Did you follow yesterday’s drama surrounding the County Clerk race? You can catch up on it here.
Yesterday, Smile Politely reached out to WDWS/The News-Gazette asking for a copy of the ad, and we were told “do not distribute copies of commercials to anyone other than the actual candidate.”
That does not appear to be entirely accurate. Anyone can request a copy of the ad purchase information.
Smile Politely has acquired documents that indicate that the ad was not purchased by a local GOP operative. It was purchased by a person who appears to have a personal problem with Aaron Ammons.
In fact, the person who bought the ad is a local man, with a long history of voting in Democratic primaries here in Champaign County. We aren’t publishing his name because we aren’t interested in doxing anyone in this case, no matter how reprehensible we feel their behavior is.*
To be clear: This information does not, under any circumstance, excuse Matt Grandone’s irresponsible response. By knowing that no one working within the local GOP organization produced and distributed the ad and failing to call out its racist, sexist, and classist message, Grandone is complicit in a culture of race-baiting and fear mongering.
WDWS/The News-Gazette continues to participate in the disgusting cycle of racism and sexism; this is evident in the right-wing syndicated radio shows they air, the letters to the editors they don’t publish, the community they regularly defame and dismiss.
On this particular occasion, WDWS/The News-Gazette took advantage of a singular person’s rage and personal vendetta to defame and dismiss a political candidate for a whopping $401. This is not surprising from the media outlet, but it nevertheless underscores the disappointing and dangerous nature of some of our local media.
One person spent a lot of time and money to disparage one person, one political candidate. One of our political parties didn’t do much to disavow the troublesome message. We must ask: Would they have aired a similar pro-Ammons ad smearing Grandone?
On Tuesday, remember that all politics is local, and when the behavior modeled on the national level is one of excuse-making and complicity, it gives license for individuals to behave badly.
*An earlier version of this story did not include this paragraph, which was added after publication