It takes a special kind of politician to claim to be taking the high road while simultaneously taking shots at your opponent’s service to his country in the wake of 9/11. Tuscaloosa County Probabe Judge Hardy McCollum is apparently that special kind of politician. “I’ve worked with Sheriff Ted Sexton for more than 25 years and I’ll not attack him to win this race,” McCollum boasts in the below ad from the Tuscaloosa News. But just a few paragraphs down McCollum takes a shot at Sexton for leaving Tuscaloosa temporarily during his term as Sheriff to answer the White House’s call to be an Assistant Director of Homeland Security. “I’ve never deserted the poeple who elected me,” McCollum quips.

Sexton took to Facebook to answer the thinly veiled attack:

I appreciate the messages of support regarding a baseless alligation in a campaign ad. When called by the White House and asked to serve our country during a time of war and great concern about threats against our nation, I committed to serve as the First Assistant Secretary for State and Local Law Enforcement at the United States Department of Homeland Security. I was granted a military leave per state law by Governor Bob Riley who also appointed Ron Abernathy as the interim Sheriff. The Sheriff’s Office did not miss a beat. I performed the duties and challenges I was asked to address and upon completion returned to Tuscaloosa. Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz was right. “There is no place like home.”

[Full disclosure: I was a consultant helping Ted Sexton get his campaign off the ground early in the general election.]