The GOP ad, the Denish "defense".

As you know, the GOP put up the first (negative) ad of the 2010 gubernatorial race.

It was the second spear that they've chucked at Denish.

The first was an op-ed piece by Republican State Party Chair Harvey Yates.

It is often difficult to sift through negative ads and ad hominem attacks, and expect to find the meat on the bone.

In the op-ed piece, Yates accused Denish of failing to stand up against the culture of corruption. If you pay any attention to the common folk who make themselves heard in the only place they can; internet blog comments and internet forums, you will find that the spear stuck. John Q. Public is dissatisfied with the Denish response; they too, think that she has not stood up against the public corruption except through pushing, urging, and championing various legislative efforts to prick a few small holes in the culture of corruption's huge balloon.

Now, in their new ad, the Grand Ol' Party, says Denish spoke publicly about the down side of gambling, took money from gambling interests, and voted in support of gambling interests.

Denish's rebuttals, both by her and those written on her behalf, so far amount to one ad hominem attack after another, and no answer to the question on the table;

Why does it look like she expressed one sentiment to get elected, and then voted another after accepting money?

For the record, I don't have a dog in this fight. I am a conservative by nature, but I intend to vote for the person who I think is going to do the most damage to the culture of corruption, Republican or Democrat. First let's end the culture of corruption and then, we can look at the flavor of the medicine.

I am not faulting Denish at this point, for any of her votes or contributions she has excepted. But, I would like to hear her explanation of both.

If I had my druthers, we wouldn't have to suffer through dueling negative advertisements; they demean the process and everyone connected to the process. If I had my druthers, there would be a place where anyone can ask any legitimate question of any candidate and the candidate will answer and be held accountable for their answer.

That said, I would like to ask Ms. Denish to explain how she allegedly/apparently changed sentiments after accepting campaign contributions.









And I would like to ask Harvey Yates why he still, has no plan to end the culture of corruption.










Before the dust settles on this race, both sides will have reason to be irked by my unrelenting insistence that they stop crapping around and step up to legitimate questions with responses that are candid, forthright and honest.




photos Mark Bralley