If there’s one group of people we Americans love to hate, it’s politicians. And it’s not like they don’t give us some good reasons. The worst of them are arrogant, smug, often wrong but never in doubt, and sometimes act like they’re smarter than you, not to mention just plain better.

They often seem worthy of our derision. Not all of them, of course. As a rule of thumb, we like “our” politicians. The ones “we” elect to office are friendly, bright, thoughtful and trustworthy. We know them and can vouch for their character. As a rule, the more distant the politician, the more they seem to deserve our scorn.

It’s those “other” bums that are the problem, and “they” are the ones we need to get rid of. They are why the approval rating for Congress has lingered near the single digits for months.

While we love to hate our politicians, the other side of that coin might well be the way we love our animals.

Dogs and cats lead the league, of course, but we tend to love animals of all stripes. Many of us put out bird feeders, for instance, and while we like to complain when those dastardly squirrels sneak down and help themselves to a ration of sunflower seeds meant for the birds, part of us doesn’t really mind. After all, we know that squirrels need to eat, too.

To recap: Politicians, bad; animals, good.

When those two worlds collide – as they did last Monday night outside a Nashua hotel – it’s a safe bet that the politician is going to come out smelling like a skunk.

State Rep. David Campbell, a powerful Nashua Democrat, admitted that he ran over some ducks with his BMW in the parking lot of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. “Some people were feeding ducks on the driveway in front of the Crowne Plaza at 10 o’clock at night, and they didn’t move and I hit some ducks.”

James Murphy, a Florida resident who was preparing to check into the hotel, witnessed the incident. “It just crushed all of the ducks,” he told The Telegraph, estimating that a half a dozen of the birds were killed.

Campbell, who chairs the House Public Works and Highways Committee, said he felt bad about it all, but wanted to wait and see what the police investigation found before saying more. “I’d like to wait and see what they come out with,” Campbell said.

That’s certainly his right, but there’s also something about that statement that smacks of insincerity, like the poker player who wants to see everybody’s cards before deciding how much to bet.

Campbell said he feels “terrible” about the incident, but Murphy’s account suggests Campbell’s lament may fall into the “I-feel-terrible-I-got-caught” category.

Murphy said he confronted Campbell after the ducks were hit and the representative seemed unfazed by what happened. Worse than that, according to Murphy, Campbell had the nerve to blame the ducks for not getting out of the way, though Campbell has since issued a statement claiming that it was an accident. We think Campbell’s original “they didn’t move” statement probably comes closer to the unvarnished truth of the matter. We understand that the ducks at the hotel can be something of a nuisance, but that does not give anyone license to run them over, even if callous disregard for wildlife may not be illegal, strictly speaking.

Either way, it’s all unfortunate for Campbell, because, for a politician, “duck killer” is probably synonomous with “career killer.”

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