By REBECCA SHANKLAND and BARBARA CALEFFor the Board of the League of Women Voters of Los Alamos
The League of Women Voters of Los Alamos is disturbed by the recent spate of negative, distorted mailers aimed at the candidates for House District 43 of New Mexico. It is important to note that the mailers were not approved by the candidates.
These mailers lower the level of political debate, reducing complex issues to mindless “gotcha” one-liners. We hope that the voters of Los Alamos will ignore these travesties of arguments. Any political figure who has served in government can have words or votes taken out of context and be unfairly targeted.
For more balanced information, we suggest that you watch the two candidate forums sponsored by the League of Women Voters, where candidates were given an opportunity to answer questions from the public http://www.lwvlosalamos.org/elections.html or pick up our Voter Guide, where candidates answered questions on a range of issues posed by the League. Copies of the Voter Guide are available at both libraries and on the League website: lwvlosalamos.org.
The League has recently done a study on the effect of money in politics, especially money whose source is not clearly identified. These mailers are just one example of the damage done by the excessive role of money in our democracy.
