Dave Pelton Forsakes at-Large Moderation to Contend for Right-Wing Culture Warrior

At-Large Candidate Dave Pelton has not yet gone off the deep end with this guy, but an e-mail excerpt posted on a Tennessean blog makes him look like he teeters very near the edge of extremism.

Pelton is quoted as saying that he is "the only candidate that stands between the residents of Nashville and total domination of the Metro Council by left-wing candidates.” To even read the term "left-wing" applied to this field of candidates nearly made me hork a bite of peanut butter sandwich (extra crunchy, too) up my nose. I would like to see his list of left-wingers, which would be short enough to leave on a post-it note. How far right and unbalanced must Dave Pelton be if he is calling a field of mostly moderates and conservatives "left-wing"?

He also claims that he intends to be “a conservative voice of reason on the council.” We've repeatedly heard from a cadre of a baker's dozen of social conservatives on the Council this past term, and they have tended to render the terms "conservative" and "reason" as oxymorons. So, you'll excuse my jadedness, Mr. Pelton.

Somehow he has confused other terms:

I believe in fiscal responsibility, open and ethical government, strong economic development and excellence in education.

I have just a few replies:

• Conservatives are fiscally responsible? Has he seen the conservative council members' record on funds available to them at their own discretion? Since when are conservatives fiscally responsible? They don't like taxes unless they have some control over how they are spent. And if they don't have control, then you better watch your services, neighbors, because the conservative code for "fiscal responsibility" is to take away funding for your police officers, for repairing your sidewalks, for maintaining your public parks, for building greenways, and for generally protecting your quality of life. I hear Dave Pelton saying he's going to work to cut our services.
• How is open and ethical government a "conservative" cause, when there are clear examples of conservatives as guilty as anyone else of ethical lapses?
• Strong economic development is conservative code for untrammelled growth that commodifies our neighborhoods and hawks them to the highest bidders. Strong economic development without balance on behalf of communities helps only wealthy elites and greedy absentee landlords. Take note of what Dave Pelton failed to say: he failed to mention neighborhoods.
• "Excellence in education" (for conservatives) = school vouchers funded by declining revenues for public education.

Whatever chance Dave Pelton might have had for my vote as a moderate is gone with his partisan windbaggery.