Capitol View

By Richard Borreca

Wednesday, June 24, 1998

A guide to ethical
campaign practices

FOR political junkies, who are only happy when counting off the days before an election or the start of the Legislature, there are some rules we expect everyone to follow.

"You dance with the person who brung you," is one. "You are only as good as your last poll," is another. "You can't beat someone with no one," is yet another. My favorite is "Money is the mother's milk of politics."

There's another group with a totally different view of politics. It's a group that thinks the issues should be debated, that wants to hear from the candidates and expects common sense, duty and obligation to be important.

This group thinks the race should be fair and that the people really do make a difference.

These people think politicians and their campaigns are secondary to doing what is good for the country, state and county.

We call these people voters.

They have rules, too, ones that most politicians promise to obey and then forget before they complete the last bold stroke of their signature on the state's code of fair campaign practices.

In the last week, local Democrats and Republicans have both found reason to say the other was violating state ethics laws.

Both infractions were minor enough to get the accusers laughed out of town in any other time than this super-heated election year.

Democratic Party Chairman Walter Heen pointed the first finger, as he warned the public that a couple of pieces of mail asking for money for Linda Lingle went to a state business address. When Lingle's folks answered back saying that Governor Cayetano was sending political information to state employees at work, the Democrats didn't see a problem.

Perhaps what is needed is a quick review of that state code of campaign practices. Here's a version, translated so that both political junkies and voters can understand:

Campaign in the open. If you want to talk stink about an opponent, have the guts to do it to their face.

Don't try to trick us into thinking your opponent is saying one thing when actually he or she means something else.

Don't call your opponent names and don't call his or her family names either.

Holler out if you see somebody talking stink or generally dissing another candidate.

Don't let anyone take cheap shots at your opponent, including making fun of where they were born, how old they are, what church they go to, whether they like boys or girls or even whether they are a boy or girl.

Don't shake down the people you boss around for money and help.

If one of your workers screws up, don't dump the blame on them. This is your campaign so take responsibility for it.

Don't try any cute stuff about how you really don't know how loyal or patriotic your opponent is.

If some sneaky folks try to help you by campaigning dirty, start hollering about it and tell them to take a hike.

For voters, I would suggest a couple of common sense rules begining with the aphorism: "He who throws mud loses ground."

You should watch out for candidates who base a campaign around what a lousy job their opponent has done. You should be suspicious of candidates who duck the news media and refuse to answer questions.

Finally, if they don't have time for you now, if they can't treat your or their opponents with respect or if they laugh and make fun of their opposition, imagine how they will be in office.

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Richard Borreca reports on Hawaii's politics every Wednesday.
He can be reached by e-mail at rborreca@pixi.com