Is John Frey a Serious Candidate for Attorney General?
By Guest Post | Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 | PoliticsGuest post by Rick Sincere
As Norm Leahy reported earlier today, John Frey, Clerk of the Circuit Court in Fairfax County, has announced that he is a candidate for Virginia Attorney General in 2013. Two other candidates have also announced: Delegate Rob Bell of Albemarle County and state Senator Mark Obenshain of Harrisonburg. (Technically, Obenshain has announced only the launch of an exploratory committee, but he is definitely a candidate.)
It’s hard to take Frey’s campaign seriously, however, given what’s missing so far.
The news release announcing Frey’s decision to run includes no contact information for the campaign: no web site, no postal address, no fax, no general telephone number. (It has a number for the press contact.)
So far as I’ve been able to determine, John Frey has no Twitter account, either a personal one or one for campaign purposes. He seems to have no presence on Facebook, either.
What’s more, the campaign announcement included no information about how supporters could make financial contribution’s to Frey’s campaign – and, of course, no address to send a donation even if someone were motivated to do so.
To be fair, running for Clerk of Court does not require the usual accoutrements of a political campaign. As I commented to friends several times during the recent contested race for Clerk in Charlottesville, deciding between two candidates for Clerk is really just figuring out who has the better filing system. (See this and this for examples.) It’s not exactly hot politics.
Still, to make a campaign announcement that leaves out such basic information, and to make an announcement before getting all your social-media ducks in a row – that really sows doubt about the seriousness of the candidate.
It’s also hard to take serious any candidate who touts his experience as “Fourth Vice President of the Virginia Association of Local Elected Constitutional Officers.”
“Fourth Vice President”? Really?
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Rick Sincere, twice a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, blogs about politics and culture from Charlottesville. He is the author of two books on U.S. policy toward Africa and has contributed articles to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Examiner, among other publications. Follow him on Twitter at @rick_sincere
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Comments
3 Responses to "Is John Frey a Serious Candidate for Attorney General?"
Thats why you have won so many races, Rick and John has lost so many…..oh wait.
Rick, the race doesn’t truly begin until after the 2012 election cycle. There is no reason for anyone to have their ducks in a row until they’re actively campaigning. Given the speed with which people began announcing after Ken decided to run for Governor, I can understand John’s desire to get a press release out.
And if you know anything about Northern Virginia politics, you’d see the press contact name and the email address and recognize that it came from John’s general consultant for the race. The fact that he’s already hired a well-known GC makes it clear that he’s a serious candidate, not that he hasn’t taken the time to sign up for a free social media service that has little to no impact on actual election results.
A twitter feed and a Facebook page do not a candidate make. Unless you’re Kim Kardashian.
Hey Rick why don’t you run for Clerk of the Court in Albemarle? I would think you would have to admit it isn’t easy to win any campaign…never mind a county-wide election in Fairfax County with its 1.1 million people.
Frey is no more of a long-shot than any of the other candidates, and he didn’t send a weird christmas card like your guy Bell…
If anyone underestimates Frey they are fooling themselves.
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