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Ballard Vs. Hayes revisited The election is over and the voters have spoken: an overwhelming majority re-elected Scott Ballard as district attorney. I thought it'd be a lot closer race. Hayes ran a textbook professional campaign, he had the slickest marketing materials and the highest presence. He dropped bombshells ("1100 non-filed cases") with precision. So what went wrong? I think Dave Simmons' gang hysteria was a major factor in getting Ballard re-elected. Simmons breathless "gangs are coming! gangs are coming!" rhetoric made the public uneasy...particularly when Sheriff Johnson didn't do anything about it (Johnson later denied any home-grown gangs existed) and Wayne Hannah sat on his hands at the NAACP gang meeting (a masterstroke, in retrospect). Enter Scott Ballard. Ballard threw the book at the two African-American gang-banger-wannabees, and gave the 3-4 white gangstas probation. It seemed like overnight the "gang menace" evaporated...and it was Scott Ballard who had "done something". Hayes is a very conservative prosecutor, and Fayette is a conservative county. I think, perhaps, that Hayes learned the "Lakly Lesson"...that there are limits to conservatism. (Former state rep Dan Lakly got defeated for re-election his first time because he bragged about how little money he spent on Fayette education like a "good conservative"). I believe Hayes seriously misjudged the bloodthirstiness of the Fayette populace. The voters evidently wanted a "fair and balanced" prosecutor, not a knee-jerk throw-the-book one. The last days of the campaign were very strange, almost as if Hayes was throwing everything and the kitchen sink against Ballard ("Coozies!" "1100 cases!" "child molestors!" and "mismanaged office!") just to see if anything stuck. It didn't. The last major charge by Hayes, that Ballard mis-managed the office, was especially laughable. Ballard inherited a mess from his predecessor Bill McBroom and despite any misgivings people may have had about his courtroom behavior, he was, by most accounts, a very fine case manager. I don't think Hayes was helped by enlisting the "Studdard Machine" (David and county clerk Sheila Studdard) to manage his campaign. Those two seem to have a near-pathological hatred of all things Ballard (Sheila Studdard beat Scott's cousin for the clerk position a while back). In any event, it's a moot point now. Ballard has another four years to show us what he can do. I didn't vote for him because I thought he showed poor judgement in that character witness fiasco. But I'm willing to give him a chance now. We'll see how he handles the next four years. Buckle up folks, it's going to be interesting! sniffles5's blog | login to post comments
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