When I saw that supporters of my opponent were running attack ads (or “contrast” pieces, as they’re called) against me in our state house race, I have to admit, my first reaction was “hey, look, I’m on TV!” I don’t suppose anyone runs for public office with the expectation that only nice things will be said about them, and that certainly wasn’t the idea I had when I decided to do this.
My second thought was “aren’t we all a little sick of this?”
Our state is facing another budget deficit, our schools in rural Minnesota are being denied consistent funding, our property taxes are rising unabated, and many of our neighbors are out of work. Yet, in some state house races like this, outside groups will spend three or four times what the candidates’ own committees are limited to spending. Much of this money is coming from donors outside of Minnesota.
Both my opponent and I will be the victim of mail and advertising that attempts to misrepresent our positions on key issues to voters—and because of current campaign finance law, we won’t be able to control what is said on our behalf. Minnesotans and voters in this district know the stakes are high in this election, and I encourage everyone to learn more about the campaigns and the issues at hand before casting their ballots in November.
Joe Radinovich
Candidate, Minnesota House District 10B
Comments (6)
Add commentWhat are you going to do
What are you going to do about the deficit Joe?
What spending are you going to cut?
Have you ever worked in the private sector where the jobs come from to support all the govt. programs?
In crosby, ironton today, I saw many of your signs with your face on them. I have not seen any ads or mailings against you. I think you will do ok for a rookie.
Ahh, joe used to be famous on here.
Then he went from a part time worker for the DFL, straight to a union organizer job for government employees at $78K a year and shortly after he's running for office. Just what we need, another union employee in a State Representative office to negotiate wages for state employees from both sides of the table. Right......
Those who know you, Joe, and
Those who know you, Joe, and have listened to your priorities will vote for you. We need a representative who will represent and speak for the needs of his community. You do this very eloquently.
Today I received
no less than three anti-Joe Radinovich pieces in the mail. His opponent has the standard Republican platform. However, the hatchet hit job put out on Radinovich was appalling and I have decided that I will hold political mailings against a candidate whether it comes from them or not (supposedly).
I don't think demonizing the opposition does anything other than rile up a bunch of nincompoops who are too lazy to find things out for themselves. Unfortunately, this is a lot of people, which is why it works and tends to sway some voters. A byproduct of this is it leaves people with a "team" mentality where they think my side = good, other side = bad. This is ridiculous.
I have no easy solution how to fix it, unfortunately. However, we could start by voting against the worst purveyors of this garbage.
Excellent response FNB!
Excellent response FNB!
another step
Snackfu, another step we can take is get rid of the superpacs and no longer give corporations personhood.