Editor,
Anyone who watches even a little bit of television knows it's election season, as the attack ads air back to back between your favorite shows. Once again, character, ethics and honesty are touted as the cornerstones of the candidates' positions.
Even with the very minimal amount of television I watch, I keep seeing Attorney General Patricia Madrid, a candidate for the House of Representatives from New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, in conjunction with an image of her face caught in some unnatural position linking her with all of society's ills. On one occasion, I watched three anti-Madrid ads in a row during a program break. I'm sure Madrid has run ads, but I've rarely seen them, and the ones I've seen are generally less deceptive.
As a mostly third-party supporter, I am often skeptical of the motives of both major parties, and I have been highly critical of 1st District Democratic candidates in the past. But this year, I decided to do a little updated research on the record of the incumbent, Rep. Heather Wilson, who appears to be funding the bulk of these ads.
Wilson generally presents a clean, moral image. But Wilson has taken money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Sen. Tom Delay and now-resigned Rep. Mark Foley. Wilson has a list of past and present campaign contributors that reads like a who's who of defense contractors, oil and energy interests and big pharmaceutical companies. These contributors range from well-known contractors like Halliburton to shady mercenary firms like DynCorp, whose history everyone should check out.
However, the most interesting piece of information that surfaced was related to Wilson's morality stance. As a politician who has made moral values and fighting for our families her main platform for years, even chiding television network chiefs during the Commerce Subcommittee on Television Decency - convened shortly after Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction - it might be interesting for her supporters to learn that she was ranked near the top in a report by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington titled "Addicted to Porn."
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The report identifies Wilson as receiving $47,000 from companies which profit from the sale of pornography.
Negative ads may be partially true, but they are too often exaggerated with flashy production and not-so-subtle innuendos. All candidates inevitably bring some level of baggage to a campaign, but when campaigns seek to give us false perceptions of reality, democracy suffers. Constituents deserve an accurate picture of the facts on all the candidates. Until that day, take the time and do the research yourself.
Joel Hobbs
Daily Lobo reader
