Graef, Regula, Shetler, Smith agree to fight fair;
Ohio's 16th Congressional District candidates join statewide code of conduct
effort
For immediate release
September 20, 2000
Contact
Brad Rourke, (800) 729-2615 x 121
Laura Yeomans, (330) 343-9588
Canton, OH -- As post-Labor Day political campaigns heat up, 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 16th 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.
Democrat William Smith, Republican Ralph Regula, Libertarian Richard
Shetler, and Natural Law Party candidate Brad Graef have all vowed to remain
committed to principles such as honesty, fairness, and responsibility, when
campaigning through the election on November 7.
'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.
'By signing this code, candidates in the 16th Congressional District are
setting an example other Congressional candidates should follow,' said Laura
Yeomans, research director for Ohio Citizen Action. Yeomans led
negotiations between the candidates that resulted in the code signing.
All four candidates expressed enthusiasm about the code.
'I do appreciate the Project on Campaign Conduct's attempts to clean up
campaigning,' said Democratic candidate Smith. 'Every politician should be
held accountable for their campaign statements, and the legislation or
actions they take as officeholders.'
'I do not believe in the merits of negative campaigning and have never
resorted to it,' said Republican candidate Regula. 'Neither do I believe in
conduct that belittles or demeans the electoral process.'
'I'd rather win on issues and opinions because I don't want to resort to
running down the other candidates,' said Libertarian candidate Shetler. 'I
feel my issues and opinions will carry me through the election.'
'The Natural Law Party is interested in conflict-free politics. We have
actual solutions so we have no need to degrade anyone to elevate ourselves,'
said Natural Law Party candidate Keith. 'We would like to repair the sick
political system.'
Highlights of the candidates' code include --
- a pledge to conduct their campaigns with 'dignity and respect;'
- a promise to refrain from conduct that 'belittles or demeans the electoral
process;' and
- an agreement that volunteers and supporters also understand that such
tactics are unacceptable.
Candidates in Ohio's 3rd, 11th, and 14th 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 16th 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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