Smacks to me of a man utterly unprepared for and unsuited to political life. Every minute move held up to scrutiny, and lambasted if it’s wrong: the drone footage was a ****-up, the army pictures an error of judgement… I blame the team around him for that. I’ve canvassed for TDS who became ministers and you never have the candidate in charge of those details: his FF team let him down badly in that respect. These things aren't PR firm territory, just basic - really basic - campaign team cop-on.
There was abuse as well: allegations that seemed a deliberate attempt to smear him must have been hard for his family. Nobody should have to put up with that, and a person’s family should be out of bounds, even as collateral damage. I wouldn't blame him if that was at the back of his mind.
The €3k+, though, that’s a different matter. It speaks to morality and the character of a person. I’m going to be circumspect here – Dahamsta doesn’t want the libel lawyers sniffing around – but if I kept €100 that didn’t belong to me, after the rightful owner made reasonable efforts to get it returned, I could have no complaints if that person and others who knew of my actions regarded me as dishonest at best, and a thief at worst.
When an election isn’t about policy or issues, inevitably it comes down to the personal, and that’s what makes this the most noxious election we have. It’s no coincidence that bar Cearbhaill O’Dalaigh, every president has been an Oireachtas member – they’re used to the game. Amateurs aren’t: ask Mary Davis, Sean Gallagher, Adi Roche, Joan Freeman… Jim Gavin. The smaller the prize, the dirtier the fight.
As an aside, Martin is copping the flak today. When the dust settles poeple might start asking why the Finance minister, with the biggest day in his calendar smack in the middle of the campaign, was director of elections. Chambers can hardly get off scott free.
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Originally Posted by pineapple stu
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