A Virginia man is puzzled over how Democratic congressional candidate Leslie Cockburn pronounces her last name and convinced his “liberal” hometown paper won’t publish his missive about it.
But the newspaper, The Roanoke Times, did publish the letter from Bill Kopcial of Roanoke, which has since made waves online.
“Please explain to me why Leslie Cockburn pronounces her name Coburn. There is no way you can get ‘co’ out of ‘cock’ and please don’t tell me that the CK is silent. If she finds her name offensive for some reason or another, then why doesn’t she just change it? Is it because she is a Democrat and doesn’t know the difference?” Kopcial wrote in his letter, published Thursday.
“I know this won’t be printed because the paper is liberal and never wants to print the truth,” he wrote.
Kopcial did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Washington Examiner.
Cockburn, a journalist, is running against Republican Denver Riggleman to represent Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. The winner after Tuesday’s election will replace Rep. Tom Garrett, R-Va., in Congress, who announced in May he would not seek re-election and instead focus on getting treatment for alcoholism.
RealClearPolitics ranks the race for Virginia’s 5th District a toss-up.
The name Cockburn has Scottish and English roots, according to Ancestry.com, and is traditionally pronounced “Coburn.” In the United States, however, it has been adopted with the spellings “Coburn” or “Cogburn.” In France, meanwhile, it has been spelled “de Cockborne.”
Cockburn’s is also a brand of port in Britain, which launched an ad campaign in 2011 to teach its pronunciation. The ad shows the name “Cockburn’s” with either a glass of wine covering the “ck” or the “ck” blurred.
“Pronounce Responsibly” reads the tagline.
