Editorial View

Flow of information vital to democratic process

Project Vote Smart, a national voter information group headquartered in Philipsburg, has pointed out a disturbing trend with its National Political Awareness Test this time around. Candidates from both major parties were advised by party leaders and consultants not to fill out the survey.

Vote Smart board member Adelaide Elm said party leaders cited two key reasons for wanting their candidates to steer clear of the survey: it will limit the candidates' ability to control their campaign messages, and it will expose them to opposition research. In short, their answers would be used against them by the opposing party.

Can this be?

It seems like a giant step backward when we have Ted Dick, legislative campaign director for the Montana Democratic Party, saying he urged state house candidates to leave the surveys blank because Republicans will "misrepresent and misconstrue the information and use it against them," according to news reports. Chuck Denowh, director of the state Republican Party, said his party typically tells people to fill out such surveys, but added "it's not outside the realm of possibility" that the GOP would use information from the Project Vote Smart survey in campaigns against their opponents.

"Since (1998) the Project has documented a dramatic decline in the willingness of candidates at all levels to provide this essential issue information," Elm said.

It's not just a problem with Montana candidates. The decline in responses has been charted nationwide.

The deadline for responding to this year's survey for Montana candidates was Aug. 4, so it does no good now to urge those running for office to reconsider filling the survey out.

However, this situation seems to be a symptom of a bigger problem of campaign ethics, or the lack there of. When party leaders advise their constituents to suppress information to the voters in any way, shape or form, it sets a bad precedent, and a message to the public that candidates must have something to hide.

A free flow of information is vital to this country's democratic process. Anything less shouldn't be tolerated.