[ OUR OPINION ]

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Bipartisan candidate
watchdog group is welcome

THE ISSUE A new group has criticized attack ads by the Hawaii Democratic Party against a Big Isle Republican seeking reelection to the Senate.

TRUTH in Hawaii politics has received a shot in the arm with the formation of a bipartisan group aimed at spotting false, unfair or misleading campaign tactics and pointing them out to the public. The newly formed Clean Campaigns Project's first missile was directed at Democratic Party campaign brochures containing erroneous allegations against a Republican incumbent from the Big Island. Political campaigns and organizations should take serious note of the new kid on the block.

The state Campaign Spending Commission in the past has mistakenly assumed watchdog responsibilities beyond its legitimate scope, censuring candidates for what it saw as unfair campaigning. During the 1998 election, the commission censured Republican Senate candidate Roger Ancheta for accusing incumbent Randy Iwase of being in the pocket of "special interests," including then-Bishop Estate.

After that election, it censured defeated City Council candidate Melodie Aduja for blaming incumbent Steve Holmes for the poor condition of city projects in his district. The Ancheta and Aduja cases are examples of timeworn strategies in politics that should not have drawn government review.

The commission's meddlesome activities diminished its function of enforcing laws limiting campaign contributions and expenditures, and the commission seems to have realized in recent years that such censures violated candidates' freedom of speech. Government should have no authority about what candidates or political organizations say in campaigns.

That doesn't mean that false or misleading political assertions should go unchallenged. It means only that a truth squad should be independent of government and assume the role of exposing such falsities to the public.

House Republican Leader Galen Fox and Democratic Sen. Les Ihara created the Clean Campaigns Project last month. They serve as advisers to the project's four members -- Democrats Marilyn Bornhorst and Warren Iwasa, and Republicans Randy Roth and Kate Zhou. Unanimity is needed for the group to issue a stinging opinion.

The offending campaign tactic cited by the project consisted of two fliers distributed by the state Democratic Party attacking Republican Rep. Mark Jernigan of the Big Island. One flier accused Jernigan of being absent from conference committees 46 percent of the time, confusing the records with Senate floor votes. Another flier said he voted against the budget bill when, in fact, he voted for it.

Brickwood Galuteria, the Democratic Party chairman, insists the fliers are "firm and factual," attributing the budget bill falsehood "a typo." Brennon Morioka, the Republican Party chairman, accused the Democrats of "blatantly and purposely trying to dirty our incumbents' records."

The Clean Campaigns Project's bipartisan makeup gives it credibility, while Galuteria's defense of the fliers is specious. The project's first venture should give notice to politicians and their parties that baseless accusations could boomerang.