The Lord Campaign is at it again

The Lord campaign just can not help itself.  After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads that were misleading about Lord's law enforcement experience, the Lord campaign is it at it again, running another ad that gives the perception that Lord is something he is not.


In the ad, Lord claims to have spent his career serving and protecting people.  If you call protecting big business clients in transactional matters protecting the people, Lord is your guy.  If you think think protecting people is about putting on a law enforcement or military uniform, well, know that Lord has never done that. 


That said, the words are chosen carefully.  Lord does not lie in the ad.  However,  images of Lord standing with law enforcement agents from years ago in an official looking hat and with someone in front of a police car, the carefully parsed words give the impression that Lord has law enforcement experience when in fact he has none.

What is disappointing is that Greenwood Solicitor Jerry Peace lent his image and voice to this stretch.  Even more puzzling is why Solicitor Peace allowed the perception that he spoke for other Solicitors by allowing the Lord campaign to use Peace's title as President of the South Carolina Solicitors Association.   

Further, it has to give the Wilson campaign team some sense of pride to know that their wealthy opponent's team hijacked their message and their ad.  Lord's ad is almost a carbon copy of Wilson's previous ad.  The difference is Wilson actually has the resume.  

A few days ago, a politico told me to lay off this issue and reminded me that perception is reality in politics.  I also got a not so subtle reminder about money and politics.  Fair enough.  


It is true that in politics, perception is reality.  But, when a perception is manufactured to present a candidate as someone who has held the line of law enforcement or stood watch in the military, it is the duty of those of us who follow politics to point that out.  We owe at least that to the men and women who really do the job of protecting the people.