CHAPTER 1
The hardest thing about any political campaign is how to win without proving that you are unworthy of winning.
--Adlai Stevenson
That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass—and I'm just the one to do it!
--Unknown Texan congressional candidate
TEN TIPS FOR ETHICAL POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
The 2016 presidential race was seen by many of us as one of the dirtiest in American history. The chair of the DNC (a CNN contributor) leaked primary debate questions to Hillary Clinton prior to the CNN sponsored event.4 Clinton called Donald Trump supporters, “Deplorables.”5 Trump accused Ted Cruz’s father of participating in the assassination of President Kennedy.6 Clinton supporters were fraudulently informed that they didn’t have to go to the polls- that they could vote by text instead.7 Cruz sent out deceptive official looking voter “report cards” intimidating voters into casting a ballot for him.8 Marco Rubio taunted Trump with having “small hands.”9 DNC operatives were accused of starting fights at GOP rallies.10 An independent expenditure committee posted nude photos of Melania Trump.11 WikiLeaks hacked and released DNC emails and Russia meddled in our election by, among other things, producing a flood of fraudulent news stories on social media.12
Dirty tricks in politics are nothing new. John Adams once feared that the Continental Congress would be ruled "by noise, not sense; by meanness, not greatness; by ignorance, not learning; by contracted hearts, not large souls."13 Thomas Jefferson supporters were told that they couldn’t vote for Jefferson because he had died.14 Teddy Roosevelt called candidate William Howard Taft, “a fathead” with, “the brains of a guinea pig.” 15
But aside from its inherent ugliness, dirty campaigning makes governing much harder. As noted by CNN contributor Bob Greene in 2012, and has been demonstrated time and again post 2016, the problem with scorched earth politics is that it is difficult to shift from mud wrestler to statesman once the votes have been counted.16 We are also seeing an increase in polarity in the governing process—a direct result of the incivility born during nasty campaign battles. Legislative relationships poisoned during a campaign are hard to mend and make it difficult for later negotiation and compromise. More than three-quarters of Americans (77 percent) have said that the way politics works in Washington causes serious harm to the United States.17
Even though negative campaigning and dirty tricks get wide coverage in the press, there are stories of ethical candidates whose conduct can provide good examples and inspirations for your candidacy.
In 1964, three weeks before the election, President Lyndon Johnson's aide (a married man) was arrested on a “morals charge” for having sex with another man in a YMCA changing room. Barry Goldwater's campaign staff urged the Republican presidential candidate to make an issue out of the arrest in the campaign. Goldwater refused. He was adamant that it wasn’t relevant to the race, and he didn’t want to participate in the character assassination of the Johnson staffer.18
In 2000, former congressman Tom Downey, the debate coach for Democratic nominee Al Gore, received in the mail a video of rival candidate George W. Bush's debate prep along with briefing materials. When Downey realized this material belonged to the Bush campaign, he turned it over to the FBI. Although he had only glanced at the materials briefly to determine their contents, he stepped down from the debate prep team, “in order to ensure the integrity of the debate process.”19
In 2008 presidential candidate John McCain famously corrected a supporter at a town hall meeting who said that she couldn’t trust candidate Barack Obama because he was, “an Arab.” McCain replied, “No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues, and that’s what this campaign is all about.”20
And who can forget Ronald Reagan’s brilliant comeback to comments about his advanced age during a 1984 debate with Walter Mondale. With a shrug and a smile Reagan said, “I want you to know that I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” Instead of attacking in kind, Reagan’s ability to deflect earned him the reputation of being a likeable guy—and helped him win a second term.21
Michelle Obama’s 2016 rallying cry to the Democratic Convention, “When they go low, we go high,”22 should be the guiding mantra for all ethical candidates, regardless of party. In the heat of the political battle, you and your campaign will be tempted to go low and engage in tactics that undermine our political process and reduce trust in candidates and in government. If you are aware of these questionable practices ahead of time, you can prepare yourself to resist those temptations.
For example, be wary when advised to hold off releasing a negative message until right after the ballots have been mailed. The infamous “October surprise” is the generic term for a negative attack coming out shortly before an election, giving the target of the attack little or no time to respond. If the attack is subject to denial or rational explanation, the interests of an informed electorate require that assertions be timed in such a way as to allow response. Voters should be able to make decisions based on all of the information available, not just that provided by one side.
Whisper campaigns are another unfair tactic whereby rumors, innuendo, and slanderous statements are quietly conveyed in order to damage reputations and/or dry up funding sources and support. The negative assertions are not made publicly, thus the subject may have no idea about what is being said until it is too late. Also because the allegations are not made publicly, the target is caught in a catch-22—if the candidate publicly denounces the rumors, it calls attention to the issue. If the candidate ignores the behind-the-back rumors, the campaign can be damaged. It is a tough position to be in.
Push polling is an unfair and unethical political device used to communicate negative messages. A push poll is one where, under the guise of conducting a legitimate poll, defamatory or otherwise negative and usually false information is conveyed. The American Association of Political Consultants condemns this practice, declaring on their website, “’Push-polls’ violate the AAPC’s stricture against ‘any activity which would corrupt or degrade the practice of political campaigning.’ To the extent that practitioners of the ‘push-poll’ ruse convey inaccurate information about an election opponent, they also violate the AAPC’s stricture against false and misleading attacks.”23
Practices that hamper your opponent’s ability to fairly compete are unethical. For example if you are a wealthy candidate, think twice before hiring political consultants, not for their services, but to keep them from working for your opponent. Insisting on conducting debates at a time when you know your opponent is unavailable falls into this category. Never turn a blind eye when your staff or volunteers remove your opponent’s posters, or destroy his or her other campaign materials, or in any way stifle the dissemination of your opponent’s message. While it may be easy to shrug this conduct off as “youthful shenanigans,” in reality it is the suppression of political speech by your campaign. Remember, to the voting public, if you say nothing you stand for what you condone.
Any campaign practice that provides an obstacle to a citizen’s ability to vote interferes with our democratic notions of fair and free elections. Such practices are not only unethical but are in many instances illegal. Destruction of mail-in ballots, deliberately staged traffic jams on election day, and voter intimidation at the polls are all examples of unethical—and illegal—tactics designed to discourage voting. On the flip side, it is also unethical and illegal to incentivize voter turnout for a particular candidate by offering a reward or free gifts for voting. Voting is a privilege freely exercised and cannot be bought.
So, how can you show respect for your opponent and the process and still run an effective campaign? By following the ethical rules of engagement laid out in the beginning of this chapter, you will operate under the golden rule in politics—treat your opponent the way you would wish to be treated and our political process will be better for it