Bob McEwen’s Incumbent Pose: A Closer Look at That Campaign Flyer

I obtained a copy of the Bob McEwen campaign flyer that Channel 5 reported on last Wednesday.

You certainly can’t accuse the McEwen campaign of having even the least bit of shame. A McEwen worker, committing a less-than-truthful act in a church vestibule (see, BizzyBlog can be diplomatic), handed me the piece on Friday night at the Campaign Forum, two days after Channel 5’s critical report.

Channel 5 noted that McEwen is referred to as “Congressman McEwen” no fewer than seven times in the piece (true), and that McEwen’s campaign radio and TV ads refer to him as “Congressman” several times, both during the narrative and in the TV ad’s visuals (also true).

Having read the flyer from beginning to end, I can tell you this: As hard-hitting as Channel 5’s report was, including references to probable violations of Ohio election law, when you see how McEwen’s camp uses the word “Congressman” and other tricks in the text, you’ll probably agree with me that the TV station didn’t go nearly as far as they could (and should) have.

The first sentence in the piece is one of the worst:

As Congressman, Special Envoy for Presidents and U.S. Representative to the European Parliament, Bob McEwen exemplifies Ohio values and American ideals.

Nobody who is unfamiliar with his career (because of his 12-year virtual absence, that means a large plurality, if not a majority, of Second District residents) can read this sentence without assuming that Bob McEwen currently holds these positions. Channel 5 really should have emphasized that the deception goes beyond the Congressman/former Congressman characterization issue.

Now, let’s take the sentence apart. Start with dictionary.com’s prepositional definition of “As”:

In the role, capacity, or function of: acting as a mediator.

When using “as,” it’s up to the writer to tell us whether these positions are held currently or were held in the past. The use of the word “exemplies” in the present tense in the flyer’s first sentence tells the reader, in the absence of contrary language, that these are among McEwen’s current positions.

Now let’s compare the flyer’s first sentence to Bob’s personal home page at the second paragraph under “Congress” (bolds are mine):

During his congressional service, Mr. McEwen filled a variety of positions. He was asked to serve as Special Presidential Envoy for both Presidents Reagan and Bush. He also served as a United States representative to the European Parliament from 1985 to 1993.

McEwen can get the tense right when he needs to. In all three bolded instances, the narrative is in the past tense. His home page has to be right because the people who hire him for speeches at his fee level would be miffed, to say the least, if they thought they were getting a person who currently holds certain positions, only to find out that he hasn’t held them for some 12 years.

What can the people of the Second District conclude, other than that telling the truth to speakers’ bureaus is more important than telling it to the voters?

June 7, 6PM update: The runner-up for most egregious attempt at implying incumbency is when McEwen says:

As a Father with a son in the Marines, Congressman McEwen knows National Security is a top priority.

(”Father” capitalized? He’s a priest too?)

Bob’s son Jonathan is nobly serving his country in the Marines, while Jonathan’s father (small “f”) is exploiting that service to make it appear as if his congressional service coincides with his son’s current military service. Zheesh.

There’s no shortage of nerve in the McEwen campaign. Here’s the reaction when caught red-handed:

Wes Farno, McEwen’s campaign manager, issued a written statement Wednesday that said, in part, “We’re not misrepresenting anybody because it’s common knowledge that he served in the United States Congress.”

Uh, Wes. Even if it’s “common knowledge” that he served in Congress (doubtful, given the lapse in time and the growth and demographic changes in the district), that’s not the point. The point is whether you are trying to make relatively uninformed people believe that Bob is a Congressman now when he isn’t, and then hoping they go to the polls next week without giving their choice any additional thought. It’s now “common knowledge” that this is exactly what you are doing.