Editorial: The sorry election politics of negativity
If you live in the 53rd Illinois House district now represented by Rep. David Harris, you're probably familiar with the steady onslaught of direct mail advertising that makes Republican Eddie Corrigan out to be a sort of Illinois version of party boss Jim Taylor from "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
In fact, judging by the placard-style advertising that pours into suburban mailboxes via the auspices of the Democratic Party of Illinois run by House Speaker Michael Madigan, you'd think Corrigan was the guy running state government, not Madigan.
"The Time for Political Operatives Like Eddie Corrigan Has Passed," one of the latest flyers declares. "Political Insider Eddie Corrigan Is Part of the Rusty Springfield Machine," it goes on to spout.
It then hyperventilates that Corrigan is blocking reforms that would provide tax relief to middle-class families, keeping property taxes high and kicking domestic violence survivors out of shelters.
Similar nasty campaign messaging is starting to take place in other races across the suburbs, and, no doubt, across Illinois and the nation.
How unfortunate for all of us. How low it brings the republic. How cynical it encourages all of us to be.
The reality is that Corrigan is hardly a Springfield power broker. In fact, he's something of a political neophyte, a young congressional aide who's running for office for the first time. His philosophy is one of generally moderate Republican values.
Why is Madigan's organization trying to dirty Corrigan up? Well, a cynic might say that Democrats would rather spend time driving up Corrigan's negatives than trying to explain why his opponent, former state Rep. Mark Walker, helped pass a lame-duck state income tax increase on his way out the door a decade ago.
That may be part of the reasoning, we suppose, but it's mainly because that's what political campaigns seem to be made of these days - hyperbole and negativity that obscure reality and lower the debate.
Our point here isn't to endorse Corrigan. Heck, his side participated in the same kind of false hyperbole to unfairly dirty up his primary opponent, Katie Miller, last spring. And despite the questions we have about Walker's lame-duck votes, we've always believed him to be a sincere person who wants to do good in Springfield.
But as the campaign season winds into full swing, we call on Walker and Corrigan, on all the candidates, on their campaigns and mostly on the party machines: Cut the vitriol.
It's not good for the country. It's not good for any of us.
Meanwhile, since the professional pols are unlikely to heed our advice, let all of us as voters remember to bring some healthy skepticism to the hyperbolic campaign rhetoric that inundates us and undermines the public good.