I find myself asking this question like many of us do as we look around our country. But right now, it’s a little more in my face, a little closer to home. Politics is usually kind of distant. Of course we care about the major issues of the day and what goes on with our government. These days it is easy to become overloaded with examples of people in government that lack integrity. But when you see it demonstrated right in your own backyard, it seems less about integrity and more like a betrayal.
Right now we have a Democratic candidate in our Congressional District that has crossed this line and out of desperation moved to the dark side of campaigning with a series of negative flyers mailed to voters. And yet he committed many times and to many people his promise to run a positive campaign.
The target of these flyers is Katie Hill, someone I’ve come to enthusiastically support based on her positions on the issues, her history growing up in this district, and her qualifications to serve as our representative in Congress. And to her credit, she has refused to go negative herself. Let me say this again because we seldom hear of this any more:
She has refused to take her campaign into the gutter with her opponent’s negative campaign!
Integrity is still alive and well with at least some people running for office.
These mailers are easily refuted, a little research on her website shows someone who grew up in the district, played in the schoolyard in that damn Antelope Valley wind, went to Saugus High School followed by Cal State Northridge, and then worked her way to the top of one of the most successful homeless assistance groups in California. Her positions on the issues and the endorsements she has earned speak volumes about her.
Actually you can blow away all these false charges with one simple point: If they were true, Why didn’t he mention them a single time during the many debates?
The answer is obvious when your level of integrity hovers near that of the scum-sucking fish at the bottom of my aquarium, you wait till the last minute and throw out a lot of false and misleading attacks hoping your opponent doesn’t have enough time to respond. A frequent tactic when you can’t win an election by just earning people’s votes on your own merits.
Still, this stings even more when you know the person they are defaming, taken the measure of their soul, judged the content of their character, and found yourself delighted to be lucky enough to vote for them.
So we’re left with the possibility that these slanderous mailers might actually get someone elected in our own backyard. Make no mistake, I along with an incredible group of volunteers are going to work as hard as we can to keep this from happening right up to election day. You’re welcome to join us.
But if I actually have to vote for this person in November to flip this district, I think I’m going to feel dirty and need to take a shower after my trip to the voting booth.
Integrity does still matter.
Bob Keys is a Canyon Country resident.
