Here are excerpts from recent email exchanges between Northampton Mayoral frontrunner Michael Bardsley and incumbent Mary Clare Higgins. It concerns a Bill Dwight email Lisa Baskin and Paul Spector circulated to an unknown number of email recipients the day after Higgins was stunned in the primary by Bardsley a few weeks ago.
SILLYTOWN CIVILITY WARNING! In his Ad hominen attacks Dwight uses a sexual euphemism to describe Bardsley supporters, "teabaggers." Even Dwight's hero MSNBC's Rachel Maddow questioned the use of the term during recent Republican tea party protests.
Coming from Dwight this is ironic considering the Higgins team is rolling out a series of letters to the editor and public speakers decrying a Bardsley supporter's supposed lack of civility in complaining about sewer backups in his home. For her sake I hope this is not the only strategy that Higgins' hired political consultant, Dori Dean, can come up with.
A contact Dwight includes is lobbyist Bill Rosen of Cardinal Strategies, the Maynard Road lobbyist Higgins hired on behalf of the city in 2004 and 2005 to the tune of $50 thousand in order to lobby on behalf of Hospital Hill. In 2006 he pocketed another $20 thousand from Mass. Development, the quasi-state agency involved with Hospital Hill's redevelopment.
I guess we have the pot calling the kettle black here folks. Read on-we'll start with "progressives" Dwight and Baskin. Included is Dwight's email distribution list which includes Jeanne Hoose, Higgins, Baskin, Bill Rosen, Paul Spector, David Narkewicz (one of Kathy Silva's opponents for councilor at-large) and Jack Hornor:
> From: bdwight@comcast.net
> To: bdwight@comcast.net; l.baskin@comcast.net; hhoose@comcast.net;clarehiggins@verizon.net; philippides@hotmail.com; billrosen@verizon.net; JonHite@aol.com;philod55@yahoo.com; jbhoyt54@comcast.net; Gwanorth@aol.com; dnarkewicz@comcast.net;Jack@JackHornor.com
>Subject: Clare will win..
> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:58:58 -0400
>
> Yesterday, a friend of mine was ambivalent as he went to the polls.
> He wasn't clear about who to choose for mayor. He had heard from
> friends that he respects championing both Clare and MRB and he just
> didn't know. But he said… his mind was made up when he passed the
> angry white men holding Bardsley signs and pulled up along Phil
> Broklesby's car festooned with Bardsley for mayor stickers alongside
> gun rights stickers and other Libertarian claptrap.
> I suspect, that an organized campaign of angry yellers like Kathy
> Silva and Steve Susco are on schedule to show up at public sessions
> until election day. They look, sound and act like teabaggers and now
> they are energized by last nights numbers. Ken Mitchell, Jackie Misa,
> Kathy Silva et al will correspond with MRB's natural tendency to sneer
> and patronize to turn off the general Liberal electorate.
>
> I think MRB and Co.. are getting campaign consultation from a former
> Republican campaign operative who's from CT. He uses the Republican
> playbook… gather all of the disparate angry people together and keep
> them focussed on the demon you manufactured and they will fight for
> you. That's why you will have Phil Sullivan chatting with Amy
> Bookbinder about visibility locations.
>
> Clare is steady and calm and her greatest asset is her ability to
> explain her policies when she's speaking directly to citizens who
> don't follow the machinations of city politics. The choice will not
> be hard to make in six weeks as long as the ambivalent voters get a
> chance to know who and what the choices are.
>
> Good luck,
>
> B(ill Dwight)Lisa Unger Baskin
The Gehenna Press
P. O. Box 314
Leeds, Massachusetts
01053
413-586-4127 413-586-6222 (fax)
413-585-0806 office
Here is Bardsley's September 25 email to Higgins in response:
Subject: Distressing Campaign Tactics
Clare, Up until now I believe that each of our campaigns have essentially been run in a very positive manner. However, in recent days several Northampton residents have made me aware of emails sent from individuals actively working in your campaign. Your campaign staffers have been forwarding an email message from Bill Dwight which not only attacks me personally but also attempts to demean and degrade my campaign committee members and volunteers. The content of Mr. Dwight’s message is so factually inaccurate that I will not bother to dignify it with a response. However, I am saddened and disappointed that members of your campaign have decided to use his false accusations in an attempt to discourage voters from supporting my mayoral candidacy.
Though I have become relatively immune from personal attacks of a political nature, I am deeply hurt by the negative characterization of my hard working supporters. In recent weeks I have built up an organization of well over 300 volunteers. They represent the diversity of Northampton. Included in this coalition of Bardsley supporters are Republicans as well as Democrats and independents. There are folks who consider themselves to be politically conservative and others who pride themselves as being liberal. There are those who are from families who have lived in Northampton for generations and those who have only recently arrived. At least one member of my campaign committee is in his eighties while another volunteer has just turned 18; she will be voting for the first time on November 3. My committee reflects the racial, ethnic and religious diversity of our community; the vast majority of the active members of the campaign committee are women.
Having members of your campaign team spread the image of my supporters as “angry white men” and hateful “teabaggers” is wrong. I dismissed the first report of this hurtful message as an isolated instance. However, I have since been informed of several other instances where various Northampton citizens have received this message sent by your campaign staffers. One such email indicated that the sender was using a Vote Yes contact list. The name of the person who apparently sent the message below appears at the very bottom of her email.
This unconscionable action by some of your campaign leaders has achieved the intended goal of inflicting personal and political damage. I am shocked and dismayed. I feel that you need to take responsibility for this political action. I am requesting that you issue a public apology to all my campaign volunteers as well as to any citizen who received one of these attacking emails. Furthermore, I am requesting that you dismiss from your campaign staff those responsible for disseminating Mr. Dwight’s hateful message.
The citizens of Northampton deserve a positive political campaign season which focuses on the important issues facing this great community. The email messages sent by members of your team threaten to turn our mayoral race in the wrong direction. Please take the actions necessary to repair the damage.
Sincerely,
Michael Bardsley
Higgins' September 25 response (I am not sure who this was distributed to):
Dear Michael,
I agree that it is essential for the dialogue to be positive in this campaign and that the focus should be on the issues rather than either of our personal characteristics or those of our supporters. I extend my apology to any of your campaign volunteers who have been hurt by the forwarding of the email in question. My volunteers have been asked to keep the discussions civil and I am sure that they will do so.
Sincerely,
Clare
