Oct. 27, 2006 Senator Adlah Foncie Donastorg and Dr. Cora Christian said that they have resisted responding to the negative advertising and rumors being spread by the deJongh propaganda machine.
The Donastorg/Christian Team has not sponsored any negative advertising.
From the start we wanted to keep this campaign about the issues, Donastorg said. But it is clear that as Dr. Christian and I have surged in popularity they are running scared and have lined up to attack us on every side. People told me all along to be careful because this team would stop at nothing and it seems they are right.
Donastorg said that it would be much better if John deJongh and Greg Francis were willing to debate the issues instead of paying people to try and discredit him.
Please come out and disagree with me about my plan to raise salaries for Government workers, increase accountability or lift the Medicaid cap, Donastorg said. Cant any of your consultants and advertising agencies come up with something better? Because the people deserve better than to hear Virgin Islanders paid to tear down other Virgin Islanders.
The deJongh/Francis camp is presently sponsoring at least three attack ads and, most recently, questioned the Donastorg/Christian campaign disclosure statements.
It is actually sort of amusing because they are criticizing our campaign for being poor, Donastorg said. We have run our campaign on a shoestring with only about a weeks worth of television ads and just a few weeks of radio spots. Other teams have been heavily advertising in every way possible for almost six months. Additionally, we have not expended any funds to pay for polling or direct mailings. Most of our campaigning has been at the grassroots level. We are out every night talking to people about our ideas and plans and they like what they hear.
One of the attack ads is being run by so called pollster John Boyd. Boyd has released numerous polls stating that deJongh was the front runner in this election, however the polls do not meet the standards outlined by the National Council of Polls and most recently Boyd admitted that his polls contained questions designed to place Senator Donastorg in a negative light.
Dr. Christian questions the methodology and ethics of Mr. Boyd.
These polls cannot be relied upon to represent the true position of the people starting with the fact that Mr. Boyd fails to share his sampling methodology and margin of error, Dr. Christian said.
The sponsorship of the polls is also problematic.
Mr. Boyd told me personally that John deJongh had paid him $5,000 for just one of these polls, she said. These polls are not independent.
Christian said her campaign committee had discussed exposing Mr. Boyd for weeks now, but determined he was merely serving to attempt to distract us from talking about real issues.
It went to another level when John Boyd took out his own ads attacking the Donastorg/Christian Team, she said. He should know that he has lost any shred of credibility he once had in his effort to assist deJongh.
Donastorg and Christian called the various attack ads juvenile attempts to confuse voters.
One of the ads repeatedly calls Senator Donastorg a liar without ever saying anything he lied about, she said. Most people know exactly what this ad is really about.
Donastorg said another ad throws out a random list of legislation he voted against without any explanation.
As one example they say I voted against something for GERS and I am proud to say I did vote against the proposal to allow GERS to invest our retirement money in an unstable stock market, Donastorg said. Why are they purposefully trying to confuse people? Is that the only way to get elected?
Donastorg said that the deJongh camp likely decided to criticize his teams campaign spending to avoid discussing the unsavory details released in their own disclosure report.
I wont even get into the fact that they released a statement basically saying that you have to be rich to run for office perhaps we can offer them a course in financial prudence, Donastorg said. The people should really look closely at who is sponsoring the deJongh campaign. For example, if you are an Estate Harmony resident or care about beach access you might want to know that his supporters include the people that put up the razor wire and hired the armed guards to keep you off Sunsi Beach. This is a taste of the direction we are headed with deJongh and the reason why so many Democrats have decided to support Dr. Christian and I. We bring this up because beach access is a campaign issue and anyone against beach access is against the people.
Donastorg and Christian urged the public to read the disclosure reports themselves to gather a complete picture. Donastorg noted that both the other gubernatorial teams had accepted contributions from Botany Bay Partners, the group behind the controversial development of Botany Bay.
They wanted to develop the most pristine area of St. Thomas without provisions for even sewage treatment, Donastorg said. They were giving away historic artifacts and wanted to build on top of a slave cemetery — generally operating in complete disregard for our environment, our people and our culture.
Donastorg said that Botany Bay is currently being subdivided and is an environmental nightmare with erosion likely damaging some of the islands healthiest coral reefs.
I understand that we dont always know everything about every donor, Donastorg said. But some say senators lost their seats four years ago because of the Botany Bay issue. This was a major controversy on St. Thomas and to many people taking money from this corporation demonstrates a real lack of sensitivity.
Donastorg said it was apparent that deJonghs backers were intent on shoving his candidacy down the throats of Virgin Islanders at any cost.
Not all the people are swallowing, Mr. deJongh, Donastorg said. Please stop the nasty propaganda so we can start talking about the bread and butter issues people really care about.
Donastorg said he was not personally offended by any of the negative tactics.
The old people always say you dont throw stones at trees that dont bear fruits, he said. Dr. Christian and I are in the race for the right reasons and we will keep running our campaign in the right way.
