Okay, this is a local story here near Ithaca, in upstate New York.
But it is symptomatic of the fact that the Republicans are liars.
They are not even embarassed about lies.
They know they cannot win without lies.
This is a story about how the head of the Republican committee in this town put out a flyer full of lies, giving readers the impression that all of the democratic candidates had been charged by the police with crimes. In fact, it was the republicans who were making up spurious charges...
Enfield Democrats cry foul over pre-election flierBy JARRETT McLAUGHLIN
November 12, 2003
ENFIELD -- Enfield Democrats lost big in the Nov. 4 election, and party members are saying that a last minute Republican smear campaign is the reason.
The election was a sweep for Republicans, who won in races for town supervisor, council, justice and clerk. But Democrats are upset about a mailing, received by Enfield residents a few days before the election, that they claim made numerous false accusations against Democrats.
<snip>
Accusations of illegal activity are made against (town supervisor) Owens, (town council member) Snyder and (town justice) Murphy in the flier's insert page, which William Mather, acting Enfield Republican Committee chairman at the time of the mailing, said he authored.
The accusations in the insert are based on complaints made by Mather (the head of the local republican organization) to Ithaca Police on Sept. 26 against Owens; the Tompkins County Sheriff's Office on Sept. 23 against Snyder; and the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct on Oct. 7 against Murphy. According to Mather, one flier was mailed to every Enfield household. Mather, who was Enfield town supervisor in 1995-96, lost to Owens in the 2001 supervisor race.
In a recent media release, the Enfield Democratic party claimed that many of the assertions in the flier are wrong and led Enfield residents to vote for the Republicans through "misinformation."
Complaint No. 1
Under the headline "Think about this before you vote," the flier's insert reads, "Owens has been charged with filing a false instrument with the Tompkins County Board of Elections."
In a letter from Owens to the Board of Elections, dated July 17, Owens identified herself as Chairwoman of the Enfield Democratic party. Owens' letter objected to the election petitions of Republican candidates Small, Varricchio, Laue, and Fisher. Mather's complaint, filed with Ithaca Police, alleges that Owens was not chairwoman of the Democratic Party when she signed the letter and thus filed a false instrument. The evidence he gave were letters dated Aug. 27, 2002, and Aug. 15 of this year in which Owens identified herself as secretary, and not chairwoman, of the party.
Owens said that she was party chairwoman in July and signed the letter correctly. She said that she decided not to be the chairwoman before the Democratic Caucus, held Sept. 7, because she was the party's candidate for town supervisor. Tompkins County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Irene Stein corroborated that Owens was the chairwoman on July 17.
According to the Ithaca Police Department, Officer William A. Vinti investigated the case and the decision was made not to charge Owens with a crime. Vinti could not be reached for comment.
"There were no charges filed through this office," said Ithaca Police Sgt. Joan Russell. "The police interviewed the complainant and the subject and decided not to file charges. As far as we're concerned, the case is over and done with."
Although Owens has not been charged with a crime, Mather defended his use of the word in the flier. "That's not meant in the legal sense of 'charge.' I'm the one who charged her. If that's a poor choice of words, I'll accept that." <snip>
The insert
The bottom of the insert of the flier reads, "Think about this: Three ... candidates have significant legal problems. Is this the image you want for Enfield! Are these the types of people that you want handling your hard earned tax dollars?"
<more>
http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20031112/localnews/624869.htmlA few comments. This is from the local Corporate Gannett paper.
Notice the wording that makes this seem not quite as outrageous as it is. In the snipped part, they interview voters who say this had no effect on their vote...
As for the "Sweep" , in fact, for town supervisor for example the Democrat lost by 50 votes out of a total of almost 800 votes.
This is totally outrageous, and shows that the Republicans not just nationally but locally too know that they cannot win without lies and deceit!!
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