Jim’s Political Notebook: ‘Copy editor on holiday,’ and ‘Where’s my sticker??’
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Monday, May 17, 2022 — Spelling errors. They are the thing that journalist’s nightmares are made of. No journalist enjoys seeing their work in print and finding a glaring misspelling.
In this instance, it wasn’t a journalist’s mistake, but an error committed by some unnamed web designer for the “unauthorized” campaign committee backing Trey Bradley, a candidate for 50th District state representative.
I was playing one of my games on my phone when I saw a small banner ad for Trey Bradley pop up at the bottom of the screen. The banner had his head shot, a tiny graphic of Kentukcy, two or three short statements and that was it. Obviously I received this ad because I live in the 50th District, so I decided to click on the banner.
The banner led to a webpage with a photo of Trey and his family along with some additional information on the candidate and what he supports if elected state representative.
Under the heading of “Family Values,” the text of the proclaims that “Trey Kennedy knows Nelson County values — faith, family and fortitude.”
Knowing Trey, I would strongly suspect that “spell checking” is another value high on his list.
It was a simple typo that we’re all guilty of at one time or another. The difference for journalists is that our typos are usually plastered all over our media publications and/or websites.
Since my transition from print to online journalism, I have enjoyed being able to make immediate corrections. And I am grateful for every report of a spelling error I receive, and I’ll happily make those corrections. Mistakes happen, they’re a part of life, but we still don’t like it when they happen.
POLLS FAIRLY BUSY. Checking in with my wife at lunch while she is a poll worker at the public library revealed that they’ve had a steady stream of voters so far all day. At my polling place, they said they had a fairly steady flow of voters, which they said wasn’t bad for a primary election.
NO ‘I VOTED’ STICKERS? Its Election Day and the one thing I’ve always counted on is casting my vote and proudly wearing my “I Voted” sticker.
When I voted at Cox’s Creek Elementary Tuesday afternoon, I was ready to leave but didn’t have my sticker.
“You should have been here this morning, we ran out,” the poll worker told me matter-of-factly.
I was shocked. This is the first time in 44 years of voting that I didn’t receive an “I Voted” sticker. How many of us always shoot a selfie our ourselves after we vote, proudly wearing our sticker?
I plan to follow up with Nelson County Clerk Jeaneatte Hall Sidebottom on this, and see what action is needed to make certain everyone who votes gets a sticker. Admittedly, its not a make-or-break issue, but in my mind, its a traditional part of voting in Nelson County.
FINAL PUSH. The final push by the candidates is pretty much over. I saw online ads from both Bill Gentry and Tim Hutchins, both candidates for Nelson County Judge Executive, as well as for Trey (Kennedy?) Bradley.
We will know in hours how the vote turns out, barring unforeseen delays. A tip of the hat to ALL of the candidates who put themselves out there to seek public office — and a special thanks to the families behind the scenes who supported their campaigning family member.
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