Friday, Oct. 25, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.
This week veteran political strategist Gary Gray launched a new campaign website, www.jeffsobel.com, boasting that it contains "valuable information" about the site's namesake, District Judge Jeff Sobel.
Ordinarily that wouldn't be much of a story except for the fact that Gray doesn't work for Sobel, a 12-year veteran on the bench. Gray works for attorney Jackie Glass, who is running against Sobel.
That valuable information, it turns out, is a big old pile of political mud on Sobel.
It's the latest example of why Sobel vs. Glass has become the nastiest judicial race in Clark County.
Gray is proud of himself for paying a mere $35 back in February to steal Sobel's name on the Internet so that he now has yet another forum to slime the judge during the last two crucial weeks of the campaign.
He says the public has a right to absorb as much muck as it can on Sobel, who is not the most likeable guy at the courthouse.
Some of the same goodies on the website also appear in campaign mailers and television attack ads Gray has produced for Glass in a race that has turned off many voters down the wire.
Sobel says stealing his Internet domain is sneaky politics that makes him sick.
Actually it's worse than that. It's dirty politics -- deceptive and wrong and exactly why voters have a low opinion of politicians today. It's why the public tends to shy away from participating in the process and stays away from the polls on Election Day.
And remember: This is occurring in a judicial race, where judges and aspiring judges are expected to rise above this level of deceit. If a candidate for judge will use this tactic while campaigning, what will the candidate do on the bench?
Because Gray gobbled up Sobel's Internet domain, the judge has been unable to use his own name on his own campaign web page. His address is www.judgesobel.com.
But that's the least of Sobel's problems.
The opposition website, Sobel says, is full of "outright lies and distortions," including those attacking his work ethic and reputation for handing out light sentences.
Those browsing the site have their choice of clicking on such icons as "What's your idea of hard work? Or "Who is Turn-'em-loose Sobel?"
While they're clicking away, they can view a photo of a dreary-eyed, bearded Sobel that looks like an unhappy version of Santa Claus -- without the red suit.
Gray insists the site is a clearinghouse of information, mostly from newspaper stories and editorials, to give voters a full picture of the man behind Sobel's judicial robes.
The allegations, he says, are more documented than the mud Sobel has been slinging at Glass, questioning her courtroom experience.
Sobel is not perfect. His actions sometimes on the bench have invited criticism, and there are allegations on the website that do have merit.
But the problem here is the underhanded way in which Gray and the Glass campaign have gone about bringing those accusations to light.
Gray says he stands behind the cybermuck he's throwing at Sobel, which may be a first in local Internet politicking.
The most notorious attack websites, including one that caused a few headaches for Democratic Congressional candidate Dario Herrera, have sprung up anonymously.
The Herrera site, eventually linked to Republican Rodney Helm, crossed the line by including unsubstantiated allegations about Herrera's personal life. Gray at least doesn't do that with Sobel.
Though Gray attaches his name to the Sobel site, he tries to distance Glass from its content. He runs a disclaimer saying he alone put together the material "without consultation" with Glass.
But no one really believes that Gray acted alone.
In a mailer sent out this week, Glass encourages voters to check out the Sobel website, as if it really belongs to the judge.
On one side of the flier, Glass lays out the reasons why she is qualified to become a judge. On the other side, she talks about why Sobel isn't.
To find out more about her campaign, she tells voters to go to her website, www.jackieglass.com. For information about Sobel's campaign, she suggests a visit to www.jeffsobel.com.
Trouble is both of the sites offer campaign fodder for Glass, not Sobel.
It may be a clever political ploy, but it's dishonest and insulting to the voters asked to play along.
Most voters have better things to do with their time than be tricked into viewing mean-spirited barbs about a judicial candidate on the Internet.
No one ever said politics was fair, but some rules of decency should apply, even to the most ambitious campaigns.
Would somebody pass that thought to Gary Gray and the Glass campaign?
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