Did the Shawnee Dispatch cross over from reporting about an election to actively shilling for a particular candidate? In their issue just released today they have a "Letter to the Editor" from Lindsey Constance, Ward 4 council candidate. You can read it by clicking here Decide for yourself.
Is this really a letter to the editor or is it a campaign mailer/statement of position? You read it and decide for yourself. I think it is a piece of campaign literature. Maybe the Dispatch thinks they can be promoting one candidate over another. Kind of like the Washington Post or the NY Times.
For the record, I called both the local reporter/editor and the Journal World general manager and did not get a call back. As a matter of fact, I was in Lawrence today and stopped by the Journal World (Dispatch's parent company) and their general manager was "in a meeting".
One last item. The Dispatch's headline is very telling. "Council candidate wants to put politics aside, focus on Shawnee’s economic future" It just goes to show her naiveté. What she says may sound good (let's sit around the campfire and sing kumbaya) but that is not the real world. The real world is political. And whether she wants to admit it or not, so is her position. The future of any city will have political overtones. At least in our society. Not necessarily in a liberal socialist society. And she's a teacher? Does she attempt to indoctrinate our youth with her personal liberal philosophy?
