Elmira "Star-Gazette":A slack campaign
- Candidate Barend has lost her credibility because of staffer's role in Kuhl controversy.
For the want of campaign dirt, a promising congressional campaign has been shattered for 29th District candidate Samara Barend. It was just about a year ago that the Vestal native moved into the district, positioning herself to run as a Democrat once Republican U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton stepped down.
She carried with her considerable credibility, built on her successful coordination of a pro-Interstate 86 coalition in the Southern Tier. Under 30, a professional female, two Ivy League degrees. Her star was rising. She had all the ingredients to bring a fresh perspective to a race for Houghton's seat.
For all she had going for her, Barend blundered badly the past few weeks by at first denying that her campaign had anything to do with the improper release of court-sealed divorce papers involving her opponent John R. Kuhl Jr.
Then she compounded that by telling this newspaper's editorial board that she had her campaign staff's "word of honor" that it wasn't involved. Finally, she failed to fire her campaign manager Jonah Siegellak, even after he admitted his complicity in the controversy on Friday and claimed Barend knew nothing about it.
Instead, she has reassigned him to other staff duties -- in other words a demotion -- and has spun the story back toward Kuhl claiming he had all the explaining to do for allegations in divorce papers that -- and Barend's campaign knows this -- traditionally are loaded with one-sided accusations.
As a result, Barend has allowed her credible candidacy to degenerate into a muddy campaign where voters in this race -- especially the undecideds -- are left no choice but to question her ability to manage a campaign and, by implication, the rigors of a congressional term.
Even if Barend were to fire Siegellak this week, in the days leading up to next Tuesday's election, the damage is done. Her failure to act quickly and decisively in righting this wrong suggests that the inmates are running the asylum at Barend headquarters.
This is not the Sam Barend who spoke on our editorial pages earlier this year. It is not the Sam Barend who appeared twice on "Twin Tiers Weekly" to talk sincerely about the issues.
It is not the Sam Barend who showed grace under fire when her primary opponent, Jeremy Alderson, launched a verbal assault on her during a joint television appearance. We don't know where that Sam Barend went. What we have now is a candidate whose strings are being yanked by campaign operatives who appear to want to win at any cost.
We don't believe that is the kind of campaign Barend intended, but on her watch, that is the kind of campaign she has permitted.
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