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"Politics
is supposed to be the second-oldest profession.
I have come to realize that it bears a very
close resemblance to the first.”
--Ronald
Reagan
Four
years ago, the
voters believed the pledge of Democrat Mark R.
Warner not to raise taxes, and elected him to
office with about 52 percent of the vote.
Two
years ago, a number of Republican State Senators
faced primary challengers; they all campaigned on
fiscally conservative platforms, professing
support for lower taxes and smaller government.
Yet
last year, Gov. Warner with the help of 15
Republican-in-name-only Senate collaborators
enacted the largest tax increase in the history of
Virginia.
There
is an obvious pattern here. Our politicians think
that they have a carte blanche to say anything
that gets them elected, while feeling no
obligation to abide by their campaign promises.
So
it’s no surprise that history is repeating
itself. The characters come and go but the
underlying script remains intact.
Campaign
literature usually promotes the sponsoring
candidate while detracting from their opponent.
That is fair game in politics and voters
understand that candidates will embellish their
qualifications while belittling their opponent.
But
when a campaign distorts the truth and promotes
outright falsehoods, it crosses the threshold into
the politics of personal destruction.
Sean
Connaughton, the Chairman of the Board of
Supervisors in Prince William
County, is new to the statewide political scene. In the
2005 primary election cycle Connaughton is vying
for the Republican nomination for lieutenant
governor.
There
are several candidates seeking the Republican
nomination for lieutenant governor. But by all
accounts, the two prominent front-runners are
Connaughton and Sen. Bill Bolling, R-
Mechanicsville.
Connaughton’s
campaign recently crossed the Rubicon and entered
the realm of promoting half-truths, deceits or
outright falsehoods.
The
last hit piece Connaughton released into the
mailboxes of unsuspecting voters claims that he
has a proven record of lowering taxes, while his
opponent has talked tough but has raised taxes on
families and businesses.
In
a side-by-side comparison, Connaughton is said to
have cut tax rates for six straight years, while
Bolling is made out to look as a tax-and-spend
liberal.
The
general wisdom in political circles is that the
first campaign to engage in negative attacks is
usually compelled to do so because their internal
numbers show that their candidate is getting no
traction—ergo the need to go negative.
But
there is a big difference between going negative
and promoting falsehoods. And Connaughton’s hit
piece is full of the latter. Consider the
following:
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Connaughton
brags about reaching an agreement to cap
future real estate tax increases to 5.9
percent. Connaughton’s
claim is an empty promise; the Dillon rule
precludes localities from taking any action
binding future governments, absent a law
enacted through the General Assembly. As a
matter of fact, the
County
Manager
has already said that this commitment will be
reevaluated next year—after the election is
over.
-
Connaughton
has been on the wrong side of every major tax
debate in recent years. He actively supported
the sales tax referendum in 2002 and called
Gov. Warner’s $1 billion tax increase plan,
“positive” for Virginia. In
addition, he did nothing to speak out against
the massive tax increase approved by the
General Assembly in 2004.
Connaughton’s
claims are not simple white lies—they grossly
distort the facts and are designed to pull the
wool over an unsuspecting electorate. They are
nothing but a desperate attempt to mislead voters
in the hope that most of them will have no
first-hand knowledge of the political and fiscal
realities in Prince
William County.
As
President John Adams said, facts are stubborn
things. And here is a fact that clearly separates
the wheat from the chaff: Sen. Bolling has signed
the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) tax pledge,
while Connaughton refuses to do so.
The
pledge is simple to understand and is designed to
ensure that a candidate cannot equivocate on the
issue of taxes. It reads: “I pledge to the
taxpayers of the State of _________ and to all the
people of this state, that I will oppose and vote
against any and all efforts to increase taxes.”
Connaughton
can propagate falsehoods and untruths in the form
of hit pieces or other campaign materials, but the
fact remains that when it comes to taking an
unequivocal position against taxes, he remains
muted.
The
proverbs tell us that “You may know a man by the
company he keeps.” In this instance, all one has
to do is peruse the names of some of Connaughton’s
supporters. It’s easy to tell that this list
includes a bunch of committed tax-and-spend
liberals. Some of these folks always advocate
solutions based on a bigger and more oppressive
government.
We
cannot allow political candidates to engage in
demagoguery and propaganda based on nothing but
innuendo, half-truths, and lies. Continued use of
these tactics fosters political apathy.
No
wonder less than 50 percent of the eligible voters
usually bother to vote in national elections--and even fewer in state and local elections.
Unless
we return to the days when a politician's word was
his bond—remember George Washington and "I
cannot tell a lie"—more and more voters
will become disgusted and drop out of the
political process.
--
March 28, 2005
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