lorri galloway at rallyFormer councilmember and current mayoral aspirant Lorri Galloway sent this e-mail to her supporters:

Dear Friends and Family:

My campaign for Anaheim Mayor 2014 has been in the news lately. After a PBS story aired last night, I am heartsick because I have allowed negativity to be the focus, which is something that I abhor, and I have often been on the receiving end of it Truthfully, I am honored to be in a country where someone like me has the opportunity and freedom to run for such an office. My faith in God tells me that the blessing will be in the journey, not in the victory or defeat. I just sent this apology to the Mayor of Anaheim, Tom Tait.

Dear Tom:

With all of my heart, I sincerely apologize.This has spiraled into something that is negative and was never my intent. What has been said by me is hurtful and not the message I wanted to get across. The worst thing about any of this is that I know I’ve lost your friendship and my heart is broken over that. The truth is that I do believe you have made courageous moves in standing up for what is right and you are a good and wonderful and kind man. I’ve said that in all my interviews but that is not the message that writers and TV people want to hear from me; they want drama and they focus on the negative. They didn’t want to hear about my wanting people to have a different choice. Regardless, my team and I will step back and get on the track that I set from the beginning which has no place in attacking you. Again, I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me for allowing this to happen. From my camp, it will not happen again.

You and I have spoken many times about believing that this is much bigger than you or I. I still believe that.

Sincerely,

Lorri

Lorri Galloway really has the thread the needle to move her campaign forward on the basis laid out above. If you seek the mayorship and offer yourself as an alternative to the incumbent, the inescapable implication is you believe the incumbent is either ineffective or taking the city in the wrong direction and that you will be superior in either case. Otherwise, your candidacy is vanity and ambition.

A cynic might see this e-mail as a second act in a larger strategy. First, get maximum public exposure for charges that Mayor Tait is isolated and ineffective and must be superseded for the good of the cause, and then deflect the blowback with a publicly private apology. The original charges remain in the political atmosphere like radioactive fallout, and the subsequent public remorse appeals to people’s forgiving natures while to some extent short-circuiting criticism of Galloway for making the charges in the first place (“Hey, I said I’m sorry!”).