Over the last few years, I've made it a policy not to comment on political charges or complaints that occur within the last week of a campaign. This is because, it seems invariably that these charges or complaints end up having no merit and seem intended by those who make the allegations to smear sway voters away from a candidate.
The timing of the charges appear carefully calculated to produce the maximum impact and minimum time for the target to defend him or herself. However, once the charge or complaint works its way through the system, said charge is almost always found to be without merit and dismissed. But by then, months after the election, no one cares.
I see no reason to change my policy. However, I do feel compelled to note some thoughts regarding several charges brought against Congressman Ed Case (who I support) over the last few days.
Recently, Congressman Case sent out an email that quoted a passage from a book by former Hawaii Governor George Ariyoshi (who supports opponent Senator Daniel Akaka but who I otherwise respect as being one of the more fiscally conservative of Hawaii's governors). The entire text of the email follows:
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Dear Friend:
Please consider the following insights by ex-Gov. George Ariyoshi from With Obligation to All (1997): "Loyalty is a strong traditional value of people generally, and this is so with those of Japanese ancestry. I had my own definition of loyalty, which I construed as loyalty not only to individuals but to principles, and our foremost principle was openness and fairness. "I wish I could find the speech I gave to the 1972 Democratic Party Convention, in which I called for genuinely opening up the ranks to newcomers. I talked with Governor Burns beforehand about that speech. I told him I was going to say we had to change. ... "The Democratic Party was at a critical stage, and it had to change. "A few years earlier, Bob Oshiro had made a chart that showed the ages of all the people in the Legislature. It showed how they had all started off young but their average ages had gone up and up. We were in danger of being an aged party unless we brought in new people with new blood and new ideas. I believed we could not just tell new people to come in on the condition that they listen to us. There were other people who were giving lip service to the theme of openness, but I was saying, 'The difference between you and me is you still want to retain complete control. You don't want to let these people have any real influence.' "We were saying to these new people, 'Come in. The party belongs to you.' And then we were treating them almost like robots. ... "If you really wanted people to come in, you had to tell them, 'Come, use your best energy and judgment, and do what you feel has to be done.' ... "The speech was coldly received by some old-time Democrats. ... The issue always was what we do with our so-called power."
Mahalo and aloha,
CASE FOR SENATE
Governor Ariyoshi immediately went on TV and alleged that the quote was taken out of context, did not mean what it says, and in any case, Congressman Case should have called the Governor first. Unfortunately for the Governor, the quote was not taken out of context (as confirmed by the newspaper that endorses Senator Akaka), it in fact means exactly what it says, and no one needs Governor Ariyoshi's permission to quote this passage under Fair Use laws.
The Democratic party then and now, tends to be a very closed organization. The alarm that Governor Ariyoshi so clearly rang, lo those many years ago, rings especially true today. Perhaps more so as the party continues to age, but those in power refuse to allow new comers with new ideas to guide the party in new directions.
The second of three allegations involves a TV campaign ad. I have to admit, I don't recall seeing this ad. But from what I understand, in it you see, among other people, what appears to be a fireman in uniform shaking Congressman Case's hand. Someone has charged that this is a campaign violation because, they say, the Fire Department has a policy of prohibiting members of their organization from using the uniform to endorse any candidate. This policy is, if it exists, a wise one. I think the police, and perhaps other uniformed public organizations such as the military probably have similar policies prohibiting their members from doing similar things. The problem is, although the fireman may be in trouble for being in the ad, I know of no violation on the part of the candidate.
The third complaint appears even stranger. The US Chamber of Commerce is doing a series of get out the vote phone messages. Under our Constitution, the Chamber has a First Amendment right to speak out and ask people to be good citizens and vote. As in the TV ad, I have not heard the phone message but I understand it does not endorse or ask that you vote for anyone in particular. However, Congressman Case is apparently mentioned as supporting small businesses. As above, if there is a violation, and I do not believe there is one, it would be against the US Chamber of Commerce, not the candidate.
It has been said, more than once, that politics is a dirty business. But to the extent that it is, I suggest it is so only because people of goodwill allow this to happen by not speaking against it.
At this point in the campaign, I'm not going to ask you to vote for Congressman Case (although I hope
you will consider him), but I do ask that you actively work against those who use smear unethical tactics during campaigns. And I ask that you carefully examine whether, in the wise words of Governor Ariyoshi, the Democratic Party is "at a critical stage and it ha[s] to change.. .We [are] in danger of being an aged party unless we br[ing] in new people with new blood and new ideas."
Come this Saturday, you decide.
YMMV, insert disclaimer here.
