The Board of Supervisors and Push Polls

Well, at least now we know why the Board of Supervisors had such a hard time with ethics deliberations earlier this year.

Loudoun County supervisors Tuesday stopped short of Supervisor Jim Clem's (R-Leesburg) request to condemn the use of push polls in campaigning for this fall's election, but did criticize a recent example that disseminated unsubstantiated allegations about a General Assembly candidate.

"The politics of personal destruction are not welcome here in our community," Clem said, later acknowledging that his intent was to repudiate negative push polls, not all surveys. "I feel very strongly about this."

However, other members of the board said they could not support condemning all push polls because such polls can be used to highlight positive aspects of a candidate's record and because negative attacks come with the territory when people decide to run for public office. - Leesburg Today

Is opposing all push polling really that difficult at this level? This is the Board of Supervisors campaign, not a Presidential race. Loudoun County's voters do not want their local races to take their cues from Presidential campaigns.

Ultimately, the Board voted 8-0-1 (Supervisor Staton was absent) to condemn the individual conducting a negative push poll, but not push polling itself. Loudoun County deserves more leadership from its Board of Supervisors. A resolution opposing all push polling would have provided a basic standard regarding campaign tactics by which we could expect our candidates to abide.

The fact that Jim Clem could not even get a resolution opposing push polling passed through the Board of Supervisors just goes to show how ineffective he has been on the Board. He is ineffective in advocating for Leesburg, and enables the worst tendencies of this Board. He could not even be bothered to be present for the ultimate vote on the ethics policies which passed in February. ("Supervisor Clem announced that he had to leave for another meeting.") Supervisor Clem has consistently walked out on his responsibilities representing Leesburg on the Board of Supervisors.

It is time for Jim Clem to go.

(Disclaimer: I am a volunteer for Kelly Burk's BoS campaign.)