{"id":18514,"date":"2010-06-14T00:14:34","date_gmt":"2010-06-14T06:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=18514"},"modified":"2010-06-14T22:19:47","modified_gmt":"2010-06-15T04:19:47","slug":"rejecting-negative-campaigning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/06\/rejecting-negative-campaigning\/","title":{"rendered":"Rejecting negative campaigning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

The candidate with the best negative ads \u2013 and the most money to spread them \u2013 will probably win the governor\u2019s race. But at what cost to society?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what has been on my mind as Democratic gubernatorial candidate Diane Denish<\/a> and Republican opponent Susana Martinez<\/a> have been locked in a battle about who can hit the other harder.<\/p>\n

Negative campaigning is nothing new. But as I\u2019ve covered politics intimately for the last four years, I\u2019ve watched the impact it has on elections. If it helps a candidate win, it does so by discouraging people from voting or getting involved in the political process in other ways.<\/p>\n

Effectively engaging in negative campaigning requires believing the worst about someone else, or lying. Most people \u2013 especially the moderate and independent-minded voters who are turned off most by negative campaigning \u2013 understand that the portrayals in negative ads are, at best, spin.<\/p>\n

Political campaigns are the opportunity people have to compare different approaches to governing. It should be the time we consider different ideas for how to solve our society\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n

Negative campaigning diverts the focus to the partisan divide. It grows that divide and makes it more difficult to solve our problems. It threatens our democracy\u2019s ability to function.<\/p>\n

Neither Palin nor Pelosi is the devil<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve written before about my involvement<\/a> in a conservative, evangelical church in Las Cruces. I didn\u2019t come from that background. I grew up in a fairly liberal home. My mom remains a big supporter of Hillary Clinton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I have worked hard over the years to understand people of varying ideologies. The fact that I\u2019m a journalist is not the reason I\u2019m registered to vote as an independent. My declining to state a party is genuine: Getting to know people on the right and left \u2013 and trying to understand their viewpoints \u2013 has led me to some pretty liberal beliefs, some pretty conservative beliefs and many moderate beliefs.<\/p>\n

In my exploration of various ideologies, I\u2019ve learned that the political right isn\u2019t evil. Neither is the political left. There are people on both sides \u2013 and some in the middle \u2013 who make me uncomfortable, but I believe most people who hold differing beliefs do so for genuine reasons.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In short, Sarah Palin<\/a> isn\u2019t the devil. Neither is Nancy Pelosi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I wish Palin and Pelosi understood that about each other. But too many politicians believe the worst about each other and stop communicating.<\/p>\n

The result is potentially catastrophic: I\u2019m not convinced that Washington or Santa Fe, in the current political climate, has the ability to deal with the challenges of the 21st Century. Both parties are to blame.<\/p>\n

Growing up<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s a shame that more voters don\u2019t reject negative campaigning and elect candidates who understand that governing is about compromise between people with varying and genuine beliefs.<\/p>\n

So let me state my rejection of negative campaigning. Regardless of what anyone says about either of them, Denish and Martinez have both stood up for the people of this state during their many years working for taxpayers. Some may not think one or the other did her job well. But I don\u2019t doubt that either has tried to make a difference.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what Republicans claim, Denish has stood up to corruption. She spoke out against efforts by the speaker of the House to kill housing authority reform and was instrumental in helping the legislation pass. I watched her do it.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what Democrats claim, Martinez is tough on crime. She has aggressively gone after murderers and has been especially tenacious about locking up child killers. Martinez was instrumental in the successful effort to lobby the state Legislature to toughen penalties for child abuse resulting in death. I watched her do it.<\/p>\n

As a journalist, I have to cover the negative spin. It\u2019s an integral part of campaigns and a factor in who wins. But, in the spirit of rejecting negative campaigning, I\u2019m going to do my best to cover it in a way that cuts through their spin and gets to the truth.<\/p>\n

I hope you\u2019ll join me in rejecting the negative campaigning. Our society\u2019s future depends on us growing up and learning how to work together, instead of against each other.<\/p>\n

Haussamen bio<\/a> \u2502 Commentary archives<\/a> \u2502 Feed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If negative campaigning helps a candidate win, it does so by discouraging people from voting or getting involved in the political process in other ways. I hope you\u2019ll join me in rejecting the gubernatorial candidates\u2019 spin-filled, negative campaigning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[108,107],"class_list":["post-18514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-2010-election","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}