Who says there is no such thing as bad PR?

by: Thurman Hart

Tue Oct 21, 2008 at 06:46:46 PM EDT

The wonderful thing about electoral politics in the US is the ... well, let's use the word "colorful" ... characters that decide to challenge the system by launching independent campaigns. One of my favorites was Loretta Nall, who ran for Governor of Alabama under the slogan "Vote for Nall, Y'all". Her platform was largely limited to legalizing marijuana and repealing the state law that required women to wear panties when visiting male prisoners in state penitientiaries (go ahead and Google, I'll wait). I mean, when a candidate has an official campaign shirt (more of these boobs, less of the ones in office), you gotta appreciate the effort.

I'm decidedly less thrilled with the latest independent candidate in New Jersey. Daryl Brooks is apparently running so he can expose the horrors of child-support. I kid you not:

"America's child support system has been called by many 'The modern-day resurrection of the debtor's prison system,' " Brooks said in a press release. "Thousand of previously incarcerated people have been re-jailed or imprisoned -- for anywhere from six months to three years or more -- over this type of debt, and face more FELONY convictions tacked upon their records as a result."

The short story:

Daryl Brooks, city activist and independent U.S. Senate candidate, was jailed Monday for failure to pay more than $70,000 in child support payments to three women.
Brooks, who served a jail term for a sex offense in 1998, vowed to embark on a hunger strike to protest the treatment of those released from prison in America.

Brooks says he can't pay his child support - which he owes for an unknown number of people to three different women - because he has trouble finding work when people find out he's a sex offender. Oddly enough, thousands of ex-inmates find paying jobs and manage to live up to their obligations - despite the challenges in doing so. I'm not saying that Brooks' arguments doesn't contain a seed of truth, but it's a seed that is buried so deeply that it can't see the light of day.

You think he'll find a better job now?

Thurman Hart :: Who says there is no such thing as bad PR?