by Stephen Gale
May 8, 2010
This election year is turning nasty. But they always do.
In partisan races, one expects to hear the Republican front-runner for Governor referred to by Democratic Party Leadership as “An empty suit,” even if the empty suit is named Meg Whitman. Unfortunately, this year the derogatory innuendo, half-truths, lies and damn lies told in negative campaign advertising is spilling over into both local non-partisan political races where all contenders are Democrats as well as the Democratic Primary races.
In the 2nd Senatorial race, a candidate started this year’s round of mud slinging with an 8-page press release targeting Noreen Evans, the presumptive front-runner and endorsed candidate of the CDP. In the 7th Assembly district, presumptive front-runner and endorsed candidate of the CDP Michael Allen has been similarly targeted by the former campaign manager of one of his two opponents, who left that candidates staff before starting a negative campaign that extends to the halls of the State Legislature. Stories in the press point to similar “hard ball” tactics in a hotly contested District Attorney’s election. Recent articles cite more “soft ball” mud-slinging in the 4th Supervisorial District race and it seems likely there may be a little mud thrown in the 2nd Supervisorial District before June 8th arrives.
In some races, there are certainly going to be Independent Expenditure committees that will slam one or more of our endorsed candidates and perhaps others who did not receive the local party endorsement. Although the names attached to an IE are often difficult to find, some prominent Democrats — names you would certainly recognize — will be contributing to IE’s as large dollar donors or be personally active in their operations.
In the race for the 3rd Judicial Seat, endorsed candidate Jamie Thisthlethwaite has been attacked for errors made by the local party and false statements made by some Central Committee and/or Club Members to the local press, in one case with the person quoted in the Press Democrat taking the cowardly approach of remaining anonymous.
As the Chair of the local party, I made the decision not to respond vigorously to the initial attack against Ms. Thisthlethwaite. However, during the League of Women Voters debate on Monday evening (at approximately 45 minutes elapsed time), her opponent chose to continue his smear campaign by making a false statement that also impugns the integrity of the local party’s endorsement process and on that point, I cannot remain silent.
The candidate not endorsed stated, “her campaign chair sat on and participated in discussions” that resulted in the recommendation to the Central Committee to endorse Jamie Thisthlethwaite. It appears, from a close review of the video on the Press Democrat site that he claims the party allowed a “campaign chair” to sit on an interview committee and that was the clear impression left with every member of the Central Committee who was present at the Glaser Center Monday night.
In fact, Patrick Band (Ms. Thisthlethwaite’s so-called “campaign chair”) notified both the Chair of the Candidate Search and Development Committee and the Chair of the Central Committee of his selection immediately following being hired by the campaign. He was not a member of the interview committee; he did not participate in discussions and did not vote during the endorsement vote at any time during the endorsement process. On the night the Central Committee endorsed Ms. Thistlethwaite, Mr. Band was not even in the room when the discussion took place.
It is unfortunate that Ms. Thistlethwaite’s opponent, who was present for both his interview and the public discussion prior to the endorsement vote, did not rely on his first hand knowledge of events. Rather, he chose to quote an inaccurate statement made to the Press Democrat by a known campaign supporter as proof for a blatantly false claim during the League’s debate.
To counter that type of irresponsible campaigning, I sent an open letter to approximately 3,000 Democrats who have supported the local party or been active as volunteers over the years. That letter responded to the un-endorsed candidate’s false statements directly and reaffirmed the local party’s strong support for Jamie Thistlethwaite.
Nonetheless, I take no pleasure in having to make that public statement.
In private discussions, as the Chair of the local party, I have urged various Democratic candidates to run fair and positive campaigns that focus on the real issues we face. However, it is a hard sell for some candidates who fear they may lose. In addition, it is also easier to make hay with negative information than to actually campaign on the facts and issues that will affect our collective future.
As Gary Galles wrote in Capitol Weekly, “Reality is complex, but appropriately selected half-truths are simple and easier to “sell” to voters paying limited attention.” If the candidate being attacked has a long public record, the strategy of negative campaigning can be more appealing, as well, because, as Galles points out, ”Politics also involves compromise, and taken out of context, any compromise provides fodder for attacks that a candidate has abandoned principle.”
It is especially tragic when negative campaign tactics are applied in a Democrat vs. Democrat race because it hinders our ability to work together in the future by creating personal animosity or more deeply held emotional reactions that, for some people, may never heal.
In his historically accurate Blog Article, titled George Brown vs. John Tunney – The Campaign that killed the Democratic Party, Bob Kholos recounts the events leading up to what has been recognized as the first negative campaign in a California Democratic Primary. He notes the impact of distortions and misstatements on the morale and enthusiasm of the body politic. Near the end of the article, he expands the theme to an observation that transcends party lines in the rhetorical statement, “No wonder why people are turned off to politics.”
Yet, as we all know, this election year is turning nasty. But they always do.
When you cast your vote, I urge you to consider whether you are being unduly influenced by negative campaign tactics. I urge you to vote for the candidate who most closely aligns with your values and who supports your point of view on the issues.
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Stephen Gale is the Chair of the Sonoma County Democratic Party and a member of the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party.
