"This just got dirty. Disappointed in Mayor Dubey"

Source: Reddit.

After running a generally unobjectionable campaign (read "boring") for the first two months, Mayor Bob Dubey turned negative in a mailer during the first week of open voting. Why? Maybe he always planned to go negative at this point in the election or maybe he has some new polling that suggests Amir Omar's message of positive change is resonating with voters whereas Dubey's status quo message is not.

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After two mailers that stuck to reciting facts about Richardson in a way Dubey probably hoped would rub off on him by association, he mailed a Dubey...I mean a doozy. It was a scorecard that got people talking — and not in a good way. Because of what the mailer leaves out, one longtime observer of Richardson politics called it "the funniest political mailer I've ever received." Another called it "grossly inappropriate". And then there were the gratuitous jokes at Dubey's expense, with maybe the best being on the r/Richardson subreddit. I won't reproduce Dubey's mailer here in full (dig it out of your own trash), but I will link to a subreddit with the headline by someone named StunWinQ that says it all: "Well this just got dirty. Disappointed in Mayor Dubey".

Where Dubey identifies only one endorsement for Amir Omar, StunWinQ says, "Grossly misleading: Several endorsements including 2 former mayors and the DMN and so many residents." Where Dubey can't find any civic service by Amir Omar, StunWinQ says, "Misleading: Omar was on City Council?" Where Dubey says Amir Omar lost the 2013 Mayor's race, StunWinQ supplies the missing context: "Bonus Info: Omar lost because Maczka ran a dirty campaign against him which is on brand since the winner ended up in jail on felony charges."

The rebuttals are so easy you wonder who is producing the ad copy for Dubey. His campaign finance reports omit any mention of a paid professional working on his campaign. Dare I say, it shows? The reactions on reddit say all you need to read.

YaYaDingbat: "Bob 'dubious' Dubey. His endorsement list reads like a who's who of the folks who, when combined with the Richardson Coalition, spent over 100k getting Laura Maczka elected."

StunWinQ: "Did you get the endorsement card. It’s so eew. Like how to say regular people don’t matter."

StunWinQ: "I didn’t really have a bad opinion of Dubey - I just preferred Omar. But now I have major Ick if we end up keeping Dubey."

Swinsword: "What a gross and misleading document to use. Outright lies about your opponent should be fineable."

et_the_geek: "He was a shitty coach. So, probably makes a shitty Mayor."

Jedi_Hog: "Was voting for Amir Omar already, however this made it a priority"

Sufficient_Abies_161: "Mayor Doobie?" He included a helpful GIF.

As ham-fisted as this campaign ad is, and as funny as the reactions are, all of Dubey's campaign tactics aren't laughable. I'll cover more in my next post. That'll cover the hypocrisy in the ethics and transparency claims by the Dubey camp.

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"Facts stretched like taffy.
Cherry-picked and overcooked.
What year is this, man?"
—h/t ChatGPT