The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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August 24, 2010

Our View: Focus on issues, not side issues

The Free Press

In virtually every political contest between Democrats and Republicans, part of the game consists of portraying a significant portion of the other’s supporters as slightly, if not significantly, nuts.

The crazies are out there, to be sure. Whichever party possesses the larger repository of them is up for debate, but that doesn’t prevent the parties from attempting to turn outrageous remarks, beliefs and conspiracy theories to their own advantage. There’s no better time than in an election year to see statesmen rise to the occasion, set the record straight, and subsequently set a more civil tone for the cycle to follow. But instead of looking inward, the parties and the candidates at the forefront of them seem always to only see the beam in their rivals’ eyes.

A ridiculously high number of Americans (18 percent, according to a Pew poll) think President Obama is a Muslim, so some Democrats indignantly call on Republicans to repudiate the misinformed among them who are likely to vote for conservatives. Likewise, many Republicans believe Democrats are engaging in a national campaign to portray the tea party movement as inherently racist, so they call on Democrats everywhere to denounce the message. Many other examples of this type of playground bickering are readily available, but to list them all would require too much ink.

Nutty ideas going unchallenged. Below-the-belt tactics going unchallenged. Politics is a very tough game. And unfairness is in the mind of the beholder. And yet, it would be nice if candidates for both parties — since their handlers won’t — would take it upon themselves to correct the misconceptions, chastise the crackpots and do more to re-set the tone to a more respectable level.

We know all too well that the game is played not only on the national level, but the state level, too. Consider the debate that threatens to drown out the articulation of important policy differences between Minnesota gubernatorial candidates Tom Emmer and Mark Dayton. Democrats are calling on Emmer to denounce GOP ads calling Dayton “erratic,” saying such talk comes dangerously close to calling him unhinged. The GOP fires back, saying Dayton should denounce ads (made before Dayton became the official Democratic candidate) for pointing out Emmer’s past drunk driving arrests. If this kind of behavior inspires more voters to take another look at Independence Party candidate Tom Horner, who can blame them?

There will be more of this kind of back-and-forth, unfortunately. Oh, and meanwhile, there is a very important election going on where Minnesota’s two major party candidates have very different ideas on how to solve the state’s very serious issues. There’s a score being kept on who’s got the silliest supporters, who’s playing to the lowest common denominator. But who’s keeping score on who’s ideas for governance make the most sense?

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