A candidate’s negative campaign strategy backfires with this voter
That did it. In my mailbox was a flyer questioning the ethics of Jeff McKay for Fairfax County board chair. I don’t vote in primaries. I will now. For McKay.
I found the flyer disgusting. It is the kind of garbage you expect in national elections, not local contests where the competitors are usually people who really want to be public servants. Think neighbors.
I met Jeff when he was in his early 20s working for a supervisor. I wondered what he was going to do. I could picture this sharp young recent college graduate leaving a temporary job to go out and conquer big business. It turns out I was looking at a young man who was setting aside that opportunity and choosing to help the county create good governance That has turned out to be our good fortune.
Over the years I came to know many of the county supervisors. Some, like Tom Davis and Gerry Connolly, had worked on the Hill when young, became successful in business, and then had a hankering to enter politics and public service. Others also had careers and became local activists, like Penny Gross and Cathy Hudgins, or John Cook who liked the idea of neighborhood.
Public service was clearly the case with Sharon Bulova who did not need politics but got the bug when helping a supervisor. Maybe that is where McKay got the bug. We are lucky to have the supervisors I have known since leaving the Navy almost 30 years ago and becoming a certified Virginian.
I believe I am more than entitled to my opinion, having been president of a civic association and chamber of commerce and an agitator/leader in commercial revitalization, having chaired several committees. I have picked up more than one cigarette butt from the streets of Annandale. Dues are paid.
When I completed my three-year Navy obligation in 1959, I went back to Missouri to see what my old high school buddies would think if I made the Navy a career. I was a member of a YMCA High-Y club of 25 boys, all who went to college, with one third on scholarships. The comment that hurt was when one said, “Really, Dan’s staying in the military? That’s like working for the county.” He might as well have added, “feeding at the public trough.”
He was wrong. I thought about that when thinking about Jeff McKay. Why did he hang around? Because Fairfax County, like the Navy, is an honorable institution with honorable people working to do honorable things for someone other than themselves. He chose to serve the county. I hope he still does.
If the next flyer in my mailbox says Jeff McKay was not born here, I will really get angry.
NOTE: Jeff McKay is running for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chair along with three other candidates in the Democratic Primary on June 11. The flyer referred to here was from candidate Tim Chapman.
13 responses to “A candidate’s negative campaign strategy backfires with this voter”
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I'm curious to see this flyer.
Here is some background on the corruption allegations and ethics complaint against Jeff McKay.
https://wamu.org/story/19/05/21/ethics-complaint-filed-against-fairfax-county-board-chair-candidate-jeff-mckay/
Didn't the Board of Supervisors overpay a developer/donor for the bldg in Bailey's that was recently torn down?
I started to get texts and too many negative flyers. Backfired for me as well and I am voting for Jeff.
I had the same reaction. If you can't win on your own merits, then don't run, Tim Chapman. Voting for McElveen.
Never saw mailings more negative than Penny's.
Amen!
I live in Parklawn and as a registered Republican keep getting flyers from every Dem in the county (WHY?) EXCEPT PENNY. She thinks she doesn't need to reach out to our community and takes our community for granted.
I am a independent conservative at heart, (moved here because Tom Davis did such a great job for Mason District) but FFX CO. doesn't acknowledge "middle of the road" types anymore. Voted for Warner for governor and Jim Webb for Senate, because I believe in one's character, not political affiliation.
I know that was the long way around the barn, as my Midwestern husband would say, but I'm voting for Gary Aiken, BECAUSE OF HIS CHARACTER.
I am also a Republican or at least I used to be. I have never really liked the Democrats platform, but now both parties have totally gone downhill. The Democrats committed gross negligence by actually allowing Trump to win, and the Republicans have become his poodles.
I checked Gary Aiken's website, and have immediate issues with is position on transportation. He would like to prioritize the building of an underground Metro line below Columbia pike and prioritize it over things like bike lanes and sidewalks.
The thing is, that is a completely bogus campaign promise; We'll have a colony on Mars before we get a Columbia pike Metro. Bike paths and sidewalks we can build now, and if they actually were safe and went somewhere, more people would use them, It's called "induced demand" and it is the same reason a brand new road immediately fills with traffic. All of the bike paths we have now just end and most of the roads don't have sidewalks. After 50 years Annandale HS finally figured out that having sidewalks right next to the school was a good idea and finally added one on Medford drive.
We can fix a lot of little problems like sidewalks, bike paths and badly timed traffic lights and get real improvements for not that much money. But his pie-in-sky proposals that will never get built? That makes me question his other positions too.
Good and thoughtful comment.
Better pedestrian and bicycle facilities proved the most popular items in a Fairfax County Park Authority survey. [page 6 of https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/plandev/parkscount/needs-assessment-plan-050616.pdf%5D
Penny Gross has voiced support for better projects, but has not seemed too successful in attracting extra funding for any major overhaul. Meanwhile, the County is spending huge transportation sums on Tysons, the I-66 corridor, Route 1, and the Braddock Road area outside the beltway.
I don't think a Republican would be better able to advertize the problems of Mason District than a Democrat, but I'm not optimistic any Democrat will be able to get Mason District additional attention.
Penny doesn't have an opponent in the primary hence why no mail
I can see why one wouldn't approve of Chapman's screaming headline on his campaign fliers, but what is the harm to the voters, and our democratic county government, in applying some sunlight to McKay's home purchase?
He should turn over his mortgage company's appraisal, if he hasn't yet done so.
If it's higher than the price paid, there's the argument that people buy homes all the time for less than the appraised value. Great in a competitive open market, or at least in a situation where there is zero link between land use rulings and the purchase of a private home.
It is likely that, for as fair as the purchase is, if one goes for that, McKay knew it would be better for him to buy a home through regular channels. He could have assumed that no one was looking, who could raise questions.
But rather than outrage it would be better to encourage journalism and other forums to keep the public government very public.
That is what is best for us all.
Mr McKinnon points out that Fairfax Co. been blessed with decent, well intentioned civic leaders for many years. I'll be proud to cast my vote for those who have proven their dedication to the county. I find the negative campaign adds of a few candidates despicable.