6:19:00 AM|||Scott Nolan|||

Politics and Hypocrisy:

About two weeks ago a brochure arrived in my mailbox from a political candidate. This brochure made me very mad because of the very misleading statements sprinkled all over it. I have been speechless because I was so angry I wanted to settle down before posting about it, and someone far more eloquent than myself beat me to the punch in this past weekend's Washington Post. Thank you William E. Henry of Bristow, whomever you are, for an excellent and eloquent statement (2nd letter: "Taking Credit Not Due") of the feelings I share about the deceptions and hypocrisy of Delegate Robert G. Marshall.

Taking Credit Not Due
The epitome of hypocrisy arrived in my mailbox Tuesday! It was a four-color brochure extolling the virtues of Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) in meeting the transportation needs in our area.
Surely this can't be the same Mr. Marshall who voted no on the recent bipartisan tax increase enacted by the General Assembly to keep Virginia solvent and its highly valued triple-A bond rating. Surely this can't be the Del. Marshall who has offered little or no leadership in meeting the fiscal needs of the state. Surely this must be the same Mr. Marshall whose main mission in Richmond has been to attempt to write Catholic dogma concerning abortion into state law. That, of course, would mandate that every woman of childbearing age in Virginia would have to follow the dictates of the Vatican concerning her own body!
His brochure is cleverly presented. It features four-color photographs of transportation work in action, as if he had anything to do with any of it. The accompanying letter features such phrases as "we directed" and "we designated" such and such. What he is saying, however, is the General Assembly enacted the enabling road legislation. The record clearly shows that Del. Marshall voted no on the GOP-Democrat-sponsored tax increase and appropriations measure that provides the money to make such road work possible!
It is obvious that his generally extremist political stance is causing him a bit of trouble in running for reelection. He even cites Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) and Sen. Charles J. Colgan (D-Prince William) in his mailing. He even mentions Del. Harry J. Parrish (R-Manassas), who was the only member of the Prince William delegation to vote for the tax increase and appropriations bill. (Parrish quickly became the target of ultra-conservative Republicans to defeat in the upcoming election.) The whole Del. Marshal mailing is a cleverly conceived campaign piece that flies in the face of reality, if not ethics.
Nice try, Mr. Marshall. But I suspect Prince William voters are too smart and sophisticated to be taken in by such not-so-subtle trickery.

Beautifully said, Mr. Henry! I hope to be as well spoken (or written) someday. I'd like to add a more detailed list of my specific objections to Delegate Marshalls deceptive letter and brochure. Let's start with the letter, in which Delegate Marshall attempts to discredit his challenger, Bruce Roemmelt (though neither Delegate Marshall, nor Mr. Henry actually mentions the name of the challenger in this race for the Delegate seat in the legislature):

So far he has raised $116,000, much of it from out of state.

According to VPAP only $6,016 of the $107,526 recorded so far is from out of state. My little calculator says that is a smidge under 5.6% of the challenger's contributions. How does that constitute "much of" unless Delegate Marshall is deliberately and unethically attempting to mislead us about his opponent?

Delegate Marshall's brochure goes on to cite many road projects that he did not have anything to do with, aside from being a member of the legislature when the project was underway! Sorry Delegate Marshall, but as Mr. Henry stated in his letter to the editor, this Prince William County (and district 13) voter is too smart to be taken in by your deceptive and misleading brochure. A quick comparison of what you will do compared to what Mr. Roemmelt will do is online at ReduceTraffic.org now, and the choice is pretty clear. It is time for change.

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