A few weeks ago, it seemed the Republican gubernatorial primary had been relatively civil so far, with one notable exception. Aside from a few twitter attacks and the usual comment trolls, things had yet to get nasty. Today an anonymous Twitter user called HardKnoxVol, who is already gone from the Twittersphere and YouTube, engaged in some questionable behavior that had everyone buzzing. The first shot has been fired. Grassroots just got dirty.
HardKnoxVol, who may or may not be related to this ESPN.com user, surfaced seemingly as a Bruce Poliquin supporter. The user retweeted many of Poliquin’s tweets (hat tip to Matt Gagnon for the image), creating the image of a Poliquin backer . The person even commented that Poliquin “cleaned up” at a recent debate. After setting himself up to resemble one of Bruce’s Brigade, HardKnoxVol released this little gem.
[youtube]ZGFoPbpmEiU[/youtube]
The video begins with a cut of Les Otten’s “Jobs” ad, quickly cutting to a vicious attack. The video features text from an AP story on Otten’s loss of 15.5 million shares in the American Skiing Company. “Maine has had enough of this kind of financial malpractice,” HardKnox concludes. “We need competent management, not Les Otten’s shell games.” HardKnox’s positioning makes it seem as though this ad is coming from a Poliquin supporter, or perhaps even the campaign itself.
Poliquin quickly denounced the attack and its author.
“In the strongest possible terms, I deplore the online advertisement singling out Les Otten. There is no place for this kind of attack ad in our race.”
“I have personally spoken with the Les Otten campaign to express my strong disapproval. I hope the other candidates join me in publicly condemning the ad as a childish and unnecessary attack.”
“Likewise, the person creating and disseminating the ad should realize that they are doing nothing more than breaking campaign finance laws. This race will be run above board. There is a time and place to answer questions about our pasts, but this is neither,” concludes Poliquin.
The ad is unprofessional. With a bit of knowledge and a video editor, one could whip up something similar (or even much better) without much trouble. Clearly, making a polished ad was not the point. There are a few possible reasons for making an attack ad like this. The maker is anti-Otten, anti-Poliquin, or both. I’m going with the latter. As Matt Gagnon points out, this person spent some time creating the image that they were a Poliquin supporter. Were this just about hitting Otten, why not just release the video? This person sought to tarnish Poliquin in the minds of the voters by trying to link a trash ad to his campaign. Poliquin does not come out completely clean on this one, though. He responded to the ad quickly, condemning its content and approach. Due to the timing of Poliquin’s response, some may believe that Poliquin’s team or a supporter might have been involved in this smear. I agree with Gagnon that that would be a stretch. I would like to think that if Poliquin found out this came from his camp he would toss the person(s) involved swiftly out the door and publicly apologize for the incident. For some, however, the seed of doubt has been planted, but without evidence this is only speculation.
The big loser here is Les Otten. The damage done to his campaign begins as the video continues. Anytime someone mentions the story, the video will likely get a few more hits. At present the video has been removed from YouTube, but that doesn’t mean it won’t pop up in other ways. Each time it’s viewed that is another chip of Otten’s campaign. Even the mention of the video will get people talking. The true impact of the video, and others like it that may show up, can’t be known at this time. How many undecided Republicans will see this ad or others like it? Not enough to change the race. That doesn’t mean grassroots smears don’t hurt. These cracks in a candidates armor reveal issues that may come up during the primary and the general election.
So who is this mystery defamer? HardKnoxVol’s identity is unknown at the moment. HardKnox is not the first undercover tweeter to raise Hell then disappear. A character named “pinetreephony” appeared to accuse Matthew Gagnon (full disclosure: Gagnon has also written commentary for this site) of working for Matt Jacobson’s campaign. These baseless accusations came after similar allegations were leveled by a commenter at Pine Tree Politics. It is also suspicious that this business happened shortly after Gagnon asked visitors to PTP to stop astro-turfing in the comments section. Of course there was the short-lived OttenFAIL (HardKnox related?). Others on twitter have taken shots at candidates and pundits alike. This is nothing new, on twitter or politics in general.
More ads and online attacks like this will surely crop up; they are the 2010 version of anonymous pamphlets in a parking lot. Politics is a dirty game, even in Maine. At the grassroots level, what’s to stop anyone from creating these things? Nothing really. As long as they aren’t from a campaign, there’s no stopping them. We do still have free speech right? So be prepared, the fun has begun folks.
UPDATE: The Otten Campaign has provided the following statement on the ad
Les Otten has taken a clean campaign pledge and is hopeful all the candidates running for Governor will join him in that pledge. The state of Maine has serious problems that deserve serious debate by the candidates. The Otten Jobs for Maine Campaign is going to stay focused on Les’ positive agenda for creating jobs and strongly opposing any tax increases.
geez before ya wear out your keyboard are these alligations true? or not ?
this whole deal smells, first the video then the 20 mins of typing without answering the real question…… is it true or not ????
I don't understand your question. There are no allegations mentioned in this article. We only reported on what happened. What are you talking about?
That depends on what your definition of "is" is.
It's unfortunate that this kind of politics has come to Maine, and this early in the campaign. Regardless of your opinion of Otten and his business career, this kind of attack is unfair and low-brow.
Let's hope the primary doesn't cost the GOP the general election. This state needs a Republican governor.