Workman ads sour airwaves

Nancy Workman, the beleaguered Salt Lake County mayor currently on "vacation," isn't waiting for the criminal trial to try to win back her reputation — not to mention her job — in the wake of two felony charges of misusing county funds. No, siree. She's taken her case to the airwaves.

Have you seen those TV ads? Good luck suspending the cynicism, as the interviews with the man (and woman) on the street attempt to explain away Workman's indiscretions.

"It's just politics," says one.

"She's just trying to do a good thing."

"It's taking it way too far."

Who knew you needed to have an airsick bag handy in your family room?

The first thing you wonder is how many people they had to interview before they found the responses they were looking for. Workman Consultant Dave Owen says very few, but given the fact that Workman has plummeted in the polls since Daughtergate began, something doesn't add up here.

We can only imagine what interviews wound up on the editing room floor — "She's just trying to do a good thing for her family." "It's taking it way too far using tax money to pay someone to help her daughter." "Did the people in county government take Stupid Pills this summer?"

This is one goofy mayoral race. You know things aren't going well at campaign headquarters when your candidate is running ads that in essence say, "Sure, I face felony charges, but vote for me anyway!"

Unfortunately for Workman, nowhere in the ad can she say, "I did not do it."

On the other hand, Owen makes a good point when he asks if you can show him a textbook on how to run a campaign when the candidate faces criminal charges. On a list of things to avoid in a re-election campaign, felonies are right there at the top.

Damage control has become a full-time job. Only a few weeks ago, Workman was running radio ads that attempted to polish her image in the aftermath of Daughtergate and Guzzlegate. You remember Guzzlegate, don't you? Hint: Three Salt Lake County officials were caught misusing county vehicles, gas and credit cards.

Welcome to the Titanic of election campaigns. Can someone tell us again why we need a county mayor?

Three county officials resigned in Guzzlegate, although they're probably smacking themselves in the forehead after seeing Nancy's latest TV campaign. Doh! Why didn't I think of that? They could have interviewed the man on the street and turned it into a TV ad a la Nancy's:

"It's just politics, using county cars for personal use."

"My car gets one mile to the gallon, too."

"I do the same thing at my company — uh, is this going to be on TV?"