Mister Tredyffrin and Friends

Remember the Big News that Republican Kevin Mahoney, president of the school board, and Democratic candidate Art Post had endorsed each other for School Board, to the exclusion of the other Republican candidate, Debbie Bookstaber? If you're reading this, you almost certainly already knew. The TTDems issued a press release which they published on their web site, and I wrote about it here on my blog.

But if you aren't one of the tens of readers of this blog (note, I said "readers", not "fans") you probably didn't hear about it. You see, in their infinite wisdom, the local papers sat on that press release for a couple weeks. Apparently it just wasn't newsy enough for them? I was a little miffed about that.

Buried Treasure

Then, last week, Dan Kristie pulled together a front-page article effectively burying the big news, and then smoothed it over with explanations and quotes from the candidate that found herself on the outs. If you read his piece very carefully, you get the impression that the author was trying to be balanced in his reporting of the story. But trying wasn't enough. I held off on the vitriol last week only because I was so incredibly critical of the local papers in the week before, and didn't want to come off as too... partisan? ...snarky? ...crotchety? Whatever. I thought they needed a rest.

But now I've got to summarize a few of the more glaring mistakes in Mr. Kristie's effort.

Fact Check

First off, there won't be any names listed twice on the ballots on November 6th. A couple of Republican candidates for School Board will have "DEMOCRAT/REPUBLICAN" listed after their names because of cross-filing and the fact that the Democrats fielded only one candidate in the primary last Spring. All the ballots are available online at the Chester County Voter Services web site to help educate voters and newspaper writers about this. I'd recommend checking it out.

Second, the Democratic candidate Karen's last name is Cruickshank, not Kruickshank. Karen Cruickshank is the Democratic candidate for Tredyffrin School Board, Region 1.

Next, you characterize Mahoney's primary as disappointing. He won the Republican primary! Sure, Debbie eeked out Kevin in the Democratic primary by a mere 36 votes. But there are lots of reasons that might have happened, not the least of which is just blind luck of placement on the ballot. And, hey, if you add up all the votes in both primaries for those two, Mahoney still beat Debbie.

Then the timeline was mixed up. Art Post and Kevin Mahoney endorsed each other. They then informed their respective local party leaders about their decision. The TTGOP weren't happy campers - more on that below. But the TTDems embraced the gesture by voting at their next full meeting to support this mutual endorsement. And, to be clear, sir: the TTDems voted to support the Post/Mahoney decision, not to endorse Kevin Mahoney. That's a big difference. The press release was very clear about the timing and semantics of the TTDems reaction.

And finally, the story pointedly avoided speculation into the deeper reasons behind Mahoney endorsement of Post over his fellow Republican. Sure, they're friends. That's how Mahoney knew just how good Art Post is for the job. But how did he know that Art was better than Debbie? That's the interesting question avoided altogether, and instead the piece closed with rah-rah Debbie language. Old boys club? Give me a break. It wasn't too long ago that the board was almost all female. There is no danger here. Debbie has no qualifications for the job and exhibits extreme views that are counter to the majority of Tredyffrin residents. Might those facts have weighed in Mahoney's decision making?

Alright, maybe that wasn't as brief as I wanted it to be. I got carried away, again. Sorry about that. Thankfully, the editors of the Main Line Life and the Suburban and Wayne Times saw fit to address this miscarriage of journalism by publishing letters from readers who saw the problem, too. Before I get to those, though, let me tell you about a couple other recent development.

The Scream Heard All 'Round Tredyffrin

The reaction of the Tredyffrin Republican Committee was the complete opposite of the TTDems. Rather than listen to the careful and considered opinion of one of their most prominent public officials, the TTGOP leadership bound themselves still tighter to their partisan ways. On paper, in person, in every way, it is clear that Art Post is hugely more qualified for the supposedly "non-partisan" school board seat than is Debbie Bookstaber. But that doesn't matter to the Republican rank and file. And it's not like they don't already have a solid track record of these kinds of blatant partisan decisions.

Their reaction was quick and vengeful. Kevin Mahoney was out. Signs came down everywhere. Indeed, if you wander the neighborhood and look at the yards of Republican Committeepeople, you can see exactly where the Kevin Mahoney sign was just the week before - it left a gaping hole in their pretty array. Now Mahoney signs are instead showing up individually on the lawns of Independents and more free-willed Republicans. And they are also showing up paired with Art Post signs on the yards of Democrats. In one case, the two signs are bound together with colored yarn and a bow.

Then, the TTGOP returned to the internet.

Quick! Throw Up a Website!

Many wondered just what had happened to the ttgop web site. Some time last Spring it just went dark. Then last week it returned. And boy was it ever thrown up. It isn't too pretty, yet. Probably just the result of a rush job.

It's clear that the new TTGOP website is a testament to the tired TTGOP message, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." To read their site you would think that Tredyffrin is actually Nirvana, and the TTGOP should be praised for the warm sunshine and gentle breezes. But, enough about that. It's their candidate listings that is relevant to this story.

Their candidate bios are the same old stuff, copied and pasted from their literature. But where's Kevin? Huh? He's gone! It's as if he never existed. The Republican President of the Tredyffrin/Eastown School Board has been completely disavowed. Isn't that the most childish thing?

Readers to the Rescue

This week, Main Line Life and the Suburban and Wayne Times ran two letters from readers about the Mahoney/Post cross-party endorsement. The first, from Susan Lehman, took issue with Dan Kristie's article:

Cross-party endorsements important

Two weeks ago I read in a letter to the editor that a prominent Republican, Kevin Mahoney, the president of the T/E School Board, and an active Democrat, Art Post, are endorsing each other in this coming month’s T/E school-board election. In these continually polarizing times, I don’t understand why our newspapers aren’t covering this more fully. We as citizens should be celebrating that two people running for office can put the welfare of the schools ahead of some manufactured party loyalty. The T/E School Board is supposed to be a nonpartisan office. But we all know that is on paper only. Rightly or wrongly, one party had thoroughly dominated the board. If we blindly follow just one party from some broad assumptions without knowing what individual candidates really stand for, we are truly diminishing our possibilities of success.

In this past week’s paper there was a short, polite quote from each of the two endorsing candidates, and one glib statement from the young woman left out in the endorsement coupling. She intimated that Mahoney and Post only endorsed each other out of friendship and male bonding. That is an insult to both men. Both are longtime residents, putting children through our schools, well acquainted with the area’s problems and the school district’s needs, and both dedicated to our students meeting 21st-century challenges. Personally, I know that Mr. Post is a staunch supporter of women’s rights, and Mr. Mahoney has well served the school board on behalf of both men and women. Perhaps it is our newspaper’s duty to look deeper into the unique cross-endorsement? Could it be that young Debbie Bookstaber being new to our area with no children weighs on Mr. Mahoney’s feeling that another person might be more qualified? Maybe Mr. Mahoney checked into the backgrounds of each competitor and found one more qualified than the other? Or perhaps it is Ms. Bookstaber’s extreme conservative political agenda that has some Republicans jumping party? It would be nice if our newspaper covered these questions, and not end the article with a false idea of the cross-endorsement.

Outside my poll last May, one of my neighbors exited from voting, smiled and commented, “I sure hope that the judges on the ballot weren’t those ‘ban the evolution/creationist’ crazies.” When I questioned him about his one-party policy, he responded telling me that he thought gun control was necessary and that he was also pro-choice. Yes, he voted his party, but he had no idea if he voted for a judge who directly opposes many of his views. Whether you believe in evolution or not, or any other issues, he should be ashamed; he blindly punched the ballot because of party and not what an individual candidate might believe.

After 9/11 there was a film done that asked the question whether God’s light guides us or blinds us. When we think of all the things humans do, good and bad, in the name of God, it is a very valid question that must continually be asked. It is also a valid question when it comes to voting for only one political party.

Susan Lehman

Strafford

The second, from Janet Walkow and Irl Barg noted the fact that Kevin Mahoney is missing from the TTGOP web presence.

Vote for Mahoney, Post

We were looking at the local Republican Web site and saw that they have decided not to list Kevin Mahoney, president of the T/E School Board. They are attempting to punish Kevin because he has shown the leadership to support Art Post, a better, more qualified school board candidate than the other Republican running for the position.

This reminds us far too much of Bush/Cheney’s promoting administrators and generals solely based on allegiance to party loyalty. While we have come to expect this at the national level, it is dismaying to find that the local GOP officials have stooped so low in their petty, partisan politics.

Our children spent a collective 35 “student-years” in the T/E school system. We volunteered in the schools from reading to kindergartners, to serving as a school board liaison from the middle school, to involvement with CAPCO. We know the schools, the district and the board fairly well.

There are three candidates for T/E Region 2 school director. We have spoken to the candidates and researched their positions. Two of the candidates share the values of our community and are qualified for the school board. Based on our knowledge of the candidates, their experience and views, we urge the residents of Tredyffrin and Easttown and all the voters in Region 2 to cross party lines and to support Kevin Mahoney (Republican) and Art Post (Democrat).

Janet Walkow and Irl Barg

Strafford

Congratulations and many thanks to Janet, Irl, and Susan for speaking up. And congratulations and thanks to the editors of our local papers for taking steps to rectify the problem.

Everyone - Republican, Democrat, Independent alike - don't pull that party lever! You respect at least one of them, maybe both. So respect their educated opinions, too. Vote Art Post (D) and Kevin Mahoney (R) for School Board!