Jim Ott: Quickly Losing my Support

About a week ago I commented on how I felt Jim Ott is a good candidate for the 23rd District Assembly position, even though I don't live in that district. I even went so far as to send him an e-mail looking for further details regarding his candidacy.

In response, I received a lengthy personal e-mail from his primary opponent, John Wirth, asking me to consider his qualifications as well. I replied to him that since I'm not in that district, and that since Jim Ott's name recognition was what initially drew me into researching the Ott platform, I was simply unaware of his candidacy. A couple of e-mail exchanges later, I'm now receiving Wirth press releases.

For the record, John Wirth opposes the proposed regional sales tax as a way of funding "cultural assets." According to him, "the problem is not that government taxes too little, it is that government spends too much, and is badly run."

Meanwhile, I've yet to hear anything in response from Jim Ott, the man or the campaign, in spite of two requests for information submitted via his campaign website. Now I realize I'm not in his district, but some of my fifteen readers are, as well as my parents. Is the Ott campaign willing to lose even one vote just by being non-responsive to someone who gave unsolicited support in the first place?

For the most part, Wirth and Ott have the same platform. I expressed to John Wirth that I felt voters in that district were in a win-win situation, believing they had two good primary candidates from which to choose. But now it appears one candidate is interested in personally engaging voters while another would rather disregard them.

This isn't about sour grapes. I wouldn't normally expect either candidate to pay attention to little old me. But I was surprised to hear from Wirth in the first place, which raised my expectations and, quite frankly, impressed me.

A campaign is more than just a platform, it's about the person as well. So far, one is impressing me more than the other.