The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is spending a small fortune to air negative ads about Republican Dale Sweetland. Not only has Dan Maffei not repudiated these ads, he’s condoned them. The DCCC is twisting the record of Dale Sweetland.
In this morning’s Post-Standard (not exactly a right-wing news outlet), Grant Reeher of Syracuse Univeristy (not exactly a right-wing university) points out the inaccuracies in the ad.
Accompanied by the grainy images and ominous soundtrack typical of these pieces, the ad tells us that as a county legislator, Dale Sweetland voted several times to raise taxes and also raise his own salary, at a time when local citizens were struggling economically. It does not discuss the circumstances of these decisions, nor does it make any claims about how Dan Maffei would have voted on these questions if he had been in the legislature. In fact, Maffei is never mentioned and never appears.
The article’s title is Attack ad cheapens local race. I’ll say. Reeher points out that going negative doesn’t usually work in our area. He also notes that two of Sweetland’s votes to increase property taxes actually lowered property taxes for most of us. The pay raises the ad brings up were for positions that pay (currently) $25,504 and $46,615. Dan Maffei is trying to snag a job that pays $169,300 plus all of the perks that go along with it.
Dale Sweetland has legislative experience. Dan Maffei has absolutely no experience or record to scrutinize. How are we to judge Dan Maffei? Perhaps by the people he has associated with and worked for while in Washington, DC?
Charlie Rangel is Dan Maffei’s mentor. Rangel’s been in the news lately for failing to pay taxes on a rental property and his use of rent-subsidized apartments in NYC among other things. He’s either incompetent, crooked or both. So much so, that even Democrats are calling for him to step down from his position on the House Ways and Means Committee.
Dale Sweetland is an honest, hard working man with legislative experience. Dan Maffei endorses dishonest attacks on his opponent, while he has no experience of his own.
If elected, Dale Sweetland won’t owe any favors to anyone in Washington DC. Dan Maffei certainly cannot make that claim.
