A group of Prince William County activists have pork on the mind, but it has nothing to do with wasteful spending. Rather, some conservative bloggers are touting the candidacy of a ham sandwich to take the place of Commonwealth Attorney Paul Ebert, a Democrat who has held the post for nearly 40 years.
The Web site www.votehamsandwich.com promises that “Hamilton ‘Ham’ Sandwich, Esq.,” as the sandwich is formally known, “possesses every bit the same skills and qualities as” Ebert.
According to Greg Letiecq, who runs the Black Velvet Bruce Li blog, the idea that a ham sandwich could do a better job than Ebert had been circulating among some local bloggers. He said Jim Reilly, who writes the Virginia Virtucon blog, “came up with the graphic of the ham sandwich, and everybody was just dying. So it kind of ballooned from there.”
Letiecq said there may be a formal campaign kickoff at a local deli, and there is talk of establishing a PAC and distributing yard signs.
“It is possible that there will be thousands of yard signs encouraging people to write in a ham sandwich,” he said.
Letiecq said it’s a case of “feel-good viral marketing” in an attempt to affect the November election. But the effort isn’t totally tongue in cheek: If the campaign caught on, he asked, then “would [Ebert] run in a special election after he lost to a ham sandwich? Probably not.”
Ebert did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment.
