From the Daily Herald (Editorial):

If voters back nasty campaigners, we all lose
11-6-06
Whether your side won or lost on Election Night, those living in the land of Chicago Cubs and White Sox fans can undoubtedly appreciate the joy McHenry County Democrats must feel after finally breaking the GOP barrier on the McHenry County Board.

Lake in the Hills village Trustee James Kennedy will become the first Democrat in decades to take a seat on the county board, and that truly is an accomplishment to appreciate.

The method of victory, however, should have everyone — Democrats, Republicans and, particularly, voters — taking a look at what is acceptable and what is not in the political arena.

Kennedy’s victory came after Democrats deluged the region in the campaign’s final days with ads featuring a distorted picture of Perry Moy, questioning his character because of divorce-related financial issues and linking him to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack based on remarks he’d made the prior year supporting immigration.

The burden, of course, is on voters to decide when a campaign crosses the line. And, clearly, in Illinois that line has moved straight into the muck with little objection from voters.

In fact, the glut of negative gubernatorial ads certainly didn’t hurt the incumbent as Gov. Rod Blagojevich successfully parlayed nastiness into victory. Democrats weren’t the only ones playing the negative card, with some GOP ads equally repulsive.

Rarely do you find such a stench, however, in local races, and it’s somewhat puzzling that McHenry County voters embraced such tactics, as they apparently did when they ousted Moy. Kennedy defends the mailers, saying they were factual. And local Democrats contend it was Kennedy’s door-to-door campaign trek that drew voters his way. No matter what gave Kennedy the win, his campaign tactics, like those in many other races, leave a foul taste that should have us all reaching for a mint.

A similar effort backfired in another McHenry County Board district when voters apparently dismissed an effort to smear board incumbent Pete Merkel after Merkel fired back. Some pundits speculate part of Judy Baar Topinka’s loss was her failure to respond adequately to similar trashing of her record and relationships. Does that mean only the candidates willing and financially able to fire back have a chance?

Is this really what voters want — to see who can best deliver or counter negative ads? If the election of 2006 is any test, it would seem that, far from turning voters off as voters claim, the negative ads actually lured voters to their candidates. And if that’s the case, we’d all better brace for even more brutal campaigns in the future. Until we start rejecting the candidates featured in those negative campaigns, we’ll be getting exactly what we asked for.
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