Councilor Christine Scales Shows Class by Apologizing for Unfair and Misleading Party Mailing Against Opponent

Christine Scales

Indianapolis City-County Councilor Christine Scales issued a statement today apologizing for some of the recent negative mailings done by her party in response to the cheap, underhanded postcards sent out by the Democrats on behalf of her opponent Kostas Poulakidas:

Scales For Council, District 4

It's important to me that you know...

I did not approve or authorize the campaign mailers that were directed at my opponent. I am grieved by their tone and content.

It was never my desire to respond in kind to the negative and misleading postcards that targeted me.

It was my decision to clear up falsehoods attacking my record as Councillor in as straightforward a manner as possible.

I implored other parties not to "go negative" with their planned responses. In the end, I did not have control over what was sent out.

I have served as your Councillor with integrity. That is how I wish to continue. I am paying for this card with the hope you will understand and accept, that I had nothing to do with the mailers targeting my opponent.

It's important to me that you know.

Sincerely,
Christine Scales
City County Councillor, District 4

Paid for and Authorized by Scales For Council, District 4

Of course, no good deed goes unpunished. Rather than accept Scales' comment as sincere, Terry Burns, an unabashed Democratic partisan and publisher of the blog Indianapolis Times declares Scales is lying when she says she has no knowledge of the contents of the mailings by the Republican Party.


Lawrence Township Constable
and Blogger Terry Burns

The fact is, when the parties decide to spend party money to target someone, they don't run their attack pieces by the candidate and get his or her approval. When I ran for the House in 2000, the GOP decided to target the race.  The good news is my campaign would be fully funded.  The bad news is I completely lost control over what was sent out attacking my opponent.  The state GOP ended up sending out horrible attack pieces on then first term legislator Jeb Bardon. The attacks completely distorted his record. One even suggested Rep. Bardon supported putting child molesters back on the street...based on a misrepresentation of a small item in the budget bill.  To this day, I feel bad about the attacks which I had no advance knowledge of or option to prevent.
Burns, who has served as executive director of the Marion County Democratic Party and communications director for the Indiana Democratic Party, undoubtedly knows that parties don't run attack pieces by candidates. Yet he chooses to pretend he doesn't know and says Scales heart-felt apology is a ruse. I don't mind the fact that Burns is a partisan. But there is a way of standing up for your party without using a heart felt apology by an opponentt as yet more campaign fodder, especially when you flat out lie in the process.

When she learned of below the unfair mailings her party sent against her opponent, Christine Scales publicly apologized for them.  Meanwhile, her opponent, Kostas Poulakidas, has said not one word about the underhanded, pretend postcards from Scales, sent from her supposed residence in Florida. 

Scales is a class act.  Her heart felt apology is more evidence of who the voters should vote for in Council District 4.