Worthy Candidate Gets Smeared
I volunteer occasionally for a local candidate for Congress, Allyson Schwartz (D). She's running for the seat in PA district 13. I volunteer because I like her, I believe that she's really in it to help others, and I support most of what she stands for.
This past Friday she got hit by a set a negative ads.
The attack ad included the charge that State Senator Schwartz had voted against Megan's Law. The truth was that she had voted against a weak version of the bill. Then she supported a stronger version of the bill, which was later signed into law. It seams that Senator Schwartz is not opposed to protecting children, she's just takes issue with half-assing the job. The cynic in me just brushed it aside, thinking, "Well that's what elections are like, people know better than to believe everything that are said in either sides ads."
However, I have talked to a couple of people about the fact that I volunteer from time to time on the Schwartz campaign, and since this ad hit I have been confronted several times by people quoting the ad back to me like as it were fact. However if I point out that it isn't true I'm told I'm biased because I'm for the candidate. Which leaves me to ask: Why aren't you this discerning when you are watching the ad. Especially when you consider Melissa Brown appears at the end of it. Is there perhaps a possibility that she might be biased?
This kind of campaign weakens the process as a whole, and damages the people that Melissa Brown seeks to represent. I'm confident that Allyson Schwartz will win this campaign. In fact, this round of negative campaigning was triggered by a recent poll that had Schwartz up significantly beyond the margin of error. However I do feel that the people of the Pennsylvania would be better served if Allyson had a more worthy candidate to defeat.
