Think it?s tough to criticize a blind former missionary and mother of two?
Bring it on, says Kristen Cox, Maryland?s Republican candidate for lieutenant governor.
Already, “untested” and “inexperienced” are among the blue-plate words reporters are using to describe her, Cox said, and constant references to her disability are testing her patience.
“But I think it?s to be expected,” Cox told The Examiner Tuesday. “People are curious and I think that would be the characteristic they would initially focus on.”
But Cox said she hopes in weeks to come the public and press will focus less on her blindness and more on her vision for Maryland?s future, and her track record as the state?s Secretary on Disabilities under Gov. Robert Ehrlich. As long as news coverage is fair and accurate, Cox said she?s ready for judgment.
Media experts said they expect journalists to critique Cox the same as any other politician, but don?t expect them to drop her disability.
“It?s kind of like race ? reporters still mention race in a lot of stories,” said Beth Haller, a journalism professor at Towson University who has researched news coverage of disability issues. “It?s something unique that adds a little something to the story.”
That?s OK for David Paterson, a black, blind candidate for lieutenant governor in New York. He said he began his political career trying to hide his blindness, until a local restaurant owner called Paterson arrogant for not waving back to him as he walked by.
After telling the man about his sight problems, he attended a fundraiser and donated 10 times more than Paterson asked, he said in a phone interview Tuesday.
But Paterson said constant references to his disability in newsprint sometimes makes him feel like a trailblazer for equal opportunity rights, or that he is using his blindness to manipulate politics. But, he said, being blind doesn?t mean journalists are softer on him ? they just pay more attention.
“When I?m good, they like that I?m good, but when I?m bad, they note that I?m bad,” he said. “There?s no middle ground.”
Regardless of publicity, blindness advocates said Cox and Paterson?s candidacies are testaments to increasing independence for the disabled.
Marc Maurer, president of the Baltimore-based National Federation for the Blind, called Cox a “leader who happens to be blind.”
“I am proud to live in a state where blindness is not considered to be a barrier for running for public office,” Maurer said.
