It’s always an honor when the N&O quotes my blog. But it’s annoying when they put words I didn’t say in my mouth.

I’m afraid that’s what Colin Campbell did today in his story “Did the ‘Drunktown’ campaign ads work?” Colin is an A-plus reporter, but I give him a D-minus here.

His story focused on Dean Debnam, who Colin called “creator” of the ads. Colin’s story said, “In a blog post titled ‘Vomit Politics,’ Democratic political consultant Gary Pearce argued that Baldwin’s win is a loss for Debnam.”

Well, no, I didn’t. Read the blog. I wrote that the ads didn’t work. I didn’t say anything about Dean or whether it was a “loss” for him. In fact, you can easily argue it wasn’t a loss.

Dean did argue. He released a statement saying that the main target of the ad, Mary-Ann Baldwin, “received the fewest votes and lowest percentage of the last several election cycles.” And added, “Residents of Raleigh spoke with a clear voice on what the vision for Raleigh should be – and it is not #DrunkTown. In all, only two of the seven candidates that bar and nightclub owners endorsed were elected.”

His better argument might be: “In politics, you’ve never lost until you give up. I’m not giving up protecting downtown from bad policy. And I’ve shown the politicians that I’m willing to fight and spend my own money to do that.”

He could also say, “Plus, I’ve got everybody talking about ‘Drunktown’.”

And, maybe next time, he’ll do an ad that works.

Which I’d have told Colin. If he’d asked me.