It saddens me that the 1st Congressional District Democratic primary contest has fallen into the abyss of labeling candidate Shawn O’Connor a domestic abuser.
The hospital and police records are quite clear: Shawn O’Connor is an abuse survivor and not a perpetrator.
To use state Rep. Jackie Cilley’s words, Shawn O’Connor has been “slimed.” And, while Cilley did not identify the source, Sen. David Pierce, one of our Democrat state leaders did so without equivocation. In Pierce’s words: “I am proud to stand with Shawn against this type of character assassination politics, which has no place in our Democratic primary. . . . In light of this, I sincerely hope that Carol Shea-Porter will take the honorable step of publicly apologizing to Shawn for her and her team’s actions against him. The Democratic Party should stand up against anyone who seeks higher office by taking the low road.”
I hope that Shea-Porter will rise to the occasion, apologize and help us all move beyond this. I have voted for her in every election since 2008, but the perpetrators of this fabrication must recognize that the “politics of defamation” are not real politics. We need to debate the real issues openly and publicly, not waste time on personal attacks.
And having Shea-Porter’s campaign administrator call the opposition “desperate” or “bizarre” is just another form of name calling. It is beneath us. It is beneath Team Shea-Porter. This is so very damaging to our Democrat brand.
DUANE KIMBALL
Barrington