McHaddad: Campaigning in Drag

The great RuPaul once sang, “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.” The song must play on repeat at the quixotic political headquarters of a Lebanon resident who is attempting to seek the Libertarian nomination for Congressional District 5. The (not) favorite son of the Town that Friendliness Built seems aware that there is no momentum for his campaign – so he decided to invent some.

While Right Now Oregon is one of the few news outlets to cover this candidate more than once, our most recent article focused on the new Democratic and Republican CD5 nominees, as they were the only candidates nominated in the primary last week. That did not stop the candidate from commenting about an election in which he did not run: “Bring transparency back to journalism! I’ve been here, I’m not going anywhere,” wrote the candidate, who also posted a screenshot of a Ballotpia entry mentioning him.

The Libertarian is certain that he is the leading candidate, as he claims in the comment section: “[I]f a legitimate non biased poll were to be conducted today I’m confident I would be leading.” But where is the grassroots movement to validate that claim? This candidate has received no campaign donations, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission. Enter the Libertarian Party of Linn County, which joined the comments section two hours later with this remark:

“We also have a candidate in this race… It’s becoming increasingly difficult to understand why he continues to be excluded from coverage of Oregon’s 5th Congressional District.

“The American people are already losing trust in journalism because transparency and honesty have become far too rare in modern media. If outlets want to rebuild that trust, it starts with reporting fairly, accurately, and completely rather than selectively deciding which candidates deserve coverage.”

With 719 members, the Libertarian voting block of Linn County may be small, but they are mighty! Someone was being mean to their man in the comments, and they fought back! Albeit with meager resources, as attested by their treasurer in campaign finance filings with the Oregon Secretary of State. Give them some time, though – the Libertarian Party of Linn County Central Committee was only founded last week, on May 18. Putting no money where their mouth is, the Central Committee is composed of… The Congressional candidate and his wife, respectively identified as treasurer and director.

The Linn County Libertarian Party is just the Congressional office seeker in digital drag. Liking your own comments was once the height of cringe on Facebook. Even more cringe is commenting in favor of your own political campaign via a secondary Facebook page purporting to represent a larger pool of citizens. CD5 voters deserve honesty in this campaign. Your political party does not absolve you from being forthright with voters, no matter how unfair you feel you are being treated. And there is only one CD5 aspirant who has yet to learn that lesson.

Editor’s Note

Right Now Oregon, LLC President Alex McHaddad is the Treasurer of Young Republicans of Oregon, which endorsed Commissioner Patti Adair for Congressional District 5. Right Now Oregon, LLC has no editorial stance on the CD5 race and does not intend to endorse any candidate.