Michael Dunkley's Campaign of Fear, Deception and Hate -- Not Hope | Bermuda Progressive Labour Party

Lying ads. Racist cartoons. Voter disenfranchisement. Shadowy attack groups. Baseless accusations. The UBP has conducted a nasty campaign chock full of deception. Here's a brief rundown of the UBP's campaign of fear and division.

• Dunkley Tries to Deny Bermudians the Right to Vote. Michael Dunkley called upon the Parliamentary Registrar to disenfranchise 84 voters in Smith's North. At least three of those voters have lived and voted in the area for years. And, one of the reasons for disenfranchisement cited by the UBP was "registered to vote against Mr. Dunkley." It's outlandish that Mr. Dunkley and the UBP are trying to deny voters the right to vote just because they don't support him.
• Shadowy UBP-aligned Group Spreads Lies. The ROI group has raised and spent tens of thousands of dollars spreading malicious lies and trying to scare Bermudians into believing something that just isn't true. The funders of this group have deep pockets and we can tell you that they certainly aren't aligned with the PLP. When given the opportunity, Michael Dunkley declined to condemn this group's lies.
• [Updated: 1:26 pm] Dunkley Never Condemned Did Not Strongly Condemn Vile, Racist Cartoons. UBP supporters compared the Premier to Hitler, Mussolini and Idi Amin. Michael Dunkley declined to condemn never overtly condemned these vile, disgusting and racist attacks. Update: Per the linked post, Michael Dunkley said that the UBP didn't "accept," "tolerate" or "condone" the ads -- however, he failed to outright condemn the ads. On November 30, PLP Chairman David Burt called upon Michael Dunkley and Pat Gordon-Pamplin to join him in condemnation of the ads and to "call for the UBP supporters who are creating these offensive attacks to both come out of the shadows and pledge to never again produce this kind of filth." Michael Dunkley did not join David in this call.
• UBP Ad Lies About PLP's Tax Record. Michael Dunkley approved a misleading UBP advert that falsely insinuates that the PLP raised payroll taxes by 80%. That's a lie and Michael Dunkley knows it.
• UBP Ad Lies About PLP's Crime Record. Michael Dunkley is so desperate to win this election that he's trying to scare voters into supporting his party. But, when you look at the crime stats, Michael Dunkley's fear-mongering alarmism is not warranted. The truth is, across the board, crime is down since the last time the UBP government was in power.
• The UBP's 'Big House' Radio Smear. Less than 72 hours after Michael Dunkley declared that the UBP would "keep this election focused on issues and ideas to improve people's lives," the UBP launched the first attack ad of this campaign.
• Shawn Crockwell Claims PLP 'Set a Bad Example for Our Children' The UBP Chairman engaged in the worst kind of name-calling, the politics of personal destruction.
• The UBP's Economic Fearmongering. They trotted out a tired, old UBP warhorse to try to scare Bermudians into believing that despite nine years of economic success, that somehow economic collapse was right around the corner.
• Racist UBP Partisans Insult PLP Candidates. Jane Correia has experienced the worst kind of racism from UBP supporters. She's "ashamed that there are white people in this day and age that would even think and behave in this manner."

Given his record of slime, Michael Dunkley's cynical rhetoric is patently laughable. There's nothing hopeful about fearmongering. There's nothing hopeful about lies. And, there's certainly nothing hopeful about personal attacks.

You certainly won't read about Michael Dunkley's deplorable campaign in the press - but, we will not be silent. We will stand up, speak out and fight for what's right. On Tuesday, Bermudians will soundly reject Michael Dunkley's campaign of fear, deception and hate.