Look beyond political ads
Published 7:19 am Thursday, August 19, 2010
Regretfully, that recent deluge of political ads on TV, radio and in mailboxes was just the beginning. With the primary behind them, the sound-bite engines can now shift into high gear.
Discerning voters should add a healthy shot of skepticism to their morning coffee between now and General Election Day (Nov. 2). They’ll need it to separate fact from fiction, accuracy from innuendo.
The primary campaign was littered with the latter as party and special-interest strategists used not-so-subtle hints to paint unflattering, and often barely truthful, pictures of candidates they opposed. We’re bound to see plenty more of it as the campaigns, including those independent of the candidates themselves, reload for the fall.
There will be homework for voters to do, as well. In addition to races for congressional and legislative seats, a near-record number of state initiatives and other measures will appear on ballots that will arrive in mailboxes in mid-October. They include:
Two competing initiatives to privatize liquor sales; one to re-institute the two-thirds legislative majority to increase taxes; one to repeal recently-enacted taxes on candy, pop and bottled water; one to establish a high-earner income tax; one allowing private competition for industrial (workers comp) insurance; and a referendum authorizing bonds for school and college construction and repairs.
To truly understand these proposals, voters will have to pay attention to more than TV spots. Such is the price of participatory government.
This newspaper will carry reports on the races and issues in the coming weeks. The editorial board will offer its recommendations for readers to chew on.
And, we’re happy to report, there will be a paper voters pamphlet this time around. The Secretary of State’s office will mail a combined state/county guide around Oct. 15.
The Snohomish County auditor’s office, in an effort to save $70,000 during a budget crisis, tested the idea of an online-only voters guide for the primary. Judging from the volume (in number and decibels) of complaints received in our offices alone, it wasn’t successful. Many earnest voters, it turns out, have come to rely on this objective source of election information, and lots of them don’t have convenient access to the Internet.
We applaud efforts to save taxpayer dollars, but in this case, the county should look elsewhere. Amid all the shouting, attacking and exaggerating of today’s politics, voters need all the objective information they can get.
