You need to see this. Less than a week before the election, a smear
on my
campaign is printed in the OUTSPOKEN (the same issue in which I'm
endorsed)
by a paid operative of the Holvey campaign. The Official DPLC
response?
Well, see for yourself.
Both letters were sent out to the entire DPLC Executive Committee. No
response or other reply than the "official" one has yet been
received.
*******************
From: Hart Williams
TO: DPLC Executive Committee
Dear Lane County Democrat:
I am writing to protest in the most vigorous terms the
"smear" piece against
me in the latest issue of the OUTSPOKEN. Such a use of our newsletter
is
simply unacceptable.
Leaving aside for the moment the scurrilous and baseless nature of the
attack, it should be noted that, while I support Kitty Piercy, the
letter in
her favor was ITSELF* utterly beyond the pale. FOR THE SAME REASON:
WE DO NOT USE THE OUTSPOKEN FOR DEMOCRATIC PARTISAN ENDS IN DEMOCRATIC
PRIMARIES.
Surely everyone understands that.
(*At least it was an endorsement of Kitty, and Ms. Nathanson was given
equal
time, rather than a low character attack without any offer for
response by
MY campaign!)
I will now add that Rick Klaastad, my accuser, is a PAID operative of
the
Holvey campaign, that his wife, Ellen Klaastad is a *full-time staffer*,
who
was paid $2400 for her services from 4/02 to 5/02, that Chris Matson
-- who
caused so much trouble at the endorsement meeting of the DPLC-CC --
was paid
$3000 for campaign management on 4/30/04 (a payoff? When did he
actually
enter the employ of the campaign?).
Frank Vignola, the editor of the OUTSPOKEN, and the facilitator of
this
outrageous smear, was and is listed on Paul Holvey's website as
endorsing
Mr. Holvey PRIOR TO THIS INFAMOUS ACT -- at whose door this incredible
behavior must, ultimately, be laid.
This is filthy, dirty, backroom politics, folks, and I am going to
demand
that you take some action to either distance the party from this, or
else I
will assume that silence equals assent and that you are aiding and
abetting
in the commission of several criminal acts as regards the conduct of
political campaigns.
Finally, the voters of Lane County will decide as to how
"clean" you are,
but this is your opportunity to either embrace this sort of Nixonesque
politics, or to stand up for clean process and fundamental fairness
and
decency in DPLC affairs that I had always assumed were givens in the
conduct
of this party's business.
We EXPECT this sort of thing from the Republicans. But it is
outrageous when
Democrats do it, because we're supposed to know better.
Allowing a smear against an endorsed Democratic candidate 7 days
before the
election, with the ballots already out is wrong, pure and simple.
And, while we're on the subject, I made two charges: One, that Ellen
isn't
from House District 8, which she STILL isn't. And TWO, that Rick never
told
me that she was Holvey's treasurer, and he never did.
As for the rest of it, it is, like Holvey's 93.12% out of district
contributors, utterly over the top.
Now, is this sort of abuse of the OUTSPOKEN approved by this body, or
is it
eschewed in the most vigorous terms possible? All of Lane County's
media
awaits your response.
Your call.
Hart Williams
my response to the media is at:
http://www.hartwilliams.com/hd8/pressrel1.htm
******************
From: Dan Isaacson, Vice Chair, DPLC
To: Hart Williams
CC: DPLC Executive Committee
Hart,
This will be the only reply given to your inquiry on the latest
Outspoken
and thus any reply sent to my in-box will be immediately discarded.
The
purpose of this letter is to offer a dose of reality to this
situation.
Since I do not work for the Holvey campaign and neither does Pat
Riggs-Hensonor Carleen Reiley, I want to ask why you refer your
attacks to
the local Democratic Leadership, when only the treasurer of the Party
is
involved in a such a position. To date I have not seen any favoritism
toward
any one candidate by either Pat, Carleen or myself, and for that
matter, by
the general body.
All of the candidates for this race were endorsed, and promptly been
given
the rights and privileges that go along with it. This includes access
to the
Voter-file, mailing permits, and precinct analysis done by the
Campaign
Services Committee. Some you have asked for and been given.
The amount of money needed by a candidate for office is staggering,
and
expecting $80-100k to come from an area with less than 40,000 people
living
in it is unrealistic. You are obviously a smart individual, but
recognize
that aside from your "web-based-business," and the mountain
of controversy
it would cause if it were ever made public, to both the local party
for your
involvement in it, and your campaign, your inability to raise any
money
either statewide or locally is, in my opinion, the factor preventing
you
from gaining any press or attention from volunteers.
The latest in this series (attacking Bill Bradbury personally for
somehow
being involved in some massive covert conspiracy to keep you out of
office
by not printing your statement in the Voter's Pamphlet) was not only
over
the line, but an outright "smear" campaign of your own. It
costs $500 to
have your picture and statement in the VP and you never did that, so
how is
it Bradbury's fault that you either did not have the money to or
forgot to
send it in?
The money factor might be overcome if there was an ounce of attitude
toward
people over the past few months that was not filled with hatred, most
people
in the party have reserved for the current occupant of the White
House.
Fishing for a fight over the smallest issue, and then when you finally
sucker someone into responding to your often over-critical,
micro-analyzed
outlook on the volunteers who run this party, posting their response
on a
website along with a rather lengthy one-sided rebuttal by you, is not
going
to win you any supporters, never-mind votes.
As for the Outspoken, there was two pieces in it. The first was an
advertisement, bought and paid for by the Holvey Campaign. This option
was
always open to you and anyone else who wanted it. However, again,
without
any money it is hard to take advantage of these options. The second
piece
was a letter to the editor on rebutting the comments made by YOU on
your
web-page. Had you allowed Rick the ability to do so on your blog,
(equal-time...) maybe he would not have felt the need to defend
himself in
the manner he chose to do it in. Either way, the policy of the
outspoken is
to publish letters from PCP's in Lane County on current topics. I am
sorry
that you have not utilized this option for your campaign, as it was
available to you. But if you continue to attack people on-line, I have
no
problem allowing rebuttals to come in the form of the Outspoken.
Sincerely,
-Dan P. Isaacson
Vice Chair
DPLC
