Roper demonstrates 'if you fool most of the people, you become judge'

Editor:

Anybody can run for judge. This is what David Roper is teaching us in the ongoing Superior Court judge's race. You just claim 30 years experience and don't mention that most of that experience was traveling around the world, umpiring baseball games and closing real estate loans. And if your opponent points out that you have very little actual courtroom experience, you just proclaim: Hey, he's going negative on me!

Meanwhile, you get the local radio talk show host in your camp and have your supporters feed him half-truths, innuendos and outright lies so that he can engage in one of the worst personal attacks against your opponent in recent history. Your supporters would have direct lines into the show so that you can keep up the negative barrage over a period of months. Of course, you would have to make sure the host would not be fair and allow your opponent equal time to rebut the negative assaults. Not to worry!

The irony of this is fantastic. While your camp engages in a despicable negative personal campaign all orchestrated through your "on board" local radio host, you cry "foul ball" if your opponent even questions your experience in an actual courtroom. He may point out that any "working trial attorney" would have tried more cases in one year than you would have done in the last 5-7 years. You cry "foul ball"!

He may point out that you are not even listed in the BellSouth "real yellow pages" along with all the other "working" attorneys; you get to yell "foul ball"! If he points out that you abandoned your real estate law practice for some time to pursue umpire school, and a possible career in professional baseball, you get to scream "foul ball"!

So all you have to do is keep claiming 30 years of "experience" and talk about the few cases that you actually tried in a courtroom and yell "foul ball" if your job experience is ever questioned.

Oh yeah, and keep the local radio host focused on the personal attacks on your opponent (such as his wife was involved in an accident 15 years ago, etc.).

If you fool most of the people, you get to become judge. But, if experience does count, Bill Williams is the next judge!

Tom Werner

Evans

(Tom Werner is chairman of Bill Williams' campaign.)