I received a text Saturday night that contained a video of a local political candidate behaving badly. Apparently, it was already making the rounds on several Facebook pages before it came my way.
The 29-second video was recorded by a Blink doorbell camera and shows presiding commissioner candidate Dale Brouk remove the Republicans’ bag of campaign literature from a local doorknob. He puts that in his bag, which is also clearly labeled with his name, and replaces it with campaign literature of his own.
First, the obvious question. I would guess that at least one-third of homes in Platte County have doorbell cameras now. Was he that naïve to think no one would notice his “sleight of hand”? Was it really worth the risk? Why not just place your campaign literature alongside the Republican campaign materials already there? Now you’ve really opened a can of worms.
Not only did you apparently believe you wouldn’t be caught, because you took the risk. But then, you also assumed that a homeowner would not share the video with the local Republican Party whose campaign material you removed? Or did you steal it? Either way, it was shady business.
Have some respect for your fellow candidates. Would you want them to do the same to your campaign material that you designed, printed and paid for, or asked volunteers to place on countless doors to get your name in front of voters? Did you do this at every door in the neighborhood? You just lost my vote for doing it once. On video.
Seeing how fast his opponents are already jumping all over this, there may be charges filed by the time this is printed.
The person who texted it to me stated, “I believe it’s a criminal act. Verifying.”
People across social media are citing various state statutes they believe prove this was a crime. But at the end of the day, it comes down to interpretation. And I’m no professional investigator.
I’ve heard accusations, this election season even, of political signs being defaced, stolen or replaced with another candidate’s, but doing this on video opens you up to more scrutiny.
If you’re planning to do this, at least have a volunteer do so on your behalf so you can play dumb and pretend you knew nothing about it if, or when, you’re confronted about the video going public. But this is Platte County politics. Who are we kidding? It wasn’t “if” but certainly “when” this video went public.
If you want to watch the video for yourself, check out the “Platte County, Missouri, Republican Central Committee” Facebook page, or “Jim Bosch for Platte County Collector” page. It’s also been posted to YouTube on a newly created channel simply titled “Stealing is a crime.” It’s the sole video on that page.
Speaking of “Stacy’s advice to political candidates” that they didn’t ask for, here’s another one. It’s not the most strategic move to be telling everyone on the campaign trail that “when” you win (not if) the first thing you’re going to do is “clean house” and fire everyone in the department.
As a voter, I want to hear the exact opposite rhetoric. At least pretend that you’re going to collaborate with those staff already present long enough to learn what you’re doing before you replace them. There is such a thing as institutional knowledge.
It’s been amusing to me how hard local candidates are trying to learn where I stand politically. Some will outright ask; others will assume. “She worked for Ivan before, so she’s definitely conservative.” Or “She lived in Southern California, so she’s definitely liberal.” They try to give me campaign signs for my yard at local events, which I must politely decline.
I’ve met Landmark readers who have their own opinions about where this newspaper leaned politically in the past. But this is a new era. My goal is to do my job as a reporter, editor and publisher by being unbiased.
Platte County is “purple” now, nearly evenly split between both parties. And this election, you have a group of independent candidates running too. I intend to cover every race in a fair manner so readers can be informed and make the right choice for them at the ballot box.
That means asking questions, checking facts and giving candidates a chance to respond, even when the answers aren’t what someone wants to hear. You may not like everything you read here. Neither will the candidates. But my job is to give you information, and your job is to decide what to do with it.
Josh and I just registered to vote, and who I choose Nov. 3 at my polling place is personal. Dealing with candidates every day, I can tell you that I haven’t made up my mind yet. But I’ll tell you this — I don’t care what political party you’re affiliated with. You’ll get my vote if I respect you, trust you and believe you can get the job done.
