OUR VIEW: Mulford’s combative style does him no good

» The candidate for Stevensburg District supervisor can be his own worst enemy.

When you sit down and talk with Gardiner Mulford, at times he comes across as a funny, coherent guy with good ideas and logical reasons for his outspoken behavior — the kind of guy with whom you’d like to share a beer.

The rest of the time, you don’t know whether to laugh, cry or drop your jaw in utter bewilderment, especially when you consider the outlandish, sophomoric statements coming from a candidate for the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors.

Such is the case with Mulford’s role in a controversial saga involving his ownership of 11 horses donated to him after the previous owner — an Orange County woman charged with abusing other horses on her “retirement farm” — was forced to surrender them.

When some of the original owners wanted Mulford to return their horses, he made headlines by essentially telling them to shove it. Mulford has since backed down a bit, offering to sell back the horses for about what he’s paid in expenses.

Fair enough. Good call.

But it’s how Mulford, running in the Stevensburg District, has handled the situation that is so perplexing. The problem is, he doesn’t know when to stop. Whether it’s in a letter to the editor or an online forum, he’s usually in war mode, launching venomous tirades against anyone who takes him to task.

For example, he recently e-mailed this reply to a woman who was trying to get her horse back: “Look, I know women suffer from ‘misplaced emtional (sic) attachment mental disorder’ MEAN ... Your extreme love also makes you capable of extreme hate.”

It’s one thing to disagree with someone. It’s another thing, as a candidate for office, to insult half the voting population. On top of that, he got the acronym wrong.

Mulford admits he has a lot of strengths that can turn into weaknesses, and we agree, particularly when it comes to his zeal. If Mulford would just take a little more tact and not “attack in all directions,” as he wrote in Saturday’s front-page article, he might be a more attractive candidate for office.