By Moe Wosepka, Executive Director
Montana Catholic Conference

On the eve of the primary election, political attack ads showed up in some races and as usual they took their toll on the truth. These mailings or phone calls from groups with laudable names combine a snippet of the truth with unrelated inflammatory statements, then tie those innuendos to a candidate to make them sound like the worst possible person on earth.

Why would anyone mail these nasty grams based on partial truth? Let’s look at why. Unfortunately, this kind of political gimmickry works. It is designed to scare voters, and create doubt about a certain candidate’s character and judgment. Some voters read this garbage and are swayed by it. Consequently they change their votes. Yes, it works because we let it work. It’s no wonder we have such low opinions of our elected officials.

It is time to make that stop. Those who send these mailings do not care about the truth any more than they care about good public discourse and the common good of the people of this state. They only care about winning, and promoting their narrow agenda. Unfortunately, when it works those who promote this type of political activity are emboldened. We can expect they will increase their attacks in the general election, saving their most savage attacks for the weekend before ballots are cast in November.

As Catholic people, we are called to the political process to promote truth, and to work for the common good. We should do what we can to stop these practices. Here’s a way we can do that.

First: Call the person or organization who issued the mailing. If they don’t have a contact name or phone number, that alone should tell you they are hiding something. Have you ever seen a positive ad from a candidate that does not give good contact information? If you can contact them, ask them who they are and who is funding their organization. Most of these shady groups form C-4 corporations so they can hide who contributes to their cause. If they are difficult to contact or will not tell you who is funding their organization, you can be assured they are not for open and honest dialogue.

Second: Call the candidate that will benefit from the attacks. Ask if they condone such partial truth attacks, and if they don’t condone them, insist they make a public statement condemning the ads and the group that placed them. You may learn more about that candidate’s character in one phone call than you could have by any other means.

Election seasons are long enough. Let’s not make it worse by expanding the negativity. Anger, fear and contempt should not be the motivating factors driving our political process. Let’s take our government back from those who promote their agendas through intimidation and half truths.

This year, let’s pledge to rise above the fray. Let’s work hard to stay positive in our political activities, in our letters to the editor and our involvement in political organizations. Let’s keep all the candidates in prayer, and when we ask questions let’s do so in a positive, productive manner. Let’s pray that God will guide our efforts for the benefit of all. Pledge your support and your vote to the candidate who offers positive solutions, and conducts a clean positive campaign. Don’t let these negative attacks become the winners in November.


Moe Wosepka is the executive director of the Montana Catholic Conference. You can reach him by phone at 442-5761, e-mail director@montanacc.org or check out the website www.montanacc.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 24, No. 6, June 20, 2008.