Allegations of absentee ballot fraud. A candidate is accused of being a "bad mother." Mailers that dredge up sordid details of one candidate's ugly divorce while the opponent resurrects an incident involving porn on a state computer.
Just another election cycle in Miami-Dade, right?
Right. That's why Dr. Walter Richardson, chairman of Miami-Dade's Community Relations Board, is calling on candidates across the county to clean it up. In a letter sent to all candidates on Thursday, Richardson told candidates that "unethical campaign practices are destructive to the present and future of good community relations in our county."
With four days before the Aug. 14 primary, Richardson urged candidates to have a spirited debate over the important issues affecting Miami-Dade, and to "foster an atmosphere of mutual understanding, tolerance and respect."
As Dr. Richardson knows all too well, the 2012 campaign is just getting warmed up. There's a long, long way to go.
-- Steve Bousquet
But politics is the original version of reality tv.
We like watching our desperate politicians sliming their way in the gutter, wallowing in the sty, slithering through the swamp water, and sneaking through the sewer pipes.
It's entertainment ... which is about all the good we the people get out of the politicians.
Posted by: whasup | August 10, 2012 at 12:11 PM
You nailed it, whasup. Nothing will change until voters stop rewarding this behavior.
Posted by: Dominic Benchilio | August 10, 2012 at 01:52 PM
its futile the miami politics,when you have futile reporters on miami herald staff to report on politics.
Posted by: Michael Wind | August 10, 2012 at 06:48 PM