Newsflash: Mary Scott Hunter’s dad is a former Alabama quarterback

Mary Scott Hunter is a good, credible candidate for AL State Senate District 7. I’ve had multiple opportunities to hear her and talk to her over this campaign and I have been impressed. I’ve also heard good things about her from people who know her personally.

Now that the obligatory buttering up has been dispensed with here comes the hammer. I’ve become increasingly disappointed with the direction of her campaign lately. I wasn’t going to write anything about it, but a phone call I got today from her campaign today was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

I don’t know if she panicked at some point in her campaign, but she began to use her dad too much as a political tool. Her dad, by the way, is a former Alabama quarterback. Don’t follow Alabama football? Not to worry! Mary Scott will let you know. When she addresses a group of people her dad is one of the first things out of her mouth. The Huntsville Times even picked up on it, printing a glowing comment from a high school student after Hunter proclaimed “Roll Tide” – a common tactic used by politicians in the state to score points, but also an oblique reference to her familial heritage.

When I got a call today from her campaign and the first thing the caller told me was that Mary Scott was the daughter of a famous Alabama quarterback. Not her position on any issue, her education, work experience, or anything substantive about her qualifications to be a state senator. My wife said she got a call from the Hunter campaign as well and that it confused her at first when the caller started talking about football.

I don’t begrudge Mary Scott for having a well known father. No one should be thought more or less of due to their parents. You can’t pick ‘em after all.   But I don’t think anyone should use their father (or mother) as a qualification or political prop. It’s a big pet peeve of mine. Her dad’s athletic exploits mean squat in the context of whether or not she would make a good state senator. The fact that she is so eager to tell people about him makes me think she lacks confidence in her own qualifications and would rather turn what has otherwise been a substantive political campaign into a popularity contest.

I think Mary Scott would make a good state senator.  From what I have learned of her I think she is accomplished enough and smart enough to run on her own qualifications. Early in the campaign she seemed to be doing that. She let it be known who her dad is (I don’t blame her), but she didn’t try to use him to win votes (although he did prove helpful in the fundraising department). Somewhere along the way she pushed her dad too far to the forefront. I don’t know what precipitated the shift, but it just hasn’t set well with me.

Full disclosure (and I think most readers are keenly aware of this): I’m an Auburn grad. I don’t hold it against her that her father was a quarterback at the wrong school. I can’t say the same thing for my wife, who is much less forgiving of that sin. :)