis Vandenberg:
I reject any assertion or suggestion that Mr. Hedrick acted improperly with respect to the incident cited in a DailyKos diary posted on November 4, 2007. In my view, Mr. Hedrick behaved honorably and professionally in the execution of his duties as the leader of the Rialto Teacher’s Union. It is the responsibility of a person in such a position to address personnel matters in a manner which is as fair and objective as possible to all parties. The accused teacher, regardless of the accusations, was not convicted in a court of law. To my understanding, no criminal or civil charges were ever brought in this matter. Therefore, it would have not been appropriate for Mr. Hedrick to have stated anything other than the facts of the case, which is what he did. This is standard practice. No responsible person would have done anything differently. Although I am a political opponent of Mr. Hedrick’s in the 44th congressional race, such a smear deeply offends my sense of justice and fairness. I reject it, and I believe we all should. This campaign should be and must be about real issues that matter to real citizens in the real world. And this is not real.
Statement of Bill Hedrick:
Normally, this type of dirty trick does not merit a response. But when false allegations like these impugn the ethics and due diligence of an excellent school district and outstanding police force, this goes beyond personal slander of a political candidate.
As an educator, student safety is my highest priority. All employees of the Rialto Unified School District-whether the superintendent, the union president, or clerks, custodians, or teachers-are mandated reporters of any suspicion of child abuse.
Rialto Unified and the Rialto Police Department are diligent in investigating every allegation involving student safety. In the incident cited, both agencies vigorously and thoroughly performed their investigative duties with the full participation of the teachers’ association.
As a teacher, my first professional, legal, and moral obligation is student safety. Also, I work to ensure due process and the rule of law-something all citizens deserve in our democratic and free society.
It is unfortunate that posting such baseless allegations damages the credibility of school districts, law enforcement agencies, and teacher associations, all of whom are committed to ensuring the safety of children.
Again, we together, as Democrats and as candidates, seek honesty in our political dialog at this important time. Therefore, we have taken this unique step–political rivals coming together to condemn and reject obvious smear and slander. We trust that you will too.
Sincerely,
Bill Hedrick
Candidate for United States Representative in Congress
California’s 44th CD
www.hedrickforcongress.com
November 5, 2007
Corona, CaliforniaLouis Vandenberg
Candidate for United States Representative in Congress
California’s 44th CD
www.vandenbergforcongress.com (site update coming soon)
November 5, 2007
Riverside, California
Because I am working on a neighboring campaign, there’s a sense in which my candidate is in competition with both Hedrick and Vandenberg for attention, money, volunteer time, and the like. Let me echo the generous spirit in which they have acted with their joint statement by saying: to hell with that. I am honored to be part of the same network of Southland Democratic challengers as they are. I hope to have their back, and the back of anyone else similarly situated, when the GOP slime machine raises its head, and I hope to hear the same from them.
Our political opponents include desperate and rotten people, and if we can’t stop them from telling lies, we can at least make their doing so painful and counterproductive. Public support for both of these men, who compete in one sense and cooperate in another, is the only way to show these oh-so-clever GOP slimeballs that their efforts will blow up in their faces, as they have done across the country. I hope you’ll join me in expressing that solidarity.