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A Vote for Civility

Will negative campaigning that distorts the record of one’s opponent and suppresses the voter turnout of his/her supporters prevail in the American political system? Not if some of Stan Matsunaka’s Republican supporters become the national norm.

Matsunaka, a fiscally conservative and socially moderate Democrat from eastern Colorado, decided to run a clean race, focusing on the strengths of his own candidacy instead of negative attacks on his opponent. His upbeat approach galvanized one of the strongest positive responses that I have seen in my 30 years of watching political returns. Not only were Democrats awakened in a district that had not elected a Democrat to Congress in 30 years and where Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 17 percent, but several respected local Republican leaders decided to leave their party either permanently or for the duration of the campaign because of the unrelentingly negative campaign run by Matsunaka’s opponent, Marilyn Musgrave. In addition, several local papers praised Matsunaka for standing above the stream of negativity spewing from the campaign of his opponent and her allies.

One Republican supporter of Matsunaka, Randall McConnell, said, “I oppose dishonest and negative campaigning. As a life-long, second-generation Republican who has held several offices within the party, I do not wish to return to the vicious days of Watergate, and negative campaigning. I do not appreciate the negative, misinforming campaign being run by [national Republican interests] for candidate Musgrave … We do not need to return to the dark days of slanderous conduct. I am proud of the campaign that Senator Matsunaka and his staff have conducted.”

Looking at the larger implications of a campaign where national Republican interests poured about $1 million in negative ads into the district to hurt Matsunaka’s campaign, McConnell continued, “This district belongs to the citizens who reside in it, not a small group of vested, self-absorbed special interests for their private lobbying needs.”

“There is a cabal that has controlled this Congressional seat for many years. They have become atrophied in their thinking and self-centered to the extreme in their demands on their representative. It is a time for a power shift, and a change of ownership.”

How did it happen that lobbyists for big corporations could give millions of dollars in contributions to a political party for use in local races like Matsunaka’s all over the country? Part of it is campaign finance laws that allow big corporations to have more free speech rights than the average citizen because they have more money. These laws changed starting Nov. 6, thanks to legislation that was passed last spring. But the Democratic and Republican Parties, and the campaign consultants who advise them, are not going to give up their sources of big donations so easily.

According to the Washington Post, “The Republican and Democratic Parties have established fund-raising vehicles for unlimited campaign checks to thwart a new federal law banning ‘soft money’ contributions that goes into effect after the election on Tuesday. According to party officials and fund-raisers, both national political parties have set up state organizations and other groups that will continue to collect and spend the large unlimited campaign checks after they are barred to the national political parties by the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law on Nov. 6.”

Another reason why politics have become dominated by Big Money is that a culture of civic participation unfortunately has been lost. Betty Jo Ehn, lifelong Republican Party activist, schoolteacher and member of Republicans for Stan has served as a campaign manager for several Republican candidates. As a seasoned political veteran, she has seen first-hand how local political campaigns have changed over the years.

“I remember when political campaigns were run differently here in Colorado,” said Ehn. “Used to be, candidates would go door-to-door all day long, just meeting with people face-to-face. You don’t see much of that anymore.”

“Years ago,” she continued, “if you supported a candidate, you’d get your neighbors and friends together to make yard signs. You’d all bring food to keep you going, and there you’d be, working late into the night eating baked beans and casseroles, and stapling those yard signs. Nowadays, you just go to some fancy website and order the yard signs online. They arrive already made up, so people don’t get together to work on them at campaign headquarters. Things have changed; and besides, most people say they don’t have time to do that kind of thing anymore.”

In a stern rebuke to extremists, former local Republican Party official Bruce Broderius added, “The last thing I want is for extremists to try to tell me how to think and how to live … I don’t think extremists belong in my pulpit. I don’t think they belong in my doctor’s office. I don’t think they belong in my schools. That’s why, as a lifelong and committed Republican, I could never support the kind of in-your-face government interference that Marilyn Musgrave represents. It would be against the principles I hold dear and against the very basis of my loyalty to good Republican values. I think it’s hypocritical — or weak-minded — to call yourself a Republican and then try to bring government regulations into places they don’t belong. That’s not Republicanism — it’s just extremism. I oppose Musgrave because I am true to Republican values.”

Matsunaka’s campaign was supported by these and other principled Republicans for Stan who were willing to go public with their opposition to negative politics, Big Money flowing in from outside the district, and intolerant single-issue extremists within their own party. If democracy is to thrive in this country, we should all take a lesson from these plain-spoken, courageous Coloradoans who urge every voter to simply “think for yourself.”

Reach Phil Tajitsu Nash at pnash@campaignadvantage.com.