Ironton mayoral candidates have been civil #045; so far
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, October 29, 2003
If we were in Kentucky, I couldn't write this column. You see, I saw a few TV commercials the other day and across the river the campaign gloves are not only off, they appear to be throwing political knives, too.
At least in the public view, most of our local elections don't appear to be getting nasty - at least not yet.
In the Ironton mayor's race, for example the weapons of choice seem to be more in the spit-ball battle arena than a bare-knuckles brawl.
Incumbent mayor Bob Cleary and challenger councilman John Elam have yet to publicly sling much mud. And perhaps for the community's sake they won't.
What has bubbled to the surface provides a brief glimpse at each candidates strategy.
Cleary paints himself as the man who's already driving the bus and has it headed in the right direction. "Why would anyone want to change?" his strategy seems to ask.
Through a series of well-timed public appearances, ceremonies and generally being everywhere at once, Cleary hopes to garner enough votes to hold his position for another four years. Perhaps my favorite Cleary campaign tactic has been to have an Ironton Fighting Tigers sign touting his election hopes on 6th Street. I'm not sure if all the Fighting Tigers fans would agree with such use, but you can't blame Cleary for attempting to tie his hat onto the powerful legions of fans.
Elam smartly points to all of the bad things that have happened during Cleary's administration. Certainly not all of them are the mayor's fault, but it doesn't matter to Elam and his followers. It's simply tying the visual image of bad things to the mayor. That's a powerful message and one that's hard to beat.
Elam also points to his two children as a prime reason he wants the job. He has a personal, admittedly selfish, interest in the future of Ironton; he wants it to thrive for his children, he says.
Cleary has said publicly he's the only Ironton native running, an obvious spitball fired at Elam. Elam dodges that one and shoots one of his own, "It's time for a change" his message rings.
Who will win? Will the spitballs be set aside for larger projectiles as election day nears?
Only time will tell, but rest assured, whatever debate comes out of the spitball trading, the voters gain important knowledge about the candidates, their methods and their tactics.
Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Ironton Tribune. He can be reached at (740) 532-1445 ext. 12 or by e-mail to kevin.cooper@irontontribune.com.