A sink-or-swim campaign strategy

A funny thing happened at the Sam Himmel roast the other night.

Himmel jabs of course. But she wasn’t the main attraction.

The current sheriff was.

Mike Prendergast wasn’t among the 300 or so who attended Saturday night’s event, but there was little doubt he was on their minds.

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I follow the political roast rules of etiquette, which means the entire night is off the record. I won’t repeat the things said about the sheriff (except for one, see below); he was the butt of many a joke, including the doctored photo with today's blog of a glaring Prendergast as captain of the Titanic.

This was what I call a true Citrus County community crowd. The room was filled with leaders — some in business, some in politics, and some retired. It was a mix of viewpoints and backgrounds, but all with a common mission: make Citrus County a better place today than yesterday. I love a crowd like that.

Two of Prendergast’s opponents — Doug Alexander and Dave Vincent — were there. The former sheriff, Jeff Dawsy, offered up his 2-cents. Even Himmel in thanking the crowd made sure to point out what a terrible relationship the school district has had with the sheriff’s office since Dawsy left and Prendergast took over.

That’s a lot of attention paid to someone who wasn’t the guest of honor. Why are all these people so against the sheriff?

That's when it dawned on me that I have figured out Prendergast’s campaign strategy. It’s the only one with a clear line to victory. And it’s this:

Prendergast is the anti-community incumbent.

It’s ideal for him. I even have the perfect campaign pitch: “Only I can unite this county by dividing it.”

That point first became clear at the League of Women Voters of Citrus County meeting last Wednesday. All four candidates had three minutes each to speak. Three of them talked about transparency, community policing, and improving relations with the County Commission.

Prendergast took an entirely different tack. He’s all law and order, saying that he goes out with the drug-bust units because he doesn’t want to sit behind a desk. As if those two things are interchangeable.

His campaign approach is so clear. He’s the man for the job because he’s NOT a community person.

If I’m the Prendergast brain trust, I’m targeting voters who generally go about their lives, paying little attention to local politics. All they know about Prendergast is that he’s sheriff…and what else is there to know?

It's not the worst strategy in the world — if he can control the message.

You may have heard about his new Leadership is Action website (unrelated to the campaign). On Facebook the other day he posted a meme critical of county commissioners paying a consultant to come up with a special taxing district for the sheriff’s office.

Someone I know posted a criticism: “Oh leadership is making memes against the other elected officials you have to work with in the county. Got it.” Harmless, I'd say.

Prendergast deleted the comment. Makes clear what the sheriff thinks of open community dialogue. It's OK, so long as you agree with him.

Don’t expect mail pieces from Prendergast extolling the civic virtues of his leadership. He’s gonna talk about druggies, and he’ll do so in a way that’ll make you think that only an outsider like him can keep our streets safe.

I am going to repeat one thing said Saturday from the stage. I’ve heard variations of this from enough people in the last four weeks to suggest there’s something to it. The superintendent of schools mentioned it at her own retirement party in front of a roomful of people. Far as I'm concerned, it's fair game.

It's this: Prendergast is considering plans to vacate the office in two years. He supposedly has promised the job separately to two of his high-ranking officers though, of course, he can promise no such thing. 

Enough about Prendergast.
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We’re going to soon turn our attention to his three well-qualified challengers. Any of those three would represent Citrus County citizens well as sheriff.

Why? Because they give a damn.

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