Blizzard of political ads disorienting
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
It’s confusing; it’s frightening; it’s even a little depressing. And I’m not even talking about the presidential race.
I went to pick up my mail from the post office the other day since the cluster mailbox on my street is out of commission — a problem I now believe stemmed from the crushing weight of hundreds of political flyers that appear to be swamping everyone’s mail lately. At the post office, a friendly employee asked for my name and disappeared into the mysterious back room I imagine looks something like Santa’s workshop, with toys replaced by envelopes and the countless tiny elves sorting packages rather than gifts. He came back clutching a half-inch stack of mail, my mail, which normally would be rather exciting; after all, who doesn’t love getting mail?
I do, except when it’s a dozen small posters sporting gritty black-and-white photographs of Denny Rehberg, who apparently wants all women to get cancer, and Jon Tester, who will make it impossible for me to pay my electric bill. My favorite slogan is from an anti-Rick Hill flyer declaring that Montanans don’t want to “climb tax hill” — and tax hill is a mountain of $100 bills. Clever, right?
But what in the world does it mean?
Most of these advertisements, especially in the U.S. Senate race, are produced by out-of-state groups, political action committees (those PACs we’ve all been hearing about) and super PACs. As Tester points out in one of his television ads in response to these mailings, the creators of the flyers flooding our mailboxes are often out of touch with the candidates. One poster shows Tester, who lost the middle three fingers of his left hand at age 9, with his fingers healed, thanks to Photoshop, and embracing President Obama. That’s almost funny, if it weren’t for the gravity of the situation. What’s a voter to do? How can a voter wade through the muck of negativity and false claims in political advertising and actually be well-informed on Election Day? When I show up to the polls Nov. 6, I want to feel confident I’m filling out my ballot based on the candidates’ actual platform and voting record. Wading through the state legislature’s website to find out who voted for which bills can be a daunting task, and how can a voter find out the truth about candidates’ records in other races? Luckily for Montanans, one of the nation’s leading nonpartisan political research groups is based right here in the Rocky Mountains outside of Philipsburg.
Project Vote Smart, a nonprofit organization founded in 1992, depends on volunteers, mostly unpaid summer college interns, to research the backgrounds and records of political candidates for state legislature, gubernatorial and congressional races, investigating voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, biographical data including work history, and evaluations of candidates from more than 100 competing special interest groups. All the information is then compiled in simple forms accessible at votesmart.org, where voters can also see how candidates scored on a Political Courage Test. The test measures how willing candidates are to state their positions on issues from abortion to gun rights and budget issues.
For the presidential and congressional races, the website’s VoteEasy tool asks users to answer questions on 13 hot-button issues and matches voters with the candidate who most closely reflects their views. Try it next time you’re surfing the Web — you might be surprised with the answers you get.
For other local races, try talking to the candidates. It might seem obvious, but isn’t that the best way to get a person’s view in his or her own words? Most of our local would-be public servants are quick to return emails and phone calls from their constituents, but you don’t necessarily have to track down each candidate individually. Several local public forums for candidates are planned during the next two weeks. Check out our calendar section for more forum dates and times, and make time to research candidates for yourself.
Remember, especially in election season, you can’t believe everything you read. So don’t let that avalanche of political posters burying your mailbox keep the truth buried, too — it may take some digging, but you’ll be glad you uncovered it come Nov. 6.
