The Escambia County Republican Party would not normally be considered a high-risk tenant. But in this bitter campaign season, politics can be risky business. Between 7 and 9:30 a.m. Saturday, one or more vandals threw rocks at the Republicans' county headquarters on Creighton Road, breaking the outer panes of three large plate-glass windows, said Alan Levy, a member of the party's executive committee. Last week, the landlord replaced two similar windows, which were broken at the front of the building shortly before the office officially opened Oct. 2, Levy said. "This is not the way we do politics in this country," he said. "It's ridiculous. It's absurd. It wasn't like this four years ago." The same windows broken out Saturday morning had been spattered with luminous pink paint the day before, said Laura Tkach, a party volunteer. "It's outrageous," she said.Levy reported the Saturday incident to the Escambia County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ted Roy said there are no suspects. Local law enforcement agencies do not keep statistics on politically related vandalism. But judging from anecdotes, this presidential campaign has generated more criminal mischief than most, both Republican and Democratic activists say. Supporters of Democratic Sen. John Kerry have complained for months about what they call widespread efforts to steal or deface their signs. Ron Melton, who chairs the Escambia County Democratic Party, said he has a hard time keeping a Kerry-Edwards sign up for more than 24 hours at a time in front of his computer business on Navy Boulevard. "We've had more signs stolen, run down and spray painted," Melton said Saturday. "It's getting pretty feverish."
Levy said entire streets were cleared of Bush-Cheney signs the day after the party passed out a large number last weekend.