Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

That sign-stealing hubbub in CD32 sure is getting a lot of coverage. Here's a typical example.

"Pete was picking up signs that were unlawfully placed by his opponent [during] the last days of the campaign," said Chris Homan, Sessions' campaign manager.

"Congressman Sessions is always very involved in his campaigns."

Picking up his opponent's signs at 10 PM? That's mighty involved, or maybe just extra civic-minded. I still see the occasional sign from last year's Mayoral election posted here and there. Maybe Sessions could help us out with those when he gets a chance.

On Monday, Sessions denied that he would stoop so low as to steal Frost's yard signs, and he challenged the Democrat's staff to prove him wrong.

That dare, said Frost spokesman Justin Kitsch, is what persuaded the Democrat's staff to pull out the Dallas police report.

The Oct. 27, 2002, report said Sessions was caught pulling up yard signs for Pauline Dixon, his underfunded Democratic opponent at the time.

[...]

Homan fumed at the decision to make the police report public.

"These are the kind of dirty tricks that Martin Frost has always pulled; he's always run dishonest campaigns. And this one looks like it's going to be no different," he said.

Stanley said the report was made public to show that Sessions was, indeed, capable of taking an opponent's yard sign.

"It's regrettable this has to come out," Stanley said.

The Frost campaign has issued a press release (which Kos also got) which notes that Sessions has already changed his story on this.

Late yesterday, Pete Sessions gave an interview on KLIF where he couldn't quite get his story straight on his night-time sign misadventures.

[...]

Sessions said, "I was driving by the signs which we had uh put out earlier, several weeks before on a piece of property that was private property that was directly there, and as I was driving home, someone had come and in front of and behind every one of my signs, they put these Pauline Dixon signs - in front of mine and behind mine."

Radio Host Gary Knapp: "Ok, so if yours were on private property and theirs were directly in front of yours, wouldn't they still be on private property too."

Pete Sessions: "They would have been."

Greg Knapp: "Did you check with the apartment complex and say did Pauline Dixon, did she ask you permission to put these up, or did you just assume she didn't have the right to put those up?"

Pete Sessions: "She did not, and no I did not. It was they were they were put up that night at some point and they were uh dropped on the they were dropped on the uh ground."

Greg Knapp: "Can you see why some people would say, "Well wait a second, why didn't you just leave those signs there. Isn't it wrong to pull other people's signs down?"

Pete Sessions: "No no, I don't think so at all. I think if I went by the CWA uh, or any other Union place that Martin Frost had his signs up and he knew they were up, and some of our supporters or somebody came and put them there, I think it's perfectly professional to pick them up and drop them."

I believe someone on Sessions' staff might want to consider giving him a refresher about the First Rule of Holes ("when you're in one, stop digging").

Do I think this is a serious campaign issue? Unless someone really did steal and relocate the Frost signs that turned up at Sessions' son's school and started this whole mess, then no, it's really more of an amusement or a distraction, depending on your perspective. Do I think this will affect people's votes? It might turn a few people off, though in that case the end result may be a vote for neither candidate. But since Sessions fired the first shot, I can't say I'm feeling any sympathy for him.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on August 19, 2004 to Election 2004 | TrackBack