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Blog Entry 46 of 54 Confessions of a Campaign Manager
My name is Christopher Moyer, and I am the campaign manager for Andrew Scripter, who is running for the State House in Jefferson County. In this blog I will show what life is really like on the campaign trail. In addition my true motivation for writing this blog will be to uplift the tenor and tone of campaigning and move beyond partisanship. I call this "Transcending and Transforming politics." We must always remember that above all we are not Democrats or Republicans, but Coloradoans and Americans.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~CampaignConfessions

Campaign confessions - negative campaigns
Contributed by: Chris Moyer   on 10/14/2008

Anyone that is paying attention lately to politics can't help but notice just how nasty things have been getting. At the state level here in Colorado the Betsy Markey and Marylin Musgrave race has been particularly vitriolic, and only topped by the Udall vs. Schaffer race. I find this strange because people say that they dislike negative ads and negative campaigning, but I am left with the conclusion that it must work otherwise people would not do it. For me and any campaign that I work on it is a definitive no. I will not do it, and am fundamentally opposed to it.

I come from a sports background and this has a profound affect on how I view competition in the political arena. When competing in sports you play to win, you don't play to denigrate or question your opponent's right to play. However, in politics the desire and will to win can often corrupt to the extent that people will say or do anything to get elected. That includes challenging the very right of your opponent to run their race, or impugning their character. This would be an anathema in sports. In sports you need your competitor, because without competition then the game is meaningless. Competing together with honor one side will win and one side will lose, but all will be improved.

This is the spirit which I try to act upon, and this is the way that Andrew Scripter is running his race in House District 25. Andrew also comes from a sports background. Therefore, even when he disagrees with the positions that his opponents have he respects them for the commitment to public service. That is why Andrew is running a clean race, and a race that will uplift Western Jefferson County no matter who wins.

There can be no doubt that the Presidential race could learn something from Andrew's campaign. Both the McCain and Obama camps have become divorced from the true spirit of competition. However, any honest person would say that the McCain/Palin ticket have been the worst offenders. (I am not letting Obama off the hook just because he has not been as bad, both sides should stop.)

That said John McCain proved what an honorable man he truly is the other day when he corrected a woman that called Obama "an Arab". (Side note... why should being an Arab be a bad thing? Arab's are fine people and not all of them are Muslim... There are Jewish, Christian, and Secular Arabs... second note... why should there be anything wrong with being a Muslim) So we have to praise McCain for doing the right thing in calming his supporters down; however, we must also say that his campaign created the environment that caused these sentiments to exist. His negative advertising and many of the remarks that Sarah Palin used recently created an atmosphere that promoted strong fear and hate of Obama.

If we are to get out of this economic and foreign policy mess that we find our selves in we must stop denigrating each other for competing in politics. We will not agree on every issue, but we agree on most. Whoever wins the presidency this November will be my President, even if he is not of my party. Whether it is John McCain or Barack Obama we must respect the office and work to help him succeed.

We are not Democrats or Republicans... we are Americans.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Chris Moyer

Denver , CO

Chris Moyer has posted 54 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 9/22/2008. Chris Moyer 's average blog rating is 5.
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