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Campaign tactics have been disappointing

What a disappointment the 2014 political campaign season has been. It seems we have reached a new low in our desire to assassinate the characters of our candidates.
Some television ads have become so vitrolic that stations are providing “truth tests” and “reality checks” so that voters can find out if the assertions put forth in these ads are truth or fiction, or can be found in some gray morass in between.
The past few election cycles have somewhat enured us to what happens at the federal level, where we expect our professional politicians to have become teflon-coated and able to withstand the mud-slinging and vilification.
What we find troubling is how these attitudes have filtered down to state and local candidates.
From state senators and representatives on down to county commissioners, city council members, school board members and township officers, we’re talking about part-time politicians, not career professionals.
These people are often businessmen, lawyers, teachers, ministers, and a myriad of other occupations, in real life.
These are the people who stepped forward to take the reins of local government, even though it takes them away from their responsibilities to their employment, families and friends.
Most of these people step forward because they truly want to serve their communities, their schools and their state.
Are they perfect? Of course not. Sometimes their egos, emotions and personal agendas get in the way of making sound decisions. They’re human. That happens. Should they be called on the carpet when that happens? Of course, they should.
But that can be done in a civil manner without character assassination. Just because you disagree with someone’s opinion, that doesn’t automatically make them a liar.
These are not evil people, although at times they may not give us their best efforts. These are our neighbors, the people we greet at the Post Office, sit in the stands with at sporting events, share a pew with at church. They are not perfect, but they are still our neighbors.
As The Chronicle has taken in the usual boatload of “endorsement” and political letters to the editor, it has been disheartening to read how many of them cannot support a candidate without disparaging their opponent.
We can do better. Let’s leave the mud-slinging and personal digs to the professional politicians and clean up our act at home. After all, that’s where we live.