The 12th district senate race is a fascinating study in contrasts. On the one hand, you have Republican Beth Mizell who is running a campaign that is clearly meant to inspire. On the other, you have Mickey Murphy who has emerged as the poster boy for Louisiana good old boy politics and vile mud-slinging.
I’ve already noted the effectiveness of Mizell’s campaign ad in this previous post. Since then, the Mizell campaign has launched a new ad with her son Josh, who happens to be a military veteran.
You can see that ad below.
The previous ad beautifully showcased Mizell’s region and her deep appreciation for it. This latest ad featuring her veteran son shows a love of family, but also respect for our men and women in the armed forces.
By contrast, the Muphy campaign has been characterized by mud slinging and phony ethics allegations. A week ago Murphy filled charges against Mizell with the Louisiana Board of ethics. From the Bogalusa Daily News:
In a press release from the campaign, Murphy said that he received phone calls at his home on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from a state employee working for the Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation.
Murphy said that the state employee left another message asking “Beth” to call her because she had a “PAC check” for her. He also said that the state employee left, as a call back number, her official government number and official state mail address.
Murphy said the caller was obviously trying to reach Mizell, and not Murphy. Murphy filed an ethics complaint with the Ethics Board on Monday morning, arguing that state law prohibits public servants from using government resources for political campaign activity.
So someone (who isn’t Beth Mizell) made a phone call and left a message on Muphy’s voice mail. Murphy is filing ethics charges against Mizell. If that sounds idiotic well, that’s because it is. Mizell responded by pointing out the obvious:
“The call was between the woman and Mr. Murphy,” she said. “It had nothing to do with me. It was referring to a donation from the Republican Legislative Committee, which is legal. I accepted it, and reported it.
“Mr. Murphy, my counterpart, receives a similar check from the Democratic Legislative Committee. I don’t understand how there is any problem at all.
“I have no control over who calls who. She wasn’t returning my call, she was calling him, looking for me.”
Mizell also stated that Murphy was violating ethics rules by prematurely making the complaint public.
The charges are bogus of course, but this will not be proven until after the election is over. Murphy’s allegations have nothing to do with justice or ethics. They just give Murphy an excuse to spend the rest of the campaign talking about a “pending ethics case” against Mizell.
Because the system moves slow, Mizell will not be cleared of the bogus “ethics charges” until after the election is over. Pretty convenient for Murphy huh? See where I’m going with this?
The ridiculous ethics charges have become the source of a nasty radio ad that Murphy has released, which features the recorded phone message.
Murphy’s tactics are typically what we see from campaigns that are in big trouble. He started out with a clear disadvantage i this race, as Mizell picked up 44 percent of the vote in the primary.
He began the final stretch of this race with some serious catching up to do, and his present course of action is unlikely to achieve this. We’ve seen some crazy stuff in the current governor’s race, but Murphy’s half- baked ethics accusations sink to a whole new level of sleaze and dishonesty.
Hopefully the people of the 12th district will see through his lies and vote for the right candidate.
by
Chad E. Rogers
Publisher
