RGA False Campaign Ad Attacks Rob Sand

It is time to call out false and malicious campaign ads

There was a time when Iowa politics was known for tough debate, direct conversation, and basic honesty. Apparently, those days are over, at least for some campaigns and the outside political organizations are now flooding Iowa with dishonest attack ads.

The latest example is a blatantly misleading television attack launched by the Republican Governors Association against Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand.

The ad attempts to pin responsibility for a judiciary accounting issue on Sand’s office despite documented evidence that Iowa’s Judicial Branch itself stated the issue “could not have been detected with an audit” and was “not an issue of past or present auditors failing to catch it.”

Deliberate deception

That is not political disagreement, it is deliberate deception. And Iowans should be insulted by it.

The ad involves support from national Republican political operatives who appear more interested in preserving partisan power than telling voters the truth. If you cannot defeat a candidate honestly, apparently the new strategy is to distort facts until voters become confused or cynical enough to give up.

That may work in Washington. It should not work in Iowa. Even worse, the facts make the attack look even more dishonest. According to Sand’s campaign response:

• No public money disappeared
• No funds became unrecoverable
• No programs lost funding
• No public services were interrupted, and
• The judiciary itself accepted responsibility for the error

The ad also conveniently ignores another important fact, that Iowa Republicans themselves previously passed legislation limiting the State Auditor’s oversight powers.

Careful summary

So, let’s summarize this carefully. First, Republicans reduce state auditing authority. Then, they blame the auditor for not detecting an issue the judiciary itself said auditors could not have detected.

And following that, national political organizations spend money amplifying the false narrative because they fear losing political control.

What should concern Iowans

That is not accountability, it is political theater. And frankly, it reflects poorly on everyone involved.

What should concern Iowans most is not merely one dishonest ad. Negative politics has existed forever. The deeper concern is the increasing nationalization of Iowa politics where outside money, partisan consultants, and political warfare tactics are replacing Iowa’s traditional expectation of character and credibility.

What Iowans expect from candidates

Iowans do not expect candidates to agree on everything. But they do expect honesty and fairness.

And we expect public officials, especially those who constantly lecture others about “values” and “integrity,” to meet at least the minimum standard of factual truth.

The real problem

If a campaign cannot make its case without misleading voters, perhaps the real problem is not the opponent. Perhaps the problem is the campaign itself.

For shame

Shame on everyone involved in creating, producing, and promoting this ad. Iowa deserves better. And if Iowa politics becomes nothing more than a pipeline for dishonest national attack campaigns, then one of the best traditions of this state, our expectation of decency and straightforwardness, will disappear along with it.

Perhaps one good thing about the dirty ad is that it was aired early in the campaign season. So now, we know that the Republican Governors Association is dishonest and cannot be trusted. The organization has lost any credibility it had and signaled that dastardly attacks on Iowa candidates are just beginning.

Read the real facts

Read the Sand campaign’s correction of the false campaign ad here.