"Reading Between The Lines..."

I received in the mail today, as I suppose many of you did as well, a slanderous piece of political action committee garbage attempting to denigrate mayoral candidate Bill Foster's public record while he previously served on the city council for St. Petersburg. I suppose there will evidently be a small gaggle of "chicken littles" who, upon a furtive glance at this slick, four-color flyer, will regard this collection of prejudicial misrepresentations as a sure sign that the "sky is falling!" Well, dear hearts, put your hard hats away and see this colossal waste of good quality paper for what it's worth: one of the other candidates for the office of mayor has seen the handwriting on the wall (read: public opinion poll) and realized that he/she is getting their posteriors decidedly booted around the proverbial city block.

I have no doubt that there actually lurks in some candidate's back office a Committee For Responsible Representation, Inc., just as much as I actually believe that there is a Santa Claus and an Easter Bunny. What we should each embrace as fact is that for some grasping politicos, who fragile egos cloud their perception of fair play, is that "winning at any cost" justifies their debasing themselves into the despicable employment of dirty politics. For some, who find their backs against the primary wall, it means to come out slinging mud with both hands. How convenient it must be for a candidate to hide in the shadows of some nefarious collection of sore losers, electing to forgo further laudable attempts to tout their personal qualifications for the position in order to pursue the easier and far lower road of impugning another candidate's past efforts of being a servant to the people of this community.

It may never come to light which candidate this alleged Committee For Responsible Representation is actually fronting for. Authors of such disreputable tactics rarely surface into the glaring light of public scrutiny. So be it. Here is what you need to consider. Bill Foster is an honorable God-loving, family loving and community devotee who has dedicated unselfishly his entire adult life to making St. Petersburg a better place to work, live and raise our families. He doesn't need some clandestine political action committee to place these truths into factual evidence. His record of laudable public service, his life as a dedciated servant of the people, and the thousands of his fellow citizens who will go to the polls on Primary Day, September 1st, and cast their vote for Bill for mayor is far and away testimony enough.