Letter to the Editor: Overturn "Money is equal to Free Speech" ruling by Supreme Court

(Jim Dale of Decorah has submitted this Letter to the Editor):

In the past three weeks three brochures have arrived at our address sent to "The Dale Family". (I expect two more before November 4th.) The return address was "Crossroads GPS" at a P.O. Box in Washington D.C.  Crossroads is the Political Action Committee (PAC) founded and run by Karl Rove, a former George Bush political advisor. It is funded by wealthy backers.

The message of these brochures is clear. On the front is a lovely picture of Joni Ernst. She is bright and beautiful, smiling while opening a bottle of water. She is surrounded by red, white and blue flags and scenic Iowa landscapes. One need not be able to read to get the message. "Vote for Joni. She is sweet and nice." On the back side is an equally clear message set not in pleasant colors. But it is black and grey with ghoulish Halloween colors, drab orange, gold and blood dripping red.  A picture of Bruce Braley and one of President Obama are so distorted they are hard to recognize. It appears the cameraman was hiding in a bush and forgot to clean his lens. The visual message is, "Don't vote for this man who is evil, vicious and dangerous." One brochure is a fold over which gives them one pleasant page for Ernst and three pages for their negative slam of Braley. The irony is that they are accusing Braley of running a "vicious" campaign. A phrase in our language says this is, "The pot calling the kettle black." Do they think Iowans are so dumb as to fall for this cheap manipulation? Perhaps we are. That is why political operatives have decided that negative campaigning works. People vote negative sound bites and distorted misquotes more than careful consideration of real issues.

The brochure has a small print disclaimer, "Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee." That makes sense. Even Ms. Ernst who gets complimentary coverage would be a fool to approve or authorize such a blatant negative advertisement. I know my Republican friends may say, "Well, the Democrats do it to us too, so we have to defend ourselves by getting even." We all become little kids pointing fingers and shouting, "He/she did it first!!!" One of the reasons I remain active in a political party is so as an honest insider I can raise holy hell when my party is tempted to do these things. And I do, even though "higher ups" don't always listen. I yearn for a campaign where we can disagree without pretending that one candidate is an angel and the other is the devil. I would hope my good Republican friends are doing the same complaining in their party. Because I am afraid if they don't, it will be as Edmond Burke once said, "The best way for the forces of evil to rule is for enough good people to do nothing." Or as Abraham Lincoln told a reporter who asked how he was able to not respond to the false negative things others said about him, "If I tried to respond to them all life would become a constant flea hunt."

But an even greater problem is that the Supreme Court ruled that "Money is equal to speech" and is therefore constitutionally protected. And that PACs can spend unlimited money and they don't even have to report who their givers are or how much they give. It has turned our whole electoral system into a moneyed mess and a race into the bottom of the gutter. We may have equal voice in our democracy but some have louder voices and indeed, "the field is not level." As Mark Twain once said, "We have the best government that money can buy."

There is a solution, and that is to amend the Constitution. That's what the Constitution is about. If there is a problem, fix it. Braley has said he will support such an amendment. Let's ask Ernst to commit to do so also.