Part of why a GOP led by a Donald Trump wins elections is that Democrats can be stupid.
That doesn't just happen at the DNC. It can happen at the local level, right here in Jackson County, Oregon.
The Jackson County, Oregon, Democratic Party leaders read a series of anonymous and retracted emails and Facebook posts with discredited accusations and took them as true or maybe-true, or possibly true, or not totally impossible, who knows??
Then they did something monumentally irresponsible. Monumentally foolish. Monumentally unfair to one of the candidates for Oregon's Senate District 3 Democratic primary, the election for the person to take the place currently held by retiring Jeff Golden.
Denise Krause was their victim.
As this plays out, the real victims may be her campaign opponents, because it may look like they, or their campaign volunteers, were in on the foolish rush-to-judgment smear. But the biggest victim is the local Democratic Party. They look like idiots because they acted like idiots.
In the interest of "transparency" they prepared and sent a press release that suggested that Krause's campaign was somehow unworthy -- something that got picked up in the headlines of the news stories that resulted. Why maybe unworthy? Because she had not caved to the demands of the writers of anonymous email chain letters and unproven decades-old accusations. The local Dems turned what should have been questions about dubious rumors, spread as part of all-too-familiar internet trolling we see at election season, into a press release with a red-flag warning. They did this on the day that ballots were received in local mailboxes.
It was malicious or stupid. I hope it was merely stupid.
There is a lesson here about mob-rule and group-think panic over what people rumors and allegations spread on social media. One approach is to assume all bad rumors are true, or at least believed by somebody, so they need to be treated as factual. One local Democratic leader told me all Krause needed to do was cave to the group-think. "My personal feeling is that Denise could put this issue to rest if she quickly severed her relationship with [the campaign consultant.] Boom. End of story."
To her credit, Krause said no. Good for her. It is a bit of a test of character, and she passed. Her letter is below.
An anonymous email account that has since been deleted circulated vicious rumors against one of my campaign consultants over the last few days. This was followed by an anonymous user posting these same inflammatory statements. Then, a small group of party activists reacted to a series of malicious emails and Internet rumors with a press release.
My political opponents have created a pressure campaign to force me to fire someone I strongly believe has been wrongly accused. I looked further into these allegations and found them to be unsupported and untrue. The original article was retracted, but not before being circulated widely and, thus, eventually picked up now — 25 years later.
If I had any real evidence that this information was true, then I would act decisively to terminate. But my opponents are weaponizing unfounded allegations to shift focus from the issues of this campaign and trying to win an election not on merit, but on sensationalism. I’m expected to succumb to mob rule based on the malicious spread of bad rumors of forwarded emails and Facebook postings that have been picked up and spread by opposition campaigns.
I will not react rashly to unproven rumors or false accusations that circulate on the Internet. I will not be a senator who will be manipulated and pushed around by anonymous Internet bullies or opponents hiding in the shadows.
This is an example of why so many people are completely fed up with the political establishment and dirty politics. I'm seen as a threat because I'm a political outsider running to bring integrity to politics, so we can get to the business of working for the people on very real problems. A legislator in Salem will be tested by corporate lobbyists and threats from Republican opposition ads. I will not compromise my commitment to the people of District 3.
7 comments:
I know the internet may be difficult for you to navigate and find the factual information concerning this issue, but if you need help, you can simply ask someone. Also, it seems you may be opinionated on this issue because you support Kevin Stine and would rather see the progressive votes be split between Denise and Tonia so that your endorsed candidate wins. The campaign manager Matt Samp has several allegations and was a registered Republican PCP as recent as 2022 before he jetted off to live in Brazil.
Thanks. I do not assume, nor accuse, Tonia of being either the author of this comment, nor the candidate supported by this comment author. And even if the author is an active supporter of Tonia, it does NOT mean that Tonia herself is implicated. What the controversy is really about is 1. Does Denise Krause believe every internet chain email rumor? No. She investigates and finds out that there is no plausible merit. 2. Does Denise make hiring and firing decisions based on pressure from people who say that she should act on the basis of unfounded accusations. No. 3. Does Denise cave in to pressure just because it would be convenient and it would get gullible people off her back. No. All in all, I think Denise is handling this about right. I think the local Democratic Party did, in fact, treat these questions in the opposite manner. They rushed to judgment, jumped to conclusions, and then went public with it either blind or unconcerned about whether it was fair or whether it displayed the Democratic Party as careful and reasonable or, instead, displayed Democrats as being easily buffaloed by fear of criticism from gullible people.
The local party issued a press release after having many concerned voters and donors contact them about this who had received the email across the valley. There were discussions and meetings to determine the best route to handle this sensitive situation. The campaign committee met and voted on the release of that statement. You have no involvement with the local party, don’t participate in meetings, don’t attend platform conventions, and don’t have any part in the party by laws. The party as well as the public have proof of not only the sexual assault allegations, but also the police records on Matt Samp texting “at least you hit a democrat” when another candidate he was working with hit someone with their car. There is also proof of him being a registered Republican as recent as 2022 before he moved to Brazil. He also isn’t part of a firm she hired. He is her one and only campaign manager and there are no other employees in that “firm.” You are embarrassing yourself without even remotely checking public records and documentation that is widely available. If Denise wins the primary, the Republican Party would easily have found this information then through her campaign finance transactions and we would lose the seat. Maybe you were never successful in politics, have only 900 subscribers to your little Substack, and think $3000 to the local party in your lifetime donations is significant enough to excuse your lack of critical thinking skills, but you are extremely out of touch with reality and technology apparently.
Also, the accusations that this is anyone opposing Denise in this race is ridiculous and a pathetic victim mentality. People should own their mistakes.
You are irrelevant. Go cuddle with your checkbook that you think impresses people.
I think you mischaracterized the accusations against Matt Samp when you termed them "a series of anonymous and retracted emails and Facebook posts with discredited accusations and [the county Democratic Party] took them as true or maybe-true, or possibly true, or not totally impossible, who knows?" While Samp's guilt was never conclusively proved, there was much more to the accusations than you led your readers to believe and I found no evidence that they had been discredited. The allegations against Samp date back to 2003, five years after then-14-year-old Brad Fuglei reported sexual abuse by Samp that had occurred in 1998. Fuglei later died by suicide; family members reported to media in 2003 that his son and Samp had a two-year sexual relationship after meeting on the internet, but that charges were never filed against Samp because the teen had died. Then-Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning reportedly received an additional complaint from a parent of a 16-year-old boy who said their son received emails from Samp and that the parent believed the two had a sexual relationship. Bruning confirmed his office received the complaint against Samp. Reports of the abuse resurfaced in June 2009, resulting in Samp being asked to resign as a member of an administration for the former mayor of Omaha, Nebraska. It strikes me that Krause's decision to dismiss the allegations out of hand and treat the whole matter as a malicious attack upon her reflected poor judgment. Why should she defend him? As she noted, he was only a political consultant she used without knowing of those allegations when she contracted with him. The prudent thing to do would have been to end her connection with Samp and issue a statement that, while there is no certainty that he did the things he was accused of, she cannot be associated with him any longer. As for what the county Democratic Party did, given Krause's continued defense of Samp, I think its decision was warranted.
Anonymous...I'm a conservative, and not a fan of Sage, but you are so wrong about him. He's educated (more than you), he knows the issues, and he's one of the larger political donors in southern Oregon. Practically every Democratic big-wig in Oregon (Brown, Kotek, Wyden, Merkley, Golden, Marsh, etc.) has held fund raisers at Sage's house, and they beg Sage to do it. The current group of younger Democrats has gone-off of the communist deep-end, Sage has resisted that foolishness.
Dear Anonymous critic. Thank you for reading me, pointing out my limitations, and pointing me in the right direction. I have some 4,700 readers so far today on this site and another 1,290 on Substack, indeed small-potatoes. But this blog grows when people like yourself read and let people know of my shortcomings, so please continue to stay in touch. Again, thanks.
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