Sat
Oct 22 2011
01:17 pm
Padgett: anonymous mailing is "disgusting" and a "potential hate crime"
By: R. Neal

Mark Padgett called to personally let me know that neither he, his campaign, nor anybody he knows was in any way involved with the offensive mailer being circulated by a "A Concerned Knoxville Republican."

Further, he said he is "appalled" and "disgusted by it," adding that it was one of the worst things he's ever seen and "the first thing I've read during this campaign that made me physically ill." He also categorically rejected any suggestion that Madeline's campaign was behind it as some sort of attempt to damage him.

He said that whoever wrote this is "not for me, or Madeline, or Knoxville," and that this kind of hateful rhetoric "divides us instead of uniting us." He said he will be happy when people stop talking about it and get back to the issues.

Padgett also said that he has reached out to Madeline and her campaign to tell her the same thing and ask her to join him in a coordinated effort to find out who sent it. He hopes that together they can gather as many original copies as possible and turn them over to authorities to be fingerprinted and investigated as a "potential hate crime."

PREVIOUSLY: Hateful mailing from Padgett "supporter"

UPDATE: Statement from Rogero

Topics:
rryan1963's picture

Still want to suggest that

Submitted by rryan1963 on Sat, 2011/10/22 - 1:32pm.

Still want to suggest that this is from the Padgett Camp? I, along with every other poster on this Blog, should agree with Padgett and work to discover the source of this piece, because it sounds terrible.

It doesn't help anyone. That is exactly the point that I was attempting to make on the other thread. Just because the piece said that it came from a Padgett supporter, doesn't make it so. Nor does it mean that it came from a Rogero supporter of anyone attached to any campaign.

ArtWagner's picture

Where there's smoke…

Submitted by ArtWagner on Sat, 2011/10/22 - 4:54pm.

"rryan" has been an active anti-Rogero commenter on the News-Sentinel online threads with some of the same material that is in the flyer. His level of disingenuousness has been staggering.

Rachel's picture

Ryan, take Chad's advice.

Submitted by Rachel on Sat, 2011/10/22 - 2:07pm.

Ryan, take Chad's advice. Stop with the spin. Of course this came from a Padgett supporter. Of course it's a piece of garbage. Of course all decent people, including Padgett, condemn it.

You should just stick to that and stop trying to spin it into something else. You just look dumb. If you can't figure that out for yourself, I'm sure Padgett could help you.

And BTW, good for Padgett for speaking so strongly against this piece of offal.

I hope they DO find who sent it.

JCBurnett's picture

"Of course this came from a

Submitted by JCBurnett (not verified) on Sat, 2011/10/22 - 2:10pm.

"Of course this came from a Padgett supporter."

What proof is there of the charge you make? This is like your comments on Hillside and Ridgetop. Unsupported and baseless.

Rachel's picture

Ok, this is silly. First, it

Submitted by Rachel on Sat, 2011/10/22 - 2:16pm.

Ok, this is silly.

First, it SAYS it's from a Padgett supporter. In lieu of other evidence, I'll take the author at his word.

You should take Chad's advice and not try to spin as well. Just follow your candidate's lead and disavow this stuff.

As far as making "baseless and unsupported" claims about Hillside/Ridgetop, that's hilarious. BTW, when are you going to respond to my post describing the difference between Sevier County's slope calculations and Knox County's?

cooperhawk's picture

You believe the author when

Submitted by cooperhawk on Tue, 2011/10/25 - 2:18pm.

You believe the author when he (or she) says he is a Padgett supporter? Do you believe everything else he (or she)wrote also?

Rachel's picture

I'm not taking Madeline's

Submitted by Rachel on Tue, 2011/10/25 - 3:36pm.

I'm taking Madeline's good advice and not wasting any more time on this "filth." Have at it by yourself if you want.

Bbeanster's picture

Has OJ found the killer yet?

Submitted by Bbeanster on Sat, 2011/10/22 - 2:12pm.

Has OJ found the killer yet?

reform4's picture

Good for Mark.

Submitted by reform4 on Sat, 2011/10/22 - 2:47pm.

+1

R. Neal's picture

Without looking up the

Submitted by R. Neal on Sun, 2011/10/23 - 9:11am.

Without looking up the specifics, wouldn't this be a campaign finance violation by whoever sent it because it advocates for a candidate but doesn't say who paid for it?

When another anonymous postcard mailer went out earlier with just the pictures of four candidates and the slogan "the future of Knoxville" or something, AOE Rodgers sought an opinion from the DA. The opinion was that since it didn't specifically advocate for any candidate it didn't need to say who sent it.

But if I'm not mistaken, a piece that advocates, as this one does, has to say who paid for it, and if it's not the candidate's campaign I believe they have to be registered as a PAC?

reform4's picture

Yeah, and...

Submitted by reform4 on Sun, 2011/10/23 - 10:21am.

.. and you're not supposed to repeatedly vote in a precinct in which you don't live. We respond to people who do that by putting them in charge of elections.

And all candidates are supposed to file full financial and conflict of interest disclosures. If you check, there are many that don't do that, or don't do it correctly.

Even if the person(s) who sent this are identified, I strongly doubt anything will happen. We need a local DA who is actually willing to enforce the election / campaign laws we have on the books.

marytheprez's picture

Transparency in government...yeah, exception is la Governor!

Submitted by marytheprez (not verified) on Sun, 2011/10/23 - 2:15pm.

And by his own declaration, our Governor is stating publicly and repeatedly that HE does not have to abide by this rule, law or not. He also said, right after his election, that NONE of his top staff have to follow that 'rule' either.

And reform4, none of our 'local DAs, nor the State Election Commission are about to enforce any of the 3 above items because 1) NO ONE apparently filed a claim against our local perp, 2)the second is NOT a State law, only a optional and volunteer rule, and 3) with the new ALEC 'Voter PHOTO ID Election laws being pushed in several States, most of them so un-Constitutional with 'poll taxes' built in, our State's AG will be way too busy responding to lawsuits against the 3 to address the first 2! (One suit has already been filed, and come Monday, Lowe Finney and Mike Turner are going to file a bill to repeal the 'photo' bill mess!!

Rachel's picture

Yes, the mailer should say

Submitted by Rachel on Sun, 2011/10/23 - 3:44pm.

Yes, the mailer should say who paid for it, and Padgett's campaign would have to report it as an in-kind contribution.

Of course, he can't do that w/o knowing where it came from or how much it cost.

AC's picture

I have not seen the mailer in

Submitted by AC on Sun, 2011/10/23 - 10:53am.

I have not seen the mailer in question and don't know the specifics of what it contains, but I'm glad that Mark Padgett has stepped up to denounce it. He needs to.

I'm supporting Madeline Rogero in this election because I am certain that she is - by far - the most qualified and capable candidate for the job. For me, it's not even a real contest. But Mark always struck me as a fine guy. I just don't feel has anything like the experience, skills, and understanding at this point that we should want to see at the helm of our city.

Unfortunately, it has been very disappointing to see Padgett's campaign sink to the depths that it has in their "official" mailings and positioning since the primary. It appears that he has allowed himself to be swayed by the "son...let us show you how to win this election..." mentality that sacrifices truth and integrity on the altar of winning at any costs. The level of cliched political pandering makes you wonder what - if anything - Padgett would have the backbone to stand up to if he was elected. It's too bad. Our community deserves better.

Neal's picture

None of the negative and

Submitted by Neal on Mon, 2011/10/24 - 1:34pm.

None of the negative and truly horrific things that people say in mailings, news spots, commercials, or anything else really does any good. In fact it is truly disgusting and in fact the person responsible should be held accountable.

 

 

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