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ORGANIZATION ISSUES MONEY/POLITICS NEWS INDEX |
Bryan, Fries, Kaptur, Slotnick agree to fight fair;
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For release: October 17, 2000 For more information: TOLEDO -- As the Presidential race shows signs of degenerating into personal attacks, the candidates in one Ohio congressional race want to assure voters of their intentions to "fight fair." Today, the Ohio Project on Campaign Conduct announced that candidates for Ohio's 9th Congressional District have joined its code of conduct effort by reaching an agreement to run their campaigns with integrity and refrain from negative, attack-oriented campaigning. Republican Dwight Bryan, Libertarian Galen Fries, Democrat Marcy Kaptur, and Natural Law Party candidate Dennis Slotnick have all vowed to remain committed to principles such as honesty, fairness, and responsibility, when campaigning through the election on November 7. "By signing this code, candidates in the 9th Congressional District are setting an example other Congressional candidates should follow," said Laura Yeomans, research director for Ohio Citizen Action. "The Presidential candidates might want to take notice, too." Yeomans led negotiations between the candidates that resulted in the code signing. "This code confirms that, more and more, candidates agree that campaign conduct is one of the top campaign priorities for all candidates for public office," said Brad Rourke, vice president, public policy at the Institute for Global Ethics and Director of the Project on Campaign Conduct. "Citizens respond very favorably when candidates can agree to keep the fight on issues and avoid personal attacks." The Project represents a partnership between the Institute and Ohio Citizen Action, the largest nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer and environmental organization in Ohio. All four candidates expressed enthusiasm about the code. "I am pleased to see that all candidates running for Ohio's Ninth District Congressional seat have agreed to sign this pledge to run highly ethical campaigns, and to avoid personal attacks on our opponents" said Republican candidate Bryan. "A man should be as good as his word. I expect every American to judge every other American on their ethics," said Libertarian candidate Fries. "The current ethics of officeholders, candidates and government agencies leave a lot to be desired in my opinion. American citizens need to really take a closer look at the ethics of government." "The Ohio Project on Campaign Conduct and Ohio Citizen Action have achieved a significant public service in their efforts to keep truth and civility in this year's Congressional election," said Democratic candidate Kaptur. "I am convinced of the direct correlation between declining citizen participation in the political process and the misinformation, negativity, overspending and the length of today's political campaign. This pledge is a great first step to ratcheting up the bar on accepted campaign practices here at home and throughout Ohio." "It is a very fortunate sign of the times that American citizens are not tolerant of negative campaigning. It is also fortunate that the candidates for the US House of representatives in the 9th see the wisdom in ethical campaigning," said Natural Law Party candidate Slotnick. " Perhaps we shall see a decline in cynicism, voter alienation and suspicion of our elected officials as a result." Highlights of the candidates' code (full text attached) include an agreement to focus on issues and the records of themselves and their opponents, support claims with factual documents, and avoid using personal attacks, innuendo, or stereotypes. Candidates in Ohio's 3rd, 11th, 14th, and 16th districts have also signed similar codes of conduct. The Project on Campaign Conduct is seeking to negotiate such agreements in every Congressional district throughout the pilot states of Ohio and Washington. It is led by the Institute for Global Ethics in Camden, Maine and funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts. Joining in this effort to reduce negative campaigning and attack advertising in the 2000 electoral races are: the League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund; the Council for Ethics in Economics; The Kettering Foundation; Ohio Citizen Action; the Ray C. Bliss Institute for Applied Politics at the University of Akron; and the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland. Voters have come to expect that most political campaigns will engage in the behavior they find offensive but also believe the conduct of candidates and campaigns can and should be better. This is among the most important conclusions resulting from a bipartisan poll of the American public conducted by the Project. Over a third of the citizens surveyed (39%) think that most or all candidates lie to the voters, and even more (43%) believe that they make unfair personal attacks. That percentage is similar to the percentage of Ohio voters who believe candidates lie, 46%, from a survey by the Project in 1998. "As we intensify our public awareness campaign, asking people to pay attention to the way candidates behave and to vote for clean campaigns, I am glad that another race has pledged to give them the opportunity to do so," said Project director Rourke. "Voters in Ohio's 9th Congressional District and throughout the state want the kind of vigorous debate on the issues of importance to them that can take place when a race is free of the unfair, illegitimate attacks that they despise." The Project on Campaign Conduct is working to change those expectations by encouraging voters to let candidates, the media, and other voters know that they care about clean campaigns. They do not expect and will not tolerate the mudslinging that has become commonplace in so many of today's campaigns. By paying attention and holding candidates accountable for their campaign behavior, the Project believes that voters can and will make a difference, improving the quality of political campaigns. The Project's free Voter Action Kit provides information about ways in which voters can be heard on and before election day and is available by calling 1-888-3GO-VOTE or by visiting the Project's web site. The Institute for Global Ethics is a nonprofit organization promoting ethics through public discourse and practical action. The Institute, with offices in Camden, Maine and London, England was founded in 1990 and is supported by members throughout the world. It publishes a weekly online newsletter, Business Ethics Newsline and a quarterly periodical, Insights on Global Ethics, consults with corporations and educational institutions in the United States and overseas, and conducts frequent ethics seminars. # # #
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