Gail Marold Responds to N&O Endorsement

Gail Marold, the Media Coordinator for BJ Lawson's Congressional Campaign submitted the following letter to the N&O Editorial Board:

Dear N&O Editorial Board:

While the Lawson for Congress campaign is not at all surprised that you have endorsed B.J. Lawson's opponent, 20-year Rep. David Price, I think the N&O readers would be interested to know that:



1.) The N&O editorial board refused to have a meeting with Dr. Lawson,



2.) You have barely written a word about Dr. Lawson, his campaign, and anything he stands for but every little event that Rep. Price shows up for gets ink,



3.) A campaign staffer expressed her concerns to Public Editor Ted Vaden about the lack of attention given to the campaign, who assured her that he would look into it and get back to her but he never did, and



4.) The first time that Dr. Lawson was granted an interview by anyone from the N&O staff was yesterday, Oct. 15th, when your very nice and professional colleague in your D.C. bureau, Barb Barrett, spoke to him. Dr. Lawson and Ms. Barrett had a great conversation.



The turmoil that has been occurring in the N&O newsroom is unfortunate, but that is no excuse for poor journalism and blatant dodging of a strong and legitimate candidate in a very important race. One of the inherent problems in our political system and the very inept Congress is that new candidates – especially those who have never previously held a public office – barely get a chance to prove themselves because of the biased media.



N&O readers would also be interested to know that Dr. Lawson has raised nearly $500,000 – more than $250,000 of that was raised in the past two weeks from people all over the state and the country. We are talking about an average donation amount of $25 as opposed to large corporate donations given to Rep. Price's campaign. You reference Rep. Price's position as head of the subcommittee responsible for homeland security spending – it is no coincidence that his second largest donor group is the defense industry.



It's clear to many voters of all political belief systems and party affiliations that Dr. Lawson's message of principled leadership based on the Constitution is resonating. This election seems to be all about change and change is definitely needed in North Carolina's Fourth Congressional District.



Sincerely,

Gail Marold

Lawson for Congress