Publisher’s Notebook

• Less Than a Month to Go •

ANNE SOBLE

Email and letter hit pieces in the Malibu City Council race have begun to circulate everywhere in Malibu that they can gain a foothold. Even the Malibu High School information website was temporarily highjacked for electioneering despite an avowal of objectivity when it comes to elections other than school board measures, which are supported with unbridled fervor and may make the ban on political endorsements ring somewhat hollow as council candidate views on these measures might be fair game.
Rather than debate what is or isn’t allowed where, it might be more appropriate to be concerned that those who craft and disseminate these political attacks choose to hide their identity. Even when there are signatures, it usually turns out that no one with that name is either a registered voters, a local resident or the parent of a child in Malibu schools. This anonymity extends to their real objectives.
Malibu municipal elections seem to have more than their share of cloak-and-daggering because it serves someone’s interests to give them an airing. That is why The News refuses to print personal attack letters—often duplicative in wording and style—that only serve to cloud the public policy issues that should be what differentiates candidates and drives decision-making at the polls.
Ironically, the supporters of candidates who engage in personal attacks are admitting that they don’t think their own candidate can win on merit. They believe they have to bring down perceived front-runners with what political insiders often refer to as “dirty tricks.” What these tricksters are actually saying is their candidate is less qualified. This is why it is important to learn not only who the tricksters are, but which candidates are perceived to need these tactics.
Malibuites also should make it clear that attack politics based on misrepresentation and mean-spiritedness do not have a place in the community. That doesn’t mean that politics won’t have its share of rough and tumble. After all, the stakes in Malibu are high. With a little less than four weeks before the April 13 election, the insecure and the less qualified will no doubt plan many more onslaughts. Whether they succeed will depend on voters deciding to focus on what the candidates’ positions are on the issues that matter most to them.
Malibu is already the poster child for so many wrong reasons in the “outside” world that an inability to conduct an intelligent political campaign based on substantive public policy issues doesn’t need to be added to the list. Being a good citizen takes effort, but if the results are elected officials who do their job openly and fairly, it’s worth it.