OsoCoreyell
08-18-04, 09:17 AM
Is it me, or does this seem very, very desperate by Frost's campaign?
Frost aide: Sessions has played sign games before
Republican says he did nothing wrong; police filed report, not charges
06:59 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 18, 2004
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
About two years ago, a Dallas police officer parked beside a man uprooting political campaign signs along Northwest Highway and asked for his identification.
The man was U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, and the signs belonged to his congressional opponent of the time, Pauline Dixon.
The episode, documented in an Oct. 27, 2002, Dallas police incident report, ended with no charges filed. Mr. Sessions said he did nothing wrong that night when he discovered 10 of his opponents' signs "illegally placed" on a state highway.
But campaign officials for Mr. Sessions' opponent, U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Dallas, say the police report suggests otherwise. The Frost campaign called Mr. Sessions "a thief" and accused him of orchestrating an incident Monday at Lakewood Elementary School, where more than two dozen Frost campaign signs were hung from playground equipment and the building.
Mr. Sessions denies the charge.
Pressed on a connection between the incidents, Frost campaign chairman Marc Stanley said: "I can't prove he did it. But I can prove ... that he was out there stealing signs himself" in 2002.
Mr. Sessions, whose son, Alex, is a student at Lakewood Elementary, accused the Frost campaign of the incident. Leaders of both campaigns deny instructing campaign staffers or volunteers to tamper with campaign signs.
Regarding Mr. Sessions' stop for removing signs, Dallas police Sgt. Gil Cerda explained that the officer filed a "miscellaneous incident report," not an offense report, which means police documented the incident but decided against investigating it.
Texas state law prohibits the placement of campaign signs along state highways such as Northwest Highway.
"Only by the good graces of a police officer was Pete Sessions not brought down [to the county jail] to have his mug shot taken," Mr. Stanley said.
Mr. Sessions said by phone Tuesday that he "simply picked up, removed and put the signs right there on the ground" on that October night. "It's perfectly fine to take them up and put them down," he said.
Frost spokesman Justin Kitsch said Mr. Frost was unavailable for comment Tuesday, despite a public appearance in Dallas. Mr. Frost could not be reached for comment.
"If it's on a state highway, and Martin Frost is driving home one night and sees some sign there, I don't have a problem with him putting it down," Mr. Sessions said.
Meanwhile, KDFW-TV (Channel 4) and WFAA-TV (Channel 8) are refusing to air a political advertisement accusing Mr. Frost of supporting policies that expand rights for illegal immigrants, station officials said.
The network affiliates join KXAS-TV (Channel 5) and KTVT-TV (Channel 11), which last week pulled the advertisement, sponsored by the Coalition for the Future American Worker, from their schedules.
"After reviewing the script and spot, WFAA believes the spot does not meet the community standards for air," WFAA-TV president and general manager Kathy Clements wrote in an e-mail.
A KTVT official earlier described the spot as racist and biased. Coalition spokesman Ira Mehlman said his organization would attempt to run the advertisements on local cable and nonaffiliated stations.
He attributed the stations pulling the advertisement to executives "surrendering to political pressure." Only KXAS pulled a round of similar advertisements sponsored in April by the coalition.
In April, Mr. Frost and Mr. Sessions signed a pact demanding that independent organizations refrain from targeting them in political advertisements.
Frost aide: Sessions has played sign games before
Republican says he did nothing wrong; police filed report, not charges
06:59 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 18, 2004
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
About two years ago, a Dallas police officer parked beside a man uprooting political campaign signs along Northwest Highway and asked for his identification.
The man was U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, and the signs belonged to his congressional opponent of the time, Pauline Dixon.
The episode, documented in an Oct. 27, 2002, Dallas police incident report, ended with no charges filed. Mr. Sessions said he did nothing wrong that night when he discovered 10 of his opponents' signs "illegally placed" on a state highway.
But campaign officials for Mr. Sessions' opponent, U.S. Rep. Martin Frost, D-Dallas, say the police report suggests otherwise. The Frost campaign called Mr. Sessions "a thief" and accused him of orchestrating an incident Monday at Lakewood Elementary School, where more than two dozen Frost campaign signs were hung from playground equipment and the building.
Mr. Sessions denies the charge.
Pressed on a connection between the incidents, Frost campaign chairman Marc Stanley said: "I can't prove he did it. But I can prove ... that he was out there stealing signs himself" in 2002.
Mr. Sessions, whose son, Alex, is a student at Lakewood Elementary, accused the Frost campaign of the incident. Leaders of both campaigns deny instructing campaign staffers or volunteers to tamper with campaign signs.
Regarding Mr. Sessions' stop for removing signs, Dallas police Sgt. Gil Cerda explained that the officer filed a "miscellaneous incident report," not an offense report, which means police documented the incident but decided against investigating it.
Texas state law prohibits the placement of campaign signs along state highways such as Northwest Highway.
"Only by the good graces of a police officer was Pete Sessions not brought down [to the county jail] to have his mug shot taken," Mr. Stanley said.
Mr. Sessions said by phone Tuesday that he "simply picked up, removed and put the signs right there on the ground" on that October night. "It's perfectly fine to take them up and put them down," he said.
Frost spokesman Justin Kitsch said Mr. Frost was unavailable for comment Tuesday, despite a public appearance in Dallas. Mr. Frost could not be reached for comment.
"If it's on a state highway, and Martin Frost is driving home one night and sees some sign there, I don't have a problem with him putting it down," Mr. Sessions said.
Meanwhile, KDFW-TV (Channel 4) and WFAA-TV (Channel 8) are refusing to air a political advertisement accusing Mr. Frost of supporting policies that expand rights for illegal immigrants, station officials said.
The network affiliates join KXAS-TV (Channel 5) and KTVT-TV (Channel 11), which last week pulled the advertisement, sponsored by the Coalition for the Future American Worker, from their schedules.
"After reviewing the script and spot, WFAA believes the spot does not meet the community standards for air," WFAA-TV president and general manager Kathy Clements wrote in an e-mail.
A KTVT official earlier described the spot as racist and biased. Coalition spokesman Ira Mehlman said his organization would attempt to run the advertisements on local cable and nonaffiliated stations.
He attributed the stations pulling the advertisement to executives "surrendering to political pressure." Only KXAS pulled a round of similar advertisements sponsored in April by the coalition.
In April, Mr. Frost and Mr. Sessions signed a pact demanding that independent organizations refrain from targeting them in political advertisements.