Thank You, Steve Monks!

Herald-Sun editor Bob Ashley no doubt got a chuckle at the returns, as his pro-Monks effort paid dividends. Though Mike Nifong failed to obtain a majority of the vote--despite the Democratic Party line and the endorsement of two of Durham's three political action committees--the Monks spoiler effort worked perfectly from Ashley's perspective, siphoning off enough votes from the Cheek line to allow Nifong to prevail.

A couple of quick reactions:

• A majority of the county's electorate (and jury poll) expressed a lack of confidence in the D.A.
• Some choice comments from several posters at TalkLeft:
• "[Monks] will go down as the most stupid, incompetent, delusional man in local political history. Nifong should reward him now with some nice pleas on his court appointments for indigent defendants. In a just world, there would be some consequence to Monks for doing what he did. I hope he finds justice.
• "Monks should not only be banned from polite society, but trailed by any journalist worth the pixels he writes in. his decision to stay on the ballot stinks to high heaven."
• "Steve Monks will be anathema to decent, intelligent people in Durham. He is a fool. Without him, Nifong loses. His motives will be suspect from this day forward, with the best possible light showing him to be a vainglorious, prideful fool."
• "Well, way to go Steve Monks. You have almost single-handedly sabotaged the very thing you alleged was most important to you and for Durham - to replace acting DA Mike Nifong. What kind of deal did you work out with him for you to refuse to drop out and support the ABN-VC campaign? Or was it vanity? Or an opportunistic quest for power If yours had been a sincere campaign, I would offer condolensces. Instead, I offer condemnation. You deserve what Nifong brought and brings to Durham."
• "I believe he knew exactly what he was doing to. I can't imagine he believed he was going to be elected-that's nonsense. He did not campaign against Nifong. All he did was campaign against Cheek. And sure enough, that got Nifong elected in the end."
• "Monks lied. He said that if it could be proven he had no chance to win, he would drop out to give Cheek his votes. It was proven in the last poll. He didn't drop out. He deserves the blame for Nifong's win, clearly and poignantly. I hope it reverberates back to him in untold ways."

Monks and advisors Charlotte Woods and Cliff Brandt deserve the strongest possible censure; they can spend the next several months, or at least until the entire case comes crashing down, knowing that their actions helped the county's "minister of injustice" to slip through.