To my surprise, last night I received a personal phone call from city council member Ken Svoboda. You can listen to the message below.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Why was I suprised? Just yesterday I had posted a link to http://www.thetruthaboutken.com on facebook, after I saw an ad on facebook with Ken’s face bopping around like a bobble-head. I clicked on the link and found myself on a very spammy-looking website devoted to all things anti-Ken. But these weren’t political things–they were all very personal. It looked like someone pulled his credit report and posted it line-by-line with commentary and nasty remarks.
So I posted the link on facebook, remarking that “…this is downright dirty politics. Way to go Nebraska Democratic Party.” However, my remarks did not show up on bradpc.com, as the feed only displayed the link. Now I’m assuming someone from the Svoboda camp received a google alert, because only 6 hours later I had a voicemail from Ken on my phone.
This shows some real dedication on Svoboda’s part to be not only monitoring internet buzz surrounding his campaign, but to personally take action and addressing the comments. I do have one suggestion, however. Although a phone call is official and authentic, also taking the time to reply online by leaving a comment, sending an E-mail or creating a website responding to the attacks would probably accomplish more in the long-run. By using the same media outlet, those who find negative information about Svoboda online would have a fair opportunity to hear the other side to the story.
I agree that a person’s character should be a sizable factor when choosing a candidate, but for a small-town, city council election, this kind of negative campaigning is over-the-top. If nothing else, it signals that Lincoln is becoming less of a wholesome Midwestern city, and becoming more like everywhere else.