Why the Focus on Goldberg?
By Jim Conley • Aug 30th, 2006 • Email This Post to a Friend •
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It’s been somewhat surprising to me how often I’ve heard people say I “must really hate Deb Goldberg” by using this site to focus on inconsistencies in her advertising. Thing is, I hardly know Deb Goldberg. Ninety percent of my contact with town officials is by e-mail (keeps us all honest and cheerful).
I haven’t gone looking for the things I’ve presented over the past two weeks. I remember them from columns I’ve written and the fights I’ve had with Town Hall. And I don’t do it out of any particular ideology other than service to the truth.
I addressed this in my latest on-line column “The Brookline Ideology”, so I won’t repeat those points here.
I find it offensive to democracy that any one person would use $2 million of their own money to drown out the other candidate’s voices for the office she seeks. I find it particularly offensive when the claims made in the ads that that money buys are not supported by the facts.
The facts aren’t personal and they’re not emotional. They are what they are. And the more they are bludgeoned by money, the more we need to triage them with the truth.
Jim Conley is publisher of On Brookline.
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Debbie’s $2 million campaign provides only snapshots of her, repeated and repeated throughout the state, with the intention of attracting voters. But these ads do not provide the full picture. Frankly, this is a problem for many candidates. Substantive information about candidates cannot be provided in 15-, 30-, 45- second ads. The incessant repetition of the ads is an old propaganda technique. Voters who are too busy to follow up will accept the sound bites as truth. But what if the ads are not true or may be misleading? Debbie does have a record and it is known by many in Brookline. As for her competition and other candidates for statewide office, ditto. Alas, the First Amendment supports this method of political ads without significant controls, especially so when the candidate has oodles and oodles of money. Money may not buy love, but it sure as heck can buy public office. You go, girl, spend, spend, spend.