Now that the Town Election is behind us and this year’s override decided, let’s hope the fevered partisanship of the past several weeks subsides. Perhaps whisper campaigns for and against candidates have always been a thing in Harvard, but this year’s overt ugliness has shocked many longtime residents.
Who could possibly have thought the “Dump Ludwig” signs that appeared throughout town on election morning were a good idea or would sway anyone? If there was an organization behind their distribution, its members were apparently willing to create discord but too embarrassed to identify themselves. At least one sign was illegally placed on the Common before being removed.
More disturbing were the anonymous letters that arrived in the mailboxes of those who had signed Don Ludwig’s nomination papers for re-election to the Select Board. As with the “Dump Ludwig” signs, the Press has been unable to identify who was behind the letters. We do know that a resident asked for and obtained a copy of Ludwig’s papers but then passed them to unnamed others. The nomination documents contain the addresses of those who signed them, but not their emails or phone numbers; a posted letter is the only viable means to reach someone on the list. Recipients with whom the Press spoke felt the letter was meant to intimidate, but with no one willing to claim responsibility, they are left to speculate about the motives of its authors.
Opposition research and negative advertising are fixtures of modern politics, but we should be wary of allowing them in our community. They divide rather than unite us. And when they are anonymous they are twice as damaging, a rich source of conspiracy theories. We all make mistakes. It would be refreshing for someone to take responsibility for such egregious violations of town norms—and apologize.
