Negative ads reflect political desperation

Time is running out on this primary election season, and not a moment too soon for voters weary of the nastiness that has passed for campaigning recently.

Others, particularly those who fear the imminent ascendancy of Sarah Palin, are surely squirming at the writing they see on the wall. How else to explain the barrage of negativity in recent weeks?

Regular voters are no strangers to campaigns that get dirty. From races for the highest federal offices to the most local elected positions, mudslinging and character assassination seem to be as much a part of the process as bumper stickers and lapel pins.

The usual casualty, unfortunately, is voter enthusiasm. This, in turn, contributes to the chronic malady of low voter turnout, which can suck the life out of a healthy and vigorous democracy.

It is a hallmark, of sorts, in negative campaigning that candidates who have no decent record on which to run see personal attacks as their only shot at victory. The farther behind they are, the more desperate they become, making them more willing to crawl through ever-deeper mud.

It is not surprising, then, in the waning days of the primary campaign, that front-runner Palin is facing a torrent of such mud.

If this were happening in a general election, between candidates from opposing parties, it would be business as usual. But this is happening within party ranks, making it more likely symptomatic of deeper moral decay.

Reversing that decay is part of what Palin's campaign is about. Sadly, even much-needed change is rarely easy. When it is imposed on the unwilling, the fallout can be especially nasty.

So it is this election year in Alaska, where the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan has become the party of Randy Ruedrich and Ben Stevens. It is those seeking to maintain this status quo who now are neck-deep in the slime of their own campaigns.

Two weeks ago, candidate John Binkley tried to grab the moral high ground when he unveiled his ethics plan. But his continued embracing of the Ruedrich gang makes it difficult to take his talk of ethics seriously. Credibility was further strained this week when the wealthy Fairbanksan rolled out a down-and-dirty television attack ad that has talk radio shows and newspaper opinion pages buzzing.

On Thursday, Frank Murkowski joined Binkley in the mud. Regurgitating Voice of the Times-like charges against both of his opponents, the governor transparently attempted to paint himself as the only ethical candidate in the race. The absurdity of this surely is obvious to anyone who hasn't been in a coma for the last four years.

Alaskans deserve better than these 11th-hour acts of political desperation. The groundswell of support for Palin among regular folks around the state shows that there is growing recognition of this.

In candidate Palin they recognize someone willing to pay more than lip service to issues of ethics. They see someone who has proven herself willing and able to do as her campaign signs say and take a stand. Consequently, her message is resonating, despite the party machine's pathetic attempts to squelch it.

But the day of reckoning is nigh. A growing number of Alaskans rightly see in Palin a chance for a new beginning, a chance to reclaim their government and their state from the greedy, the arrogant and the power-hungry who have hijacked it. On Tuesday, they will have their say.