Wait’s Staff Graduate to Typing

March 25th, 2008 at 12:11pm Aaron Chambers

A recent fax alerting the media to one of Rep. Ron Wait’s publicity events looked as if somebody had scribbled it on a random sheet of scratch paper.

Actually, it looked as if the writer opted to write it with writing instrument clenched firmly in fist. The penmanship was a little rough, you might say.

In substance, the advisory contained the necessary points: It announced a Ron Wait press conference at 1 p.m. on March 10 at Dial Machine in Rockford concerning the “capital budget & economic development.” Yet in style, the advisory, pictured here, was most peculiar.

Wait, R-Belvidere, is a veteran lawmaker. Moreover, this is an election year and Wait is facing a stiff challenge from Rockford lawyer Greg Tuite, the immediate past chairman of the Winnebago County Democratic Party. One might think Wait would be on his toes.

“Geez, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Wait told our Statehouse intern, Andrea Zimmermann, by phone on Friday. “It’s sure not my writing. I have never seen this before. I sure wouldn’t have sent this out. It’s new to me. … I don’t know who would have sent this out. … Believe me, I’ll start asking questions though.”

Tuite saw the media release as well, and said it struck him as odd.

“We all have our ways of communicating, but you would think that a state representative would try to put out something a little more professional when he’s communicating either with the media or with businesses,” Tuite told Zimmermann.

On Monday, a spokesman for House GOP Leader Tom Cross called and said that Wait’s staff had, in fact, distributed the scribbled advisory to media. The spokesman, David Dring, said the staffers were determined to notify the media of Wait’s appearance as quickly as possible.

Just for the record, House GOP staff subsequently distributed a formal media advisory for the Dial Machine event. This time, they typed it.

Entry Filed under: House Republicans, Ron Wait