Published Tuesday, June 10, 2008

It was nothing short of inspiring to see a bipartisan group of Lee County people, including some very staunch Republicans, coming to the defense of Democratic state Sen. Dave Aronberg over a dishonest GOP ad attacking his record on the Amendment 1 tax relief measure earlier this year.

The ad attacks Aronberg as anti-tax relief in part because of his votes in 2007 related to an amendment aimed at eliminating Save Our Homes tax protections. That bogus amendment was removed from the ballot by the courts as misleading and unconstitutional. Opposition to it was wise.

On Amendment 1, Aronberg, who's up for re-election, was a staunch supporter, as noted by Republican Gov. Crist. It passed overwhelmingly, making Save Our Homes portable when a home is sold, doubling the homestead exemption and extending limited tax cap protections to nonhomestead property.

Aronberg faulted the amendment only for being too limited. He came down solidly on the side of tax cutting and reform, and to say otherwise based on this case is preposterous.

That's why the bipartisan group of Aronberg supporters gathered Friday at Galloway Ford to denounce the ad. Said Sam Galloway: "I'm proud to be a Republican. But I'm not proud of the misleading ad the Republican Party is doing. ... It's wrong. It's immoral. This ad spreads mistrust in an attempt to turn us against each other."

Democrats can be just as unfair: Witness attacks on U.S. Sen. John McCain over a vote "against" Everglades restoration. McCain voted against an omnibus water project bill last year, and again voted in the minority when Congress overrode a presidential veto, because he thought the $23 billion bill was larded with pork. He says he would have voted for the $2 billion authorized for Everglades restoration, had that stood alone.

This kind of partisanship leads a party to attack a candidate who agrees with them on an issue, but happens to be in the opposing party. The voter just wants to know where a candidate stands on that issue. Point out the nuances, by all means, but these are cases of using nuance to distort truth.

It would be a waste of time for us to urge greater fairness and accuracy in political advertising. But we hope it is very much worth our while - and yours - to encourage fed-up citizens like Galloway and friends in denouncing lies.

As always, the individual has to sort very carefully through the attacks that are the lifeblood of contemporary politics.