Imagine for a moment that Federal law prohibited a politician from lying in a campaign commercial. (Imagine, in other words, that people running for the most powerful political office in the world were held to the same standards as people selling cans of soup.) Imagine punishment for breaking the law was fast and serious. Imagine there was an independent office that monitored every ad before it could air.
Okay, I'm dreaming. But bear with me. We are not necessarily without recourse here. As American citizens we each have a representative in Congress. I'm thinking it's time they began to hear from us. Especially those of us with Republican representatives. (Me, I've got Jim Gerlach. But don't let that stop you from calling him too.)
What if we start calling, not to complain at length or unleash a partisan screed, but simply to ask the staffer who answers the phone: where does Congressperson X stand on McCain's campaign ads that feature documentable lies about Barack Obama? Ads that have been denounced by a variety of mainstream media outlets as fabrications. Does he/she have an opinion on the matter?
We could start posting their answers. Maybe there's still a Republican Congressperson with half a brain and three-quarters of a heart out there who understands that what McCain is doing is poisonous to the country he claims to be putting first, and lethal to democracy. Said Republican Congressperson would get a lot of love here. (Maybe a position in President Obama's bipartisan cabinet too? Well, okay, I'm dreaming again...) Those who refuse to take a stand shouldn't be allowed to hide behind "No comment." If they can't publicly denounce it then they're agreeing with, as one example, the ad that (even) Joe Klein in Time magazine has called "one of the sleaziest ads I've ever seen in presidential politics." They're agreeing with the McCain campaign's assessment that truth has no place in politics or government. We should call them out here.
So, Mr. or Ms. Republican Congressperson: What do you think of John McCain's ads? Do you think his ad campaign is honorable? Do you approve the message?
I thought of this last night, and am planning to call later today. If anyone's with me by then, I'll post an update. Let me add that I'm a newbie at all of this, including any sort of political action. I've called my Congressperson once or twice before, that's it. If there's some obvious (but not to me) reason that this is a silly or ineffective idea, I will get the message simply by having nobody being interested here. (In other words, if you're thinking of clubbing me on the head in response, try to restrain yourself.)
For now, however, I'm wondering if this isn't a pretty decent idea. What if someone can actually unearth a Republican who repudiates the sleaze tactics? That would be news indeed.