Lord of the Flyers

Thankfully, Ernie's flyers are again making their way to my mailbox. Since Ernie has over $100K to spend, I expect nothing but the best BS in his flyers, and he has not disappointed me.

Today's flyer was very comforting to me. In it, mayor McSellout is attacking Harold Weinbrecht on a number of fronts. The best accusation Ernie can come up with is that Harold actually approved most of the development which has occurred under this administration. This begs a few questions:

• Throughout this campaign, Ernie has accused Harold of bringing growth to a standstill, and Ernie has proudly taken credit for bringing Cary out of those 'Dark days' and restoring healthy growth. Now he's blaming that same growth on Harold. Whose growth is it anyway?
  
• If the previous administration is in fact to 'blame' for all this growth, then why did mayor McSellout spend all that money on an economic consultant?
  
• If Harold is the one who approved all this growth, then why aren't the developers giving all their money to him instead of Ernie? This includes the out-of-town developers who gave Ernie almost $50K. Show me the money!

Like I said, nothing but the best BS from Ernie. The fact is, Ernie's administration approved all the building permits, not Harold's. Harold's approved the zoning for the developments Ernie points out, but as usual, Ernie only gives half the story. Harold's administration also had budget and ordinances in place to balance growth, both of which were doomed as of Ernie's first day in office.

So why am I encouraged? Ernie has sent out at least six different flyers and has his face all over TV. Cary people may be many things, but stupid is not one of them. Every time they see a flyer or commercial, they are reminded of who truly owns the mayor -- the developers who fill his campaign coffers. Cary people know that if Ernie really had a great story to tell, he wouldn't need $100,000 to tell it.

Ernie's biggest (and only?) political asset is his country-bumpkin charm and ever-present tan. Every time he sends out a nasty-gram, a little of that folksy image that he tries so hard to create gets chipped away, and Cary citizens learn a bit more about how ruthless mayor McSellout really is.

Ernie's best one-liner of the week comes from his News14 forum with Harold Weinbrecht. When asked a direct question about all the money pouring into his campaign from developers all over the country, Ernie said he "Makes no apologies" for all that money. This came across as arrogant, and again helped people see through the country-bumpkin image he works so hard to create.