Friday, November 16, 2001
|
Friday, November 16, 2001 |
|
Double meaning makes campaign signs popular among local youths By JOHN
MUNFORD Well, at least his campaign signs have. They are emblazoned with the slogan "Win with Weed" and The Citizen has confirmed that some local high school students are bragging that they have taken the signs and put them on their bedroom walls because of their double meaning. "Weed" is also common slang for marijuana. Murray Weed says he does not condone the use of illegal substances such as marijuana. In fact, he once served as the top drug prosecutor for the city of Columbus before becoming a municipal attorney. But the candidate couldn't help but laugh at the irony, although "the joke is at my expense." Weed said that he would be glad to give away the signs after the runoff election Nov. 27 to anyone who wants one. He even offered to autograph the signs. "If they'd just leave them in the ground until Nov. 27, that's all I ask," Weed said. Approximately 50 of his 100 campaign signs have turned up missing, Weed estimated. He added that students excited about the slogan's double meaning had something to do with at least some of the thefts. "I'm sure that part of that is true," Weed said. Weed was upset, however, that two magnetic campaign signs have been taken from vehicles. Weed does come into contact with students perhaps more often than any other council candidate: he serves as the Interact Club sponsor for McIntosh High School. "I hang out with kids a lot, and I know what they think and I think it's funny," Weed said of the sign theft fiasco. There was no intent for the signs to have that double meaning, although Weed admitted joking with a campaign worker about how the signs would likely end up on a dorm room wall at the University of Georgia, for example. Another irony is that Weed says he has never consumed an illegal substance such as marijuana. "I am certainly not endorsing that," the candidate said. "But I can't help that my last name is Weed."
|
||