AFTER tomorrow, it will all be over. The charges, counter-charges, lies, distortions, whining, back-scratching, back-biting, back-stabbing, bribes, promises, rumors, smears, arm-twisting and everything else that makes the American democratic process such a lovely experience, will end. Election leaves
muddy taste in mouthAnd, I have to admit, I'm not going to miss it. I'm not going to miss the full-page advertisements that scream one thing on one page and a completely opposite thing on the next page. I'm not going to miss the sneaky television commercials and slimy anonymous "did ya know?" telephone calls.
There's nothing like an election to bring out the worst in people. Perfectly nice grown men and women suddenly get down and wallow in the political mud, sending out brochures that they know do not honestly reflect their opponents' records or true beliefs.
We've reached the point where simply defeating an opponent isn't enough, you have to destroy them, make them out as being the most horrible, dangerous people in the community. Opponents on both sides become monsters who want to pollute our waterways, harm our children, endanger the lives of pregnant women, lock people in internment camps, destroy our military, allow murderers to roam the streets, force women out of jobs, wreck American industry, wipe out entire religions, and, I suppose, kill puppies.
No allegation is too brutal and unbelievable to level against a political challenger. It is no longer good enough to campaign on the basis that you can do a better job than your opponent. You must make it clear that your opponent is in league with the devil and represents the forces of darkness.
IF you were to believe only half of the allegations tossed out against those running for office, you would think that not only do these people not deserve to serve in public office, they should be locked up for crimes against humanity.
That's what it's come to. So it is surprising that a politician will accuse his or her opponent of everything just short of favoring the Holocaust and then, in the same breath, lament the fact that fewer and fewer people vote these days.
They never stop to think about the psychic toll their fierce, vicious, generally unfounded and often contradictory accusations have on the voting public. I'll tell you what effect it has: it wears down the public. It destroys their faith in the system. It confuses them. Truth is lost in the torrent of campaign rhetoric. The candidates may feel that the ends (their election to office) justify the means (destroying their opponent), but the public is weary.
The thing is, as campaigns go, this one wasn't particularly outrageous, which tells us how bad things have gotten.
After tomorrow, candidates and their supporters on both sides will be able to sit back and look at their efforts. I wonder how many of them honestly will be able to say -- either in victory or defeat -- that they ran an honorable campaign. I wonder how many of them will be able to look back with pride at the accusations they made about their opponents (or allowed to be made by their agents).
I can think of a few who will. But I can think of many more who should be ashamed. They left voters feeling that anyone with another point of view is evil.
Elections should be a time of education, a time of review and a time of hope. It should not be a time of destruction, vilification and separation.
The system works when we come out of an election feeling good about ourselves and the democratic process. I guess after tomorrow we'll know.
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to charley@nomayo.com or
71224.113@compuserve.com.
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