Elicker’s video offered this take on how the Harp poll portrays him.
In a new campaign video, mayoral candidate Justin Elicker seeks to “debunk” his rival’s “negativity” — then unleashes an attack of his own, calling Toni Harp an “unengaged spectator in her own campaign.” Harp swung back, saying Elicker has a “glass jaw.”
Elicker delivers his messages in a new six-minute video, posted on YouTube Monday afternoon. He seeks to “set the record straight” on seven allegations leveled against him in a recent Harp campaign poll. Then he criticizes Harp for having her staff and volunteers speak for her in the press.
Click the play arrow to watch the video, entitled “Preparing for the Negative,” to watch his step-by-step rebuttals.
Democrat Harp, a state senator, and independent Elicker, an alderman are facing off in the Nov. 5 general election for mayor.
Asked about Elicker’s video, Harp said Monday that he “needs to grow some thicker skin.” She claimed she’s never gone negative, while Elicker has dished out what he can’t take.
In the video, Elicker quotes seven claims allegedly made in a recent phone poll commissioned by the Harp campaign; Harp campaign manager Jason Bartlett described it as a “benchmark” poll assessing negative perceptions of each candidate. Elicker calls the claims about him in the poll — which deal with fire trucks, food stamps, the education budget, and George W. Bush — are false or misleading. (One of the issues at hand: whether having worked for the state department as a foreign service officer under Bush makes somebody a Bush supporter. Watch closely to see W’s eyes flicker toward Elicker at 3:26.)
For instance, Elicker said the Harp poll claimed that Elicker voted to cut education funding. That’s false, he said. He voted to flat-fund the Board of Ed, not cut it.
“But most importantly, supporting schools doesn’t mean blindly throwing money at them. When asking the Board of Aldermen for approval of an additional $3 million, the superintendent of schools couldn’t tell us what he would use the money for. I demanded accountability, and when the superintendent couldn’t explain how he would use the money, I proposed not approving the increase,” Elicker says in the video.
“Now that we’ve set the record straight, I want to underscore one more thing,” Elicker says near the end of the video. “What’s most disturbing in this poll, more than false accusations about my policy positions and experience, is Toni’s apparent lack of knowledge about the poll and its content.
“This has become a pattern, where people in Toni’s campaign regularly speak for her in the press and present her policy proposals for her. Harp appears to be an unengaged spectator in her own campaign for mayor. That’s not leadership.
“Look, I’m proud of the campaign I’m running because I personally make decisions based on my opinions and my values. Just as I know the details of every poll we put out, I’ll know the details of every policy my administration implements. Taking ownership over your decisions and those of your employees has to be a prerequisite to being mayor.”
Asked to respond to Elicker’s criticism, Harps dismissed it as “silly” and “ridiculous.”
“Obviously I’m involved in my own campaign,” she said. “It’s nonsense for him to say that I’m not engaged in my campaign. It’s nonsense for him to say that I don’t speak for myself.”
Asked about the extent of her knowledge of her campaign’s poll when it came out, Harp said, “I knew that we were doing a benchmark poll. Because I’ve been out in the field, I didn’t know precisely all of the questions that were on the poll.”
“I haven’t really said publicly anything negative about Mr. Elicker,” Harp said. “He’s called me a liar five or six times. Anything he thinks about me or my qualifications he just spins. I’ve taken a lot of negativity in this campaign from various people who support him. I haven’t released anything negative about him. I just asked some questions. He can’t even take a question. He’s got a glass jaw.”
Harp reiterated some of the claims in her poll. On the education claim, she said, Elicker’s flat-funding proposal amounted to a cut. “Whenever you level fund something it’s a cut because cost escalators are built into every budget. His level funding is in fact a cut.”
She repeated the claim that Elicker would remove a fire engine from Morris Cove, despite his statement to the contrary. And she took aim at the Democracy Fund, the city’s public campaign financing program, which Elicker participated in.
Harp said she doesn’t think the Democracy Fund should be done away with. “I don’t have a problem with public financing. I supported the bill. I just didn’t participate this year,” she said. “I just question — if we’re in dire financial straits as a city, why would he use that money that way?”
“He’s very incongruous, and obviously very disturbed by even the thought of somebody saying something negative about him,” Harp said. “He really needs to grow some thicker skin.”
This kind of behavior reals turns people off to politics. Toni Harp comes off like a schoolyard bully in her rebuttal. Instead of addressing the accusations with poise and reason, her reply is the politician's version of, "You mad, bro?"