Editorial

Latest political dirty trick backfires

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Nebraska Republican Party has taken down the Web site it hijacked from a new Democratic congressional candidate, saying it was because of Web site maintenance, not regrets for having done it in the first place.

Oh, really?

Shortly after Max Yashirin, 25, announced that he was running against Republican incumbent Jeff Fortenberry for the 1st Congressional District, the Web site www.maxyashirin.com went live with photos from Yashirin's Facebook account, showing him drinking beer and smoking a cigar.

The Republicans, who registered the site before Yashirin got around to it, said they were making the point that the challenger to their two-term incumbent is a 25 year old who hasn't finished college.

Democrats, for their part, note that Yashirin hasn't finished college because his Marine Reserves unit was called up to serve in Iraq. He now works with people with mental and physical disabilities at Region 5 Services and is finishing his degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he majored in international business with minors in Russian and economics.

There are a couple of lessons to learn from the flap. First of all, anyone who has political aspirations should be careful about what they put on line.

Second, any political operative who thinks they have a great idea for a dirty trick should share it with their co-workers, have a good laugh -- and then quickly forget about it.

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