Politics gets dirty

WASILLA -- Sarah Palin, candidate for lieutenant governor and Wasilla mayor, was discouraged to find that, fewer than 10 days before the election, someone was trying to play the character assassination card.

Last week, anonymous letters were sent out to several news organizations across the state. Enclosed were printed Web pages that showed what appeared to be a 1993 felony conviction lurking in Palin's past. Nothing was included to reveal where the information came from, and the Aug. 19 postmark read only

Anchorage.

Palin dashed off a press release and even put together a campaign commercial to let potential constituents know the apparent felony conviction was simply a paperwork error. What she had really received, she said, equated to a parking ticket and had been taken care of years ago.

"This is a deliberate attempt by someone to hurt my chances next Tuesday," Palin said. "Their intent was to get the media to report a story that would harm my candidacy only five days before the primary. Whoever wanted to spread these lies was not only a coward, but they also were a pretty dumb coward, for they failed to get the facts straight."

While this is a relatively new tactic in campaigning in Alaska -- made possible largely because of the increased accessibility of public information through the Alaska Court System -- last-minute attacks have become, unfortunately, a regular part of campaigning. In fact, Palin is not alone in her battle against potential saboteurs.

Nancy Campbell, one of four Republican candidates in the new Palmer-area House District 13 race, was waving signs at the corner of Trunk Road and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway last week when a man rushed out of Mom's Place, a restaurant on that corner. According to Campbell, he told her exactly what he thought of her campaign tactics, citing one in particular. The man told Campbell he had been called in the wee hours of the morning by someone who claimed to be from the Campbell campaign, and was asked to vote for Campbell in the coming

primary.

Ironically, the report came just a few days after a radio report Campbell took part in aired in which the candidate said calling people to request votes was not part of her campaign strategy.

Carl Gatto, also a Republican candidate for House District 13, said he has been on the receiving end of some of those midnight calls. A while back, he said, he had a few phone calls from people asking him questions about his campaign. Other than that, he said, he hasn't received much in the way of personal attacks.

"There are some people making accusations at this point -- whether or not I was on the hospital board … and about my fire department service," Gatto said. He said hospital staff members had called him a few weeks ago and said they had received several calls about the exact dates of his service on the board -- service that started in February 1982, he said.

Gatto said he doesn't blame people for checking facts, and he said he's not letting the pointed accusations that he's lying about his public record get him down.

"I don't get riled by this sort of thing," Gatto said. "I'm amazed, curious, distraught."

Randy Lorenz, a House District 13 Republican candidate also hoping to make it through the primary, said he's had some minor destruction to his signs, but nothing out of the ordinary. Sign vandalism and personal attacks, Lorenz said, are simply par for the election course. He has a few theories about where the attacks come from.

"From my experience, working with other campaigns and also [working] in the Legislature, I've always found the individuals themselves running in the races are pretty respectful," Lorenz said. "What's going on is, we have people out there who aren't connected to any campaign whatsoever. They either have a bone to pick with the candidate that's running or they want to help another candidate out."

Jim Turner, also a Republican candidate for the District 13 seat, said he's seen destruction from people picking the proverbial bone, as well as the other kind. Turner said his campaign has been relatively free of sabotage -- aside from having a few signs knocked down, he said he's not aware of any attacks, although he has had a little trouble keeping a sign in one particular location.

"I have one corner of my property where I've put four signs up so far," Turner said. "It's right near my home. Now I have to put signs up in the trees where they can't get them."

Turner attributed the sign stealing to a neighborhood dispute that dates back two decades. Although this election has been pretty mild, Turner said he saw worse when he was campaigning for a seat on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly.

"At the last election, on the Sunday before the election, all my signs were cut down," Turner said. "My prior election before that, nothing like that happened at all. Of course … one individual can do a lot of damage."

Larry Wood, Alaskan Independence Candidate for the House District 16 seat, said while he has had at least two signs torn up, his battle as a third-party candidate is of bigger proportions.

"I think I'm a little concerned because the Republican candidate [Bill Stoltze] has indicated he's appeared in several places where I haven't been invited," Wood said.

He added that in last year's election, in which he ran against Republican candidate Scott Ogan for the Palmer-area House seat, he was not invited to speak at a candidate forum held by a community council, despite having checked regularly for when the forum would be held. For third-party candidates, Wood said, it's a battle to be recognized as a valid candidate -- one that's not helped by candidates from other parties.

"All the time you run for a third party, particularly AIP, Republicans are quick to say that AIP keeps Republicans honest. In the next breath, they say you're a nutcase," Wood said. "They'll give us lip-service credit and then they'll turn around and make a disparaging remark like 'AIP, a bunch of secessionists.'"

While it may be difficult to keep a cool head when someone is trying to discount your choice of parties, sully your reputation, destroy your efforts to reach voters or simply make accusations that you're not who or what you say you are, the important thing, from the viewpoint of seasoned candidates, is to keep your chin up.

"Politics brings out the best in people and the worst in people," said Ogan, who's switching gears in this election to run for a seat in the Senate. "If you're getting that much attention, you're a threat … When things like that start happening, you know you're there. When they're all ignoring you, you've got trouble."

Republican candidate and Wasilla-area seat incumbent Vic Kohring agreed that campaigning has a downside -- he's had his share of campaign-related pranks pulled on him.

"During one campaign, when I went into Safeway … I came out and my opponent's flyers were plastered all over my car," Kohring said. "I kind of perceived it as a gag."

Kohring said he was disheartened to hear about the personal attack launched on Palin, whom he said he's known and respected for the past 25 years or more.

"I feel so bad for Sarah -- that people are stooping so low," Kohring said. "She's really a wonderful human being."

James Della Silva, Democrat candidate in the Senate District G, wasn't surprised about the personal attack. This isn't Della Silva's first time as a candidate and he said he's no stranger to personal attacks. He explained that he, his wife and his children were targeted in one past election, for largely racial reasons. Della Silva's wife and children are Alaska Native, he said, and his family was criticized in part because subsistence was a hot topic at the time.

Della Silva said while he expects attacks closer to the general election, he feels it's part of what people open themselves up to when they register to race.

"That's part of the deal of running," Della Silva said. "When you step out there, people will do whatever they can do to get their [agenda] done. That's one reason people don't want to run -- it's kind of sad."