Throughout this campaign for Congress, I have not only witnessed but taken part in a civil discourse that made me proud to be one of the candidates. I had been warned by those who know politics better than myself that this issue-oriented focus would shift in the days leading up to the primary vote, and that I could expect negative campaigning. I responded to those who made such predictions that I thought they were wrong this time.

It seems I was wrong. In recent days, I have seen and heard a barrage of negative ads that leave me profoundly saddened and personally disappointed. These ads are poisonous. Those who aspire to a seat in Congress, to become one of a small band privileged to help shape the direction and the moral climate of our society, should never stoop to such depths.

I had made my assumption that this campaign would stay clean based on two factors. First, I had been assured of this by the candidates themselves. I was specifically told that there had been a “handshake agreement” that no candidate would launch a negative campaign against another. I find it disconcerting that such a promise could not survive even the modest pressure of a primary campaign.

Perhaps more importantly, I have come to know these candidates. They seemed amiable. They come from well-respected families. They conducted themselves in such a way that I sincerely believed them to be above this kind of maneuvering and personal mudslinging.

With almost a week left in this primary race, I want to urge the candidates who are airing these harsh and demeaning ads to stop. I am asking that they withdraw these ads immediately. Morally, these ads are beneath the dignity of the office to which we each aspire. And politically, these ads represent the ugliest side of politics—the politics of fear, the politics of personal destruction—which we have all come to dread and despise.

To my fellow candidates, I would remind you that you have conducted yourselves with honor for the past three months. It’s not too late to return to that dignity. It would be sad and shameful for a race that began on the high road to end in the gutter.

Pastor Keith

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