We added a countdown to Nov. 3 on page 3 of our first issue. Why? Because journalists live for Election Day. That’s our Super Bowl. The anticipation, the deadline pressure, the chance to witness voters deciding their community’s future — it’s a night we look forward to long before the first ballot is cast.
For a community newspaper, election coverage is about so much more than reporting the results. We’re able to help voters understand what’s on the ballot, who the candidates are and what they stand for. We also explain how the outcome will affect their daily lives. We follow up on campaign promises that may or may not materialize. We can hold elected officials accountable.
I was thrilled to see that our guide to early voting story was shared on social media more than 200 times. That same story had more than 12,000 views, not counting the print edition. That’s why we plan election coverage months in advance, bring on new staff to help us deliver it, and devote so much time and space to candidate profiles in the month leading up to the election.
We have a front-row seat to see how these campaigns play out — the good, the bad and the downright ugly. And boy, did things get desperate last week.
The political mailers and TV commercials got nastier, which I’m sure you noticed too. At least one Facebook post depicted an opposing candidate with horns and the GOP headquarters in Platte Woods was vandalized with graffiti exactly one week before the big day on Oct. 27.
And this is just a county election. Not state. Not national. This is as dirty as it gets. You have both ends of the spectrum here in Platte County. Some candidates have minuscule budgets and have spent 10 months knocking on doors, while others are running attack ads funded and scripted by political action committees.
The half-truths and downright lies in these campaigns are disturbing. I honestly don’t know how the candidates handle it day after day. I’m sure it’s daunting.
This past week, a campaign staff member who couldn’t access their candidate’s official Facebook page contacted the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri, suspecting the opposing campaign was responsible.
The staffer in question had “heard allegations that coordinated reporting tactics have affected other political candidates…” So clearly, that means a call to the FBI is in order. That press release came across my desk, along with a few more eyebrow-raising ones.
After multiple attempts to get an update from the attorney general’s office on the investigation into allegations that Dale Brouk stole campaign literature hanging from a doorknob and replaced it with his own, I heard back. The response was a bit generic, but I’ll share it nonetheless.
When I asked whether the investigation remained open or had been dismissed, a spokesperson replied, “We are reviewing investigative findings and will make a determination on next steps from there.” So, I still have no conclusion to that one.
The Platte County Sheriff’s Office also closed its investigation into the “signature harvesting” allegation against Melissa Moran this week, with no referral for prosecution.
You may recall my story on Aug. 27 about an anonymous website alleging that Moran gathered signatures inside six local senior living facilities, including a memory care unit, to help independent candidates qualify for the ballot.
I’ve spent more time on Facebook this campaign season than I care to admit for research purposes, especially to check the candidates’ individual pages and what they’re talking about. Which brings me to my next question: Who is behind the Citizens for a Better Parkville Facebook page?
Their goal, as stated on the page itself, is “Promoting accountable and transparent government in Parkville.” They are classified as a political organization and post quite frequently, typically multiple times a day.
In several posts, page followers comment that this faceless and nameless administrator running the page must be Jason Maki. They’re absolutely sure of it. Then the administrator denies it. Just a few days later, people assume again.
So I reached out to Maki for his take. He replied: “Sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but I have nothing to do with the Citizens for a Better Parkville page. I don’t run it. I don’t post on it. The people who control that page control its content. Period.”
The page’s administrator frequently praises Maki and shares content from his page. If Maki were the one behind it, that’s a lot of public back-patting.
It turns out, if you believe Kevin Robinson, the man behind the page is Parkville resident Brett Krause. Robinson posted “a special shoutout” to him Oct. 25 on his campaign page, thanking Krause, of Citizens for Better Parkville, for attending three of the four independent candidate forums and asking engaging, “albeit mostly repetitive” questions.
So, mystery solved?
Covering this election has been a wild ride, and I’ve enjoyed it. But I don’t know about you — I’m ready to see what else is happening around the county next week.
People keep telling me things will slow down after the election. I’ll believe it when I see it.
