4/17/07  Racial Campaigning

Unless you live in South Dallas or Oak Cliff, you did not see this flyer.  There are a lot of new people in town, but most of them are not voters.  It is really old thinking for Max Wells to send out a flyer like this exclusively to South Dallas and Oak Cliff. 

Don Hicks was a very good councilman, who does not deserve to be paired up with Old Al Lipscomb. Commissioner John Wiley Price represents almost all of Oak Lawn and East Dallas on the County Commissioners' Court.  Why would Max Wells not want Oak Lawn and East Dallas to know their commissioner endorses him? Old Al Lipscomb could not reclaim his place on the city council when he ran against Councilman James Fantroy.  So, why does Max Wells think an endorsement from a confessed and convicted felon will help him in District 8? Diane Ragsdale lost her council seat to the late Charlotte Mayes.  She has a following, but it's not large and she won't deliver many votes, if any, for Max Wells.

Max Wells is from another time.  His campaign tactics are old school, pre-internet.   You just can't have regional or racial mailers in 2007.  White people and Black people actually talk to each other in 2007.   Max Wells clearly doesn't know new faces in the Black community when he has to stand up with a confessed and convicted bribe taker. 

The old thinking behind this backdoor mailer is exactly why Max Wells is not the right man for the job of Mayor of Dallas.  Max Wells needs to meet some new friends. 

Not mailing this flyer to North Dallas is not only closet racist, it's really dumb.  There are thousands of minority voters living North of Downtown.  Max Wells must know that, or he correctly assumes they are not the kind of voters who would respond to an endorsement from a confessed and convicted bribe taker.  Apparently, Old Al is the best that Max Wells can do to get his message to minority voters -- very telling, very telling.

sb