I got a flier in the mail from Melanie Manning, who is running against me in the primary. I don’t know Melanie from Adam, although I’m told she’s the daughter of local attorney Ira Goldstein. I’ve been on Melanie’s Web site before, so I noticed she had used the same photo on her flier as the one included on her site. Since I don’t know her, the photo creates an impression on me. And that impression is that she wants me to think she’s ALREADY a judge. Her portrait shows her standing in front of a wall stacked with law books, and she’s wearing a dress or something that looks an awful lot like a… robe!
But Melanie’s not the only one. Elizabeth Dow, who’s running in the Republican primary for the same judge position, found her way to the law library, too! And doesn’t her oufit look a lot like a…robe?!
Then, there’s Jeff Allen, who skipped the law books and went right with the big guns: his actual robe!
I understand the concept of trying to market yourself to an uneducated public. And your photo, like it or not, obviously sends a message about who you are. But I’d like to think anyone who’s made their way to my site is savvy enough to know that, while a photo is a picture, it doesn’t provide a true picture. And that’s why I put together this Web site. There are probably close to 100,000 of my own words filling its pages. Sure, a nice photo helps with your message (I used mine from the newspaper, and I’m happy to report I don’t cringe when I look at it!), but you can learn a whole lot more about a person from reading their words than you ever can from a photo. They don’t create cliches like “You can’t judge a book by its cover” out of thin air. There’s truth behind the cliche.
For 5 years, I’ve been writing about the things and thoughts that fill my head. I have always tried to be painfully honest when expressing my opinions and emotions. When I wrote the columns, I did it that way to make the columns more authentic and, hopefully, more interesting than typical newspaper fare. But today, that method of writing helps give you with a window into my head that no other candidate provides, or even dares to provide you.
I don’t have to pose for you, whether that be posing in a picture, or posing behind some canned political words included on my Web site. I tried to present myself to you as I am, not who I want you to think I am. I’m comfortable in my own skin, warts and all. I hope the things you learn about me on this site are the qualities you’d like to see in a judge.
To contact Tim, write timplacher@yahoo.com
For mor infor about Tim’s campaign, go back to www.timforjudge.com
