THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603080217
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
This election year will be a real challenge for candidates who care about Portsmouth.
Three persons are seeking the mayor's chair, seven are running for three seats on City Council and 16 persons are vying for five School Board places. That adds up to a lot of competition out there.
And when the competition is stiff, candidates and their followers sometimes tend to go to extremes to get the public attention. Individuals sometimes become one-issue candidates to appeal to a segment of the population with the hope that enough people agree with them to get them elected.
Those who are elected by special-interest groups take office owing allegiance to certain interests. When crucial votes are taken, those with debts to pay sometimes are blinded to big pictures, unable to see beyond the bombast of the campaign.
Campaigning for office is a tricky thing in the 1990s. Voters are demanding, often selfish and seldom looking at issues from the perspective of the entire community. Many want to pin candidates into narrow slots and are ready to crucify those who do not vote within those slots.
The pressures are terrific and often do not come from people who know or care what is best for the city. Often those who make the most noise have a very personal ax to grind.
Over the past year, Portsmouth has begun to make some real progress. Yet, there are many people who have not bothered to find out what is going on and often they are the most critical of the people who have been making decisions.
No doubt, many things could be better and there's a lot that could be changed. But everything can't be done at once and to expect elected office holders to act instantly is not only unfair to the individuals but unfair to the city.
It's easy to judge a situation when you know nothing about the circumstances or when you're looking at it from a single perspective. It's not so easy to make decisions once you know all the facts that make up the total picture.
Most people who run for elected office run in good faith but, once elected, they find out that situations may vary considerably from what they believed to be true. If they are locked into position by campaign promises, they find themselves in very compromising positions.
How many people have been elected to office only to find they have been locked into a position they later learn is not where they want to be? How many people have lost elections because they at some point voted their consciences and not their politics?
In this election year, Portsmouth does not need any spectacles to detract from the obvious progress it is making. With so many candidates for so few offices, the temptation to take low blows will be there.
With two months of politicking to go before the elections, candidates will be pushed to react. Restraint must be exercised to avoid any additional tarnish on Portsmouth's image.
The candidates and their supporters have a responsibility to all the citizens of this city to keep their politicking on a high plane. And citizens have a responsibility to let it be known they expect the best not the worst from those who might get their votes. by CNB