The evening of November 3, just hours before the polls were set to open for local elections, a text message popped up on my phone. It featured a hazy image of a Langhorne Blue yard sign followed by a 100-word slur against Barry Truchil, the Democratic candidate for Langhorne Borough Mayor. Although no one has yet developed an olfactory ‘smell-o-rama’ app for the iPhone, the text coming across my screen began to reek of the worst of American politics. Halfway through I skipped to the bottom to see who it was from. It was unsigned. Anonymous. The sender didn’t have the courage to put their name to it.
Given that Langhorne Borough’s mayoral contest was a two-person race I figured this was a desperate, last-minute push in support of Robert Farrow, the Republican candidate. A smear tactic used to sway undecided voters. But Mr. Farrow’s name was never mentioned. Actually the text gave no reason at all to vote for the Republican candidate. If you can’t say anything to support the Republican all you’re left with is taking a swipe at Democrats.
Politics has always had a slimy underbelly. And America has endured negative campaigns since John Adams and Thomas Jefferson attacked each other in 1800. But after 225 years of mudslinging you would think we’d have worked this cesspool of slander out of our system. At the very least, you’d think today’s political hacks would be better at it.
Nope.
This deceptive, divisive, and partisan attack accused Mr. Truchil of being deceptive, divisive and partisan. What was that about the pot calling the kettle black? My favorite line is the one that paints Mr. Truchil as a “left wing extremist partisan college professor” and urges voters to ‘keep politics out of local government.’ In today’s Republican party, it seems like anyone more moderate than white nationalist, neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes is a left-wing extremist.
It’s a pretty big group.
The real political takedown was exposing Mr. Truchil’s not so secret life as a college professor — you know, someone who spends their career inspiring young minds? Wow. Is that the best you got? What is it with Republicans and their disdain for education? Why wouldn’t you want an inquisitive, better-informed citizenry able to make well-reasoned choices? Wait, I think I just answered my own question. As for trying to keep politics out of government … does the author of this text have a dictionary? The first definition in Merriam-Webster defines politics as “the art or science of government.” Keeping politics out of government is like keeping yarn out of sweaters. Unless, of course, you aspire to live under an authoritarian, one-party regime. Is that what this is about?
Modern communication tools let people hide behind third-party text numbers, anonymous email, and unaccountable social media. But the FEC requires that public communications disclose who paid for them. In this case the image that accompanied the text states it was paid for by Community First PAC. So I Googled it.
READ: Read the Election Results and Exhale a Little
I found a website with a single page featuring a picture of Republican Pennsylvania State Senator Frank Farry talking to veterans and a statement claiming Community First PAC is ‘working to elect people who will put our community first here in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.’ There are no other pages. No address. No phone number. No way for this political action committee to hear from the community they claim to be putting first. But the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania does make available the PAC’s finance reports detailing who their contributors are. The state also provides a web page with the names of the PAC’s officers.
That’s a start.
By the end of election day, the results were in. The residents of Langhorne Borough, who are a pretty savvy bunch not easily taken in by anonymous texts, had elected Barry Truchil as mayor — by 30 percentage points. Voters know Barry from his years on Langhorne Borough Council, the borough’s zoning board, and as co-lead for the non-partisan “No Cloverleaf” campaign.
Barry Truchil is the only man I know of who still believes public service is an honorable endeavor. He cares about his town. And he’s got a record of service to prove it.
