For the week of November 12 - 18, 2003

Deplorable strategy

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Valley voters were the real winners in last week’s elections. A wide field of candidates articulated clear positions on everything from growth to golf and budgets to buses.

Candidates debated, did interviews, circulated advertising, manned phone banks and knocked on doors to get their positions on valley issues known. At every turn, they took the high road—with one notable exception.

Former Hailey Mayor Al Lindley placed large deceptive advertisements in both valley newspapers.

Unlike others, Lindley’s ads were not easily recognizable as advertisements at all. They were designed to look as much as possible like the newspapers’ news content. Their headlines and printed copy closely resembled the newspapers’. They contained none of the graphic embellishments that commonly distinguish campaign advertising from news content.

The design misled readers. Only a tiny and easily overlooked phrase, "Paid for by Al Lindley Campaign Fund" gave readers any clue that the published comparison between Lindley and his opponent had been manufactured by the Lindley campaign itself.

It was a deplorable strategy, one that should never be used in any election, one we hope never to see in this valley again.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.