Judge candidates based on facts

Every election season the mailboxes of Montana voters become infested with oversized postcards and our phones and televisions are inundated with political attack ads, from out of state groups telling us which way to vote.

These messages typically cite the catastrophe that will result if the targeted candidate is elected. They say nothing about the person they actually support and usually include a particularly unflattering photo of the individual being attacked.

These hit pieces regularly distort or completely misrepresent the views or prior record of the disfavored candidate and, whenever possible, make the time-honored ultimate slam: that so and so is actually an undercover member of the “other” political party.

That last accusation seems to have replaced incompetence, dishonesty or stupidity as the cardinal political sin and ignores the fact each of our political parties has contributed the best elected officials in our history.

The organizations authoring these insults always make the laughable claim that their message is “NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE.”

The high-minded-sounding groups launching these attacks are invariably located in Washington D.C. or some other place completely unconnected — except in their gasp for political influence — from Montana. They have no stake in the integrity or fitness of their candidate; only his or her electability.

It’s not much of a stretch to imagine if these political mercenaries were hired to attack Santa Claus, they would describe him as a dangerous serial trespasser who promotes tooth decay and operates an unregistered vehicle. For good measure they would be sure to include a photo of a screaming toddler on Santa’s lap.

If the political system we all criticize but hugely depend upon is ever to improve, we who vote must rely on more than the one-sided accusations spoon fed to us by those more interested in gaining or retaining political advantage than good government. We need to ignore these vacuous pleas.

That will require deploying the same level of evaluation and judgment we apply when picking a partner, seeking help from a professional or making an important financial decision. Things we have all done but don’t always apply to evaluating the character, abilities and motives of those who aspire to elective office. We can do better.

For many years Montanans regularly elected people from both political parties in the same election. This built in checks and balances and a need for officeholders to cooperate, which served us well. It’s time to return to judging candidates based on genuine issues and facts, not disinformation and partisan labels.

— Shaun Donovan, Superior