BISMARCK -- Some football players have been known to pile on a downed runner. Others have done some scabrous and nasty things to opposing players at the bottom of the pile, like pinching, pulling, gouging and grabbing various body parts.
Politics sometimes can be like football. Picture this:
Appointed Republican State Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm's television ad about the Insurance Department's programs to benefit seniors becomes a political football. Democratic opponent Jasper Schneider hits him hard with a legal tackle by challenging the appropriateness of the ads.
So far, no harm, no foul.
But the Democratic Party then starts piling on, one after another, punching, pulling, gouging and grabbing -- but not even under cover of the pile, but in plain view.
ADVERTISEMENT
The culmination came last week when State Sen. Tracy Potter, D-Bismarck, said he would introduce legislation to ban the practice of elected officials appearing in taxpayer-financed public service announcements. He said his proposal would bar any North Dakota state official from using his or her name, image or voice in any public service ad about the services offered by their agencies.
What a bad idea.
It's hard to believe Potter is serious. It's easier to believe he is piling on as a good Democrat might be called to do, pinching, pulling, gouging and grabbing in what is shaping up to possibly be the closest state race of the mean season.
Could Potter's rhetoric have been orchestrated by the party to keep the Hamm issue alive? We think it's possible.
We remind Potter that the announcement timing of the proposal is suspiciously political and any proposal for such legislation should be DOA if it gets to the Capitol.
And we urge Sen. Potter not to be used as a political pawn, affecting his good image.
Tax Commissioner Cory Fong, a Republican, sounded the call for reason when he said that educating people about what any state agency does is best done by the elected official.
A good idea.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yes, abuse should not be tolerated, but it makes no sense to silence all appropriate and effective voices that spread information and messages.
Democrats could -- and did -- make an argument that Hamm's message was political and inappropriate. We don't agree with their conclusion.
But what we hope we can all agree upon is that it's time to move past the interpretation, to stop piling on and start talking about insurance issues affecting the voters. After all, the issue of equal TV time has been resolved.
-- The Bismarck Tribune
