An IVoteMyVote.com Editorial
A Voluntary Standard: 60% Substantive Issue Advertising
IVoteMyVote encourages campaigns to devote at least 60% of their political advertising expenditures to substantive public issues and concrete solutions, elevating civic debate above personal insults.
What Are We Really Learning About Our Candidates?
During an election campaign, voters are exposed to an enormous volume of political advertising, speeches, interviews, and public statements. Some provide valuable information about the problems facing our communities and the proposed solutions. Others concentrate on matters having little relationship to the responsibilities of public office.
Consider a political advertisement comparing the amount of money one candidate spends on personal grooming with the grooming expenses of a candidate of the opposite sex.
What does such a comparison tell voters about either candidate’s understanding of the national debt, education, health care, public safety, immigration, or the responsibilities of the office being sought?
Unless the expenditures involve misuse of public funds, improper campaign spending, or another legitimate question of accountability, the comparison may contribute little to an informed electoral decision.
The Difference Between Accountability and Frivolity
IVoteMyVote.com does not suggest that a candidate’s personal conduct should be exempt from public examination.
Truthfulness, ethical behavior, financial integrity, treatment of others, and respect for the law are legitimate considerations when choosing public officials.
However, there is an important difference between examining conduct relevant to public responsibility and exploiting personal characteristics simply to attract attention or embarrass an opponent.
Examples of questionable campaign distractions may include ridicule of physical appearance, clothing, hairstyle, harmless personal habits, or selective comparisons that omit important context. Such matters should not displace serious discussion of the responsibilities candidates are seeking to assume.
The Cost of a Wasted Opportunity
Political advertising is expensive. Every dollar devoted to a frivolous attack represents a dollar that could have been used to explain a candidate’s position on an important public issue.
More importantly, every minute of public attention directed toward an irrelevant controversy is a minute unavailable for examining proposed legislation, government expenditures, constitutional responsibilities, or the long-term consequences of public policy.
“Voters deserve something more substantial than entertainment disguised as political education.”
A Constructive Alternative
IVoteMyVote.com has proposed a voluntary standard encouraging candidates and independent political organizations to devote at least 60% of their political advertising expenditures to substantive election issues and proposed solutions.
This standard does not prohibit criticism or discussion of character. Rather, it encourages campaigns to give the majority of their advertising attention to matters directly affecting the electorate.
The proposal also invites public registration of voluntary commitments, with independent compliance reviews as resources eventually permit.
Questions Every Voter Can Ask
When confronted with a political advertisement, the voter might reasonably consider:
- What issue is being discussed?
- What factual evidence supports the statements being made?
- What solution does the candidate propose?
- Is the criticism relevant to the candidate’s qualifications or official responsibilities?
- Am I better informed after seeing or hearing this message?
These questions do not require agreement with any political party or candidate. They simply encourage thoughtful examination of the information being presented.
What We, the People, Should Expect
Freedom of speech is fundamental to American democracy. Candidates, organizations, and individual citizens must remain free to express political opinions, including criticism of those seeking public office.
But the freedom to speak also carries an opportunity to speak responsibly.
IVoteMyVote.com invites candidates, political organizations, and voters to consider whether political advertising is serving its highest purpose: helping citizens understand the choices before them.
The American voter should not have to search through personal insults and frivolous comparisons to discover what a candidate intends to do in public office.
Let us devote more attention to the issues, more consideration to proposed solutions, and more respect to the intelligence of the American electorate.
IVoteMyVote.com
Your Vote. Your Voice. Your Responsibility.
