Merkel's Digital Edge

Sheriff's candidate shows that Howard Dean-style politickin' can be used in the boondocks; Thorny questions avoided thus far

Alvin Police Chief Mike Merkel has unleashed his candidacy for Brazoria County sheriff onto the Internet with a Web site that provides some heretofore little-known info nuggets (ie. he managed a discount store in Fla. before entering law enforcement) and two teeny-weeny flags (the Stars 'n Stripes & the Lone Star) that flap in the cyber breeze.

We did a Google search and couldn't find Web sites for any of the other seven candidates.

What does it all mean?

Maybe a distinct fund-raising edge a la Howard Dean.

Or maybe not.

Either way, the Alvin lawman appears loaded for bear. His big ad in the latest edition of The Source Weekly touts a Jan. 17 chili dinner in Danbury, a Jan. 22 Hawaiian luau dinner ("BYOB") at the Lake Jackson Civic Center and a Jan. 24 "gourmet" chili supper in Pearland.

Chili suppers and Hawaiian luaus, not place but Where Texas Began.

The political fur already has been to fly, as described in today's article in The Facts by Michael Wright, with accusations of illegal yard signs, illegal buttons, bulletin board material posted on county government property and insinuations the district attorney supports a particular candidate and therefore might look harder at some candidates (denied, of course, by the D.A.).

Does this surprise anyone?

Merkel's Web site suffers from excessive verbiage and is need of a good rewrite man (or woman). Still, he gets his message across if you can wade through the clumsy, government-ese prose.

It also has lots of pictures of Merkel shaking hands with people, including the current President, before he was President. The images give a family photo album appeal to the Web site as it contains pics of Merkel as a very young man and as the man-who-would-be-sheriff today. We are not sure at what point in his life that he decided to grow the moustache, but we think it wise that he has stuck with the '70s facial hair trend rather than jump on the unfortunate goatee bandwagon that has consumed the current culture.

The question, of course, is how will the other candidates respond? With the same old tired signs that line the pastures and byways of Brazoria County? The per usual staid studio photo portraits of candidate & Family, accompanied by their pledge to the voters?

More questions:

Will ANYONE dare bring up publicly the Missouri jail inmate fiasco of 1996, which Chief Deputy Charles Wagner, now among the sheriff's candidates, once characterized as "unprofessional" but not unprofessional enough to be illegal?

Probably not.

Will anyone publicly challenge Clute Police Chief Mark Wicker, another sheriff's candidate, to explain the judgment (or lack thereof) that was used by the Clute Chief when he invested in the 8-Liner gambling machine industry?

Probably not.

Merkel avoids such questions on his Web site, which is probably wise, but talks in general about needed change in the sheriff's department.

The candidate forums, however, might be interesting.