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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Don’t be fooled by big outside money

Posted 10/26/24

This is the season of obnoxious, negative campaign literature in the form of large postcards which are intended to give a few sound bites of information and graphics in a glance before you toss them …

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Don’t be fooled by big outside money

Posted

This is the season of obnoxious, negative campaign literature in the form of large postcards which are intended to give a few sound bites of information and graphics in a glance before you toss them out. I think most of them are a waste of money and trees, but the more useful ones actually have some facts about a candidate’s voting record and their stand on issues, indicating what they want to work on if chosen to represent us in the Legislature. 
However, the worst of them are just full of unsubstantiated opinions, distortions of photos and facts, and outright lies. A recent one had a distorted, photoshopped photo of Harley Droba, the democratic candidate for the Minn. House of Representatives with flames behind him (burning a pile of money) giving the visual suggestion that he’s the devil. The ridiculous, melodramatic, transparent exaggerations on these cards would be funny if it weren’t true that they are effective with some people. 
These slick postcards generally do not come from the candidates’ campaigns but from political action groups. I’ve received many from Make Liberty Win, a dark money PAC based in Alexandria, Va., known for sponsoring far right-wing challengers. They use the same bizarre graphics for different candidates, switching out photos and names, sometimes even getting those wrong. 
So, please inform yourself about candidates from reliable sources. Look at their records and the values they will stand up for. These fear-mongering groups make a lot of money pumping out this garbage, and they have no respect for you as a reader or a voter.  They’re counting on you being duped. Prove them wrong.
Check out Harley Droba at https://harleydroba.com/, and give him a call if you have questions; he’d love to talk to you about the critical issues we face in northern Minnesota. He is the respected mayor of International Falls with a proven track record who I believe would represent us well in St. Paul. 
Betty Firth
Ely