District Attorney Run-Off Drama unfolds...The New Catch Phrase for 2006...The Rounds Keep Coming...

Seems like the District Attorney's recent missive against opponent Alma Garza is getting some attention. According to an article appearing in today's edition of The Monitor, Garza and her husband, attorney Hector Villarreal have a few words of their own regarding a campaign ad that began it's rotation on local television channels Wednesday. The campaign ad deals with forty thousand dollars worth of taxes owed by Villarreal. The ad slogan, "People who don't pay their taxes, should keep their hands off ours". District Attorney Rene Guerra is quoted in the article as saying, "The campaign is getting heated. We are at the last gate of the race. This was a negative fact ad on something we need to alert the public". The new catch phrase for the 2006 Election is "Negative Fact Ad".

Well, at least Guerra admits it's negative, not like...well, what's done is done. But when are facts pertinent, and when do they border on childish, name-calling nonsense? After all, Villarreal is not running for District Attorney, Alma Garza is. The article states that the television ad asks, "What do you do if owe you more than $400,000 in taxes? If you're Hector Villarreal, you run your wife for district attorney." Yes, well, maybe. To me this type of "negative fact" falls under the 'I know that, and you know that, but we'll just keep it on the wink, wink, nudge, nudge level' type of innuendo. The same type of innuendos that most people are scared to speak of in public, or within earshot of anybody from the opposing side.

Or libel lawyers.

Which is exactly what Hector Villarreal must have in mind when he was quoted in the article as saying, "...I intend to file a lawsuit against (Guerra) quickly."

Alma Garza, taking the more professional approach to these types of tactics, is quoted in the article as saying, "I think it's done in desperation. Usually when a candidate gets dirty, it's because he's desperate and he doesn't know what to do". Indeed, and give her campaign manager a much deserved raise for leading her down this path. It takes a certain individual to steer clear of these types of tactics, and if Garza is unphased by the attacks on her husband's private financial matters, or why Guerra would have the public believe these are the reasons for running in the first place, then you know more or less what type of person you'll be dealing with if she get's elected. End of Round Two.