Frank Hyman on the Republican bid for the Durham mayor's office

[struggle4progress]

Published: Oct 06, 2007 12:30 AM
Modified: Oct 06, 2007 06:22 AM

Now for the fix. Thomas Stith is no fool. But he's no political saint either. He's introducing Durham to the ways of Karl Rove and the late Lee Atwater. Some examples:

* Big Money. Stith started the race with more than $50,000 -- more than most local candidates raise in an entire campaign. Most of the money came from about 20 people with connections to development. Over the last 25 years, candidates with the most money have usually lost elections in Durham because they lacked the civic involvement or the contacts to gain the coalition of endorsements that it takes to win. But money can sway things -- if there's enough of it. Stith will be writing some big checks for robocalls and glossy mailers. Look for his pitch to be on TV and radio, as well.

* Candidate Caricatures. Stith's mid-Sept. mailer knocked Bell on crime. Fair enough. But he amplified the mailer's impact by including pictures of Bell that made the man look grotesque, a tactic we haven't seen in Durham before ...

If he wins, Stith will bring a new face to the mayor's office. But even if he loses, he is bringing a new face to Durham campaigns -- Karl Rove's.

http://www.thedurhamnews.com/viewpoints/story/91130.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Who is Thomas Stith? (Indy: 3 Oct 07)

BY MOSI SECRET

... The differences between Stith's public persona and private political maneuverings point to a curious duality: When he speaks on the council, he sounds like he's offering a reasonable, measured parsing of the issues; yet his campaign strategies are risky, even offensive, attacks torn from the dirty-politics playbook. In addition to the push polls, a campaign mailer showcases photos of Bell's contorted face, and automated "robo-calls" claimed Durham intentionally harbors undocumented immigrants ...

Meanwhile, Stith is evasive when questioned about these tactics, his own spotty record on council, and $108,000 in campaign contributions, primarily from wealthy business owners. Instead he hammers on his issues and emphasizes that in the nonpartisan race, strong leadership on issues of crime and government accountability outweigh political philosophy and party affiliation. But make no mistake: Stith is conservative and so are his issues. And he is seen as part of a Republican effort to upend Democratic leadership, a strategy that has led to a backlash from Durham's considerable liberal majority that calls Stith's campaign divisive ...

Stith has missed more council meetings, work sessions and special meetings since the 2005 election than any member, with 11 absences, three of them unexcused ...

Stith unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 2004, promising he would use the office to protect conservative values. His campaign literature discussed how he had fought "the big tax and spend liberal special interests" in Durham and stood alone "against an establishment determined to increase the size of government and the tax burden on taxpayers." Stith raised $73,000 to run for the state's second-highest office, $30,000 less than he's collected for the mayoral race ...

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A161473

[Triana]

2. Duplicitous Robber Baron...

..sumbitch. Typical Repuke. If Durham has a Repube Mayor, it will surely be doomed.

[struggle4progress]

3. In my humble opinion Stith is a lying two-faced mofo. Of course, I could be wrong:

perhaps he is a three- or four-faced mofo.

Hope you're doing well! :toast:

[Triana]

4. Six-faced times three no doubt...

...think bout it.

;)

I got my list of progressive candidates for the election, and Stiff ain't one of them.

Hope you're doing well too S4P! We gonna all get together again soon?

[struggle4progress]

5. I hopes we is all git together soon: need to figgure out if souper-nova gonna do halloween