The Herald's post election coverage

Yesterday, I read "The Smithfield Herald's" coverage of the election. It is funny how paragraphs of conversation shows up as a ", word,". I was asked my opinions on the outcome of the election. I talked about how the two incumbents have been here all their lives, know a lot of people in town, have NAACP support, had more monetary support, and name recognition. I did comment on how I knew that since I was fairly new to town by comparison and that I didn't have the same name recognition that they did, I would need to work harder. I didn't have the cash flow to pay for the name recognition, and that I didn't have the money to do some of the things I was hoping to do. I also talked a bit about the nonpartisan ballot and how I was listed last on the ballot. All of these things individually contributed to the loss, as well as the amount of time I was able to invest. However, even if all of these things went my way, I am not sure that it would have changed the outcome.

I was talking with Tom Bell, owner of "Life and Times Cafe" and newly elected Dist. 4 councilman in Smithfield. We ate at his restaurant, as we do from time to time. He shared some of his experiences running for office in years past and the news reporting in the papers. He, too, was a bit frustrated in times past with the misquotes or errors.

I am not saying that I was misquoted in this case, but rather barely quoted at all. To give a list of things with no context as to why they were on a list certainly made the conversation seem insignificant and different than was actually had. And then to top things off, the "controversial quote" was the one printed. I said that Selma voters are "going to get exactly what they deserve" with this election's outcome. Also I mentioned that they re-elected two liberal Democrats that helped put this town into the current spending pinch. There was one more controversial quote, but that one didn't make it into the paper. I had cited "the redneck factor" in some of the voting. If you have ever lived elsewhere in the country, then perhaps you know exactly what I meant by that.