Subway...Eat campaign literature!

A congressional election in Louisiana still lurks in December (because the primary was delayed by hurricane season), and here's one candidate who deserves to lose in a landslide: John C. Fleming, a wealthy Republican who finances most of his own campaign.

John Fleming is a physician and author. Of course, that's not why I'm against him. Writers and doctors do many wonderful things. I'm against Fleming because he's a right-wing extremist who supports a 30% national sales tax - and he fills his website with propaganda like "Every Child is a Potential Drug Addict" and links to teen residential programs and sellers of home drug tests in case you "would like to test someone."

Fleming, the owner of 30 Subway restaurants, has also gained ridicule for his campaign practices. If you happen to pick up a sandwich at a Subway in northern Louisiana (without knowing that Fleming owns the place), you might find the bag for your meal stuffed full of Fleming campaign materials.

Many customers discovered this and were disheartened. John Fleming's election opponents weren't too pleased either, and they questioned whether this unholy matrimony of politics and commerce was even legal. They were also concerned about Fleming's campaign commercials featuring him in one of the Subways he owns.

Part of the problem is that Fleming makes it appear as if Subway Restaurants (the chain itself, not just the 30 shops he owns) endorses his candidacy. But the candidate maintains that everything is groovy. Still, the Federal Election Commission has never specifically addressed this sort of activity.

Customers and political opponents are unimpressed, but employees of Fleming's Subways who have to stuff the bags with his campaign propaganda are downright furious - especially because many of them were already supporters of one of his opponents!

I guess we can't expect someone who provides links on his website to teen confinement facilities not to be smug enough to think his congressional campaign is worthy of unadulterated praise 100% of the time.

(Source: http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/the-subway-candidate-flemings-business-practices-toe-political-line-2008-11-24.html)