by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
It certainly doesn’t rival Jake Godbold accusing John Delaney of being a racist in 1995, but Monday afternoon’s non-press conference spurred by, a questionable e-mail, the source of which is debatable, may be a sign that this year’s mayoral race may degenerate over the next three-and-a-half weeks.
Here’s what happened:
Apparently an e-mail went out Sunday afternoon from what was presented as a veteran’s group unhappy with the latest John Peyton commercial and they planned to protest the ad at the Gate station on Hendricks Avenue Monday at 2 p.m.
Supporters of Mike Weinstein contacted campaign headquarters to ask about their potential involvement in the demonstration.
“They asked us if they minded if they participated, but they didn’t want to hurt Mike,” said Susie Wiles, spokesperson for the Weinstein campaign. “We told them, do what you want.”
Wiles said the e-mail addressed both the commercial and high gasoline prices. After getting a call early Monday afternoon, Wiles and other members of the Weinstein camp went to the Gate station.
“We didn’t find any vets, but lots of burly Peyton supporters holding Peyton signs,” said Wiles. “I guess they were firefighters, but I don’t know for sure. Ch. 4 was there with their live truck and [the T-U’s political
reporter] David DeCamp was right
in the middle.”
According to Wiles, Peyton strategist Mike Tolbert accused the Weinstein camp of staging the erroneous e-mail and subsequent press conference/rally.
“He [Tolbert] also accused us of calling Ch. 4,” said Wiles. “I have no idea who did it, but from what we’ve heard, it was some veteran’s group — but I’m saying that loosely — with no sense of support for any candidate. They were just incensed about the television ad. It was not a Weinstein dirty trick.”
The Peyton camp offers a different version and disputes any insinuation that anyone associated with the Peyton campaign had anything to do with the e-mail. In fact, Peyton spokesperson Maggie Bulin said the origination of the e-mail has been determined.
“We’ve been able to trace it,” said Bulin. “It was sent out by a City employee who sent out a document telling people when and where to be. I was told by a member of the local media that they were told by the Weinstein camp about the press conference. Shame on these people for using City of Jacksonville e-mail.”
Bulin speculated that the e-mail represented a desperate measure from a candidate who, according to the latest polls, is struggling.
“At this stage, Mr. Weinstein is showing up in fourth place and the clock is ticking,” said Bulin, who has been involved in 12 campaigns during her career. She also said she expects the tones of upcoming ads to change. “He [Weinstein] is preparing to launch the first negative ad of the campaign.”
None of this — or what may come — surprises Bulin.
“I’ve been through enough campaigns to know these things happen,” said Bulin, adding the Peyton campaign is ready for anything as the primary nears. “Our campaign is fully prepared to handle any negative campaign from Mr. Weinstein or any other candidate.”
Wiles, who has been involved in national and local politics for better than 20 years, said Monday’s episode is something she hopes isn’t indicative of the last few weeks of campaigning. With seven candidates, Wiles seems almost proud that everyone has stuck predominantly to the issues during the many forums, TV ads and other media events.
“I’m hoping it is a campaign on the issues,” she said. “I don’t think this means the campaign has hit the dirty trick level. It still can, though. There are three weeks to go. It can get ugly up to a couple of days before the election. We certainly have no plans for a negative campaign as of March 25 and Mike has said he won’t do it. With that said, do I expect it? No. Would it shock me? No.”
To this point, with the exception of a snippet here and a poke there, the campaign has remained cordial. Considering the number of candidates and diverse personalities in the race, both Wiles and Matt Carlucci spokesperson John Daigle are surprised the campaign has stayed issues-oriented. However, Daigle firmly believes that will change.
“I had seen the infamous patriot e-mail floating around town and I didn’t pay much attention to it,” said Daigle, adding he, too, got an “urgent” call about the Monday gathering. “It was definitely not a Weinstein-called press conference.”
Daigle said Monday’s fiasco is an example of the Internet’s ability to facilitate rumors and innuendo that puts all the candidates and their supporters on edge. Because the origin of an e-mail can be very difficult to trace, information — both true and false — can be easily transmitted to hundreds of people. Daigle firmly believes this is just the beginning of a period of the campaign where unpleasant things will be said and the trick will be to stay out of the fray.
“What we are seeing is the impact of e-mail and the Internet as a source to spread rumors,” said Daigle. “In campaigns in Jacksonville and elsewhere, there is a network of back channel rumors. The Internet makes it easier to spread those back channel rumors. It has facilitated the gossip mill.
“I sent an e-mail to each member of our campaign group and told them I didn’t want this [the questionable e-mail] forwarded from any one of us to anyone.
“There will be some interesting dynamics with three weeks left. We signed an important pledge with the party that said there will be no dirty campaigning.
“There’s been back channel rumors for over a year. I wasn’t surprised by that. Every time somebody in the campaign does something, somebody who doesn’t like Matt, I get an e-mail. This was probably the most venomous so far.”
Daigle said Carlucci is pleased with the results of a recent poll despite the fact it showed him trailing Sheriff Nat Glover by a significant margin. The Carlucci campaign believes the 23 percent that came in “undecided” is the key to winning the race. With what they call a “90 percent name recognition” the Carlucci camp is set on running a campaign that plays solely on their candidate’s positives. However, there is a contingency plan should things gets ugly.
“There is no need to go on the attack against anyone. But nobody is going to rule out pointing out the flaws in other campaigns, but it’s not a strategy of ours now,” said Daigle, pointing out the Peyton war chest is almost double Carlucci’s and there doesn’t seem to be a bottom. “You don’t want to get into a mudslinging contest with someone who has twice as much money to sling mud. That’s not Matt’s strategy. For us to get into mudslinging would be contrary to what we are running on.
“I would expect it to intensify over the next two to three weeks with a real frenzy the last week.”
Attorney Steve Pajcic, who’s helping orchestrate the Glover campaign, said his candidate is staying as far away from negative campaigning as possible. The way he sees the primary shaping up, Pajcic figures Glover doesn’t have to do much more than remind voters of why he’s running and his plans once in office.
“I think there are two campaigns going on right now,” said Pajcic. “One, Nat’s, the Glover Plan, where he’s talking about the issues and seeing how the voters respond. It’s pretty well conceded Nat will be in the general election. The other race is for the other spot in the general election”
Pajcic insists Glover, no matter how baited, will not get involved in dirty or negative politics over the next three weeks. Once it’s one-on-one, though, that may change.
“Nat contends he will not comment on the other candidates,” said Pajcic. “But if people start trying to divide the city, we’ll have to do whatever is appropriate to keep the city united.”