Carrie Wigal

FIRST IMPRESSIONS are LASTING IMPRESSIONS

At Old Farm Day this year, I visited the Fluvanna Republican Committee table and my children were approached by a woman and asked if they wanted stickers. Naturally being 2 & 3 years old, they said, “yes” and she proceeded to put stickers endorsing JP without consulting me first. I did not know who JP was and what he stood for, and I was not a member of the FRC at that time. I was leery about promoting a candidate I knew nothing about.

I watched as this woman continued to approach children asking if they wanted a sticker without considering the parent’s consent. I mean, she didn’t even look at the parents or attempt to speak to them, instead like a bird of prey going in for the kill, she directed all of her attention to putting stickers on the children. When a couple blatantly indicated they did not want their children to have one of her stickers, I felt compelled to say something to her.

I approached her in a friendly, private manner suggesting she might get consent from the parents before handing these stickers over to the children. I said as a parent, I didn’t appreciate her going directly to my children without consulting me first. She said, They wanted a sticker…I was just giving them a sticker. I indicated the stickers had words on them and it mattered to me what the words were. She said she didn’t know what the big deal was. I said, If there were foul words on the sticker, naturally I would not want my children to have them. She was offended and said that was a horrible comparison. I said I wasn’t indicating these words were foul, but rather that the words that are being displayed on my children mattered to me.

She defensively apologized for offending me and turned from me. I walked away and thought to myself, whoever that is that’s campaigning for JP is going to sabotage his election.

Right then and there, not knowing a single thing the man stood for, I decided I would not vote for him, and I didn’t. When I told my husband about the incident, it was enough to cost Mr. P his vote, too.

There is no telling how many people went past the FRC booth that day and had similar experiences to mine…I know there was at least one other couple who walked away with a very sour impression.

SECOND CHANCE BLOWN

Later that same month, I attended the FRC Barbecue and had the opportunity to meet Mr. P myself. I figured this was a chance for him to win back my vote.

I approached him and asked “What exactly does a ‘[the position he was seeking]’ do?” and “Why should I vote for you?”

The gist of the conversation led me to believe it was a high-level accounting position…like a controller or an auditor, not a policy-maker. Then Mr. P said, “Frankly, I don’t even know why this is an elected position.” Well, I didn’t either. But if he couldn’t tell me why I should vote for him instead of the incumbent, I thought, Why fire the guy who’s presently doing the job just fine? So I didn’t.

The man lost my vote (as well as my husband’s) because of a bad move on the part of a campaigner. He further lost the opportunity to win back our votes by his inability to persuade me that he was the better man for the job. Politicians need to understand that manners do matter and that it’s their job to educate the public on their position.What do you think?