Political Hit Pieces Merit Disdain

You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but election-campaign mailers are different. The so-called hit pieces, mailed late in the campaign, can give voters a lot of insight into the ethics of the candidate who sends them.

Voters should view with skepticism and disdain candidates who resort to wild charges, exaggerations, deception and even lies in an attempt to confuse and influence them.

In recent days there have been a series of questionable mailers. For example, Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), in a brochure comparing his record with that of his challenger, Nathan Rosenberg, in the 40th Congressional District Republican primary, made several unsupported and ridiculous charges that Rosenberg considers libelous.

Assemblyman Richard Robinson, running for the Democratic nomination in the 38th Congressional District, also claimed he was libeled by his opponent, Judge David Carter.

Assessor Bradley Jacobs accused his opponent, David Holbert, of a bald-faced lie in claiming in a mailer that Jacobs had opposed Proposition 13. And in Santa Ana, the Committee for Better Government’s mailer opposing Measure C called its proponents “extremists” from outside the city who thought it was all right to allow 20 to 30 transients to live in a single-family house.

There have been others, and voters can expect more in the closing hours of the campaign. The best approach they can take is to be skeptical and reject any last-minute charges that were not raised earlier in the campaign when time would allow them to be answered and discussed.