Bruce Frohman on Jeff Denham: Propaganda over Service

Former Modesto City Councilman Bruce Frohman followed Jeff Denham’s long political career well before he won at the federal level and ever since.

Although Jeff Denham has not been a good Congressman, he’s a masterful propagandist. He’s even got a billboard praising his failed effort to help promote DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals); that’s real chutzpah.

He did not express support for DACA until the law expired and his reelection campaign started. His anti-DACA supporters must know that the billboard is bogus or they would discontinue support.

Everyone sees Denham’s television commercials praising a congressman who has failed to achieve anything of significant value for his district during his entire long tenure. Testimonials in the local newspaper tout insignificant accomplishments based on legislation that never actually happens.

Undoubtedly, we’ll see more misleading propaganda about Jeff Denham’s record before the November election.

Not much legislative effort is needed to use TV commercials, billboards, and mailers prepared by campaign consultants—all it takes is money. If self-promotion fails to convince voters, Jeff Denham will turn to his fallback position of denigrating the opposition.

Negative ads might work, but they don’t serve the public interest. But, since when is Jeff Denham concerned about the public interest?

Mr. Denham’s latest dirty tactic is to accuse opponent Josh Harder of ducking a debate. The charge is hypocritical, given Denham has ducked town hall meetings for most of his current term.

Mr. Harder was offered the opportunity to debate at the Farm Bureau and The House church, two institutions that support Jeff Denham. Mr. Harder wisely insisted on having the debate at a politically neutral site.

Jeff Denham doesn’t really want a debate. He’s floating the possibility of a biased debate venue in a cynical attempt to denigrate his opponent by saying the opponent is a coward—but the Harder campaign hasn’t even received the invitation to debate yet.  Mr. Denham’s record of shutting down the entire federal government and repealing health insurance for thousands upon thousands of people in his district won’t produce a debate win for the slick Congressman, and he knows it.

Jeff Denham won’t agree to a fair debate unless polls show him losing.  And even if the polls are unfavorable, Mr. Denham may decide that losing the election will be better than facing the hostile crowd that will greet him at the debate venue.

The congressman’s preferred method of campaigning is to slime the opposition using paid media, not by demonstrating that he is someone worth voting for. That’s because he knows he can’t run on his record, which shows he’s done virtually nothing for his district.