Op-ed: Public deserves better than nasty name-calling in Mooney-McKinley battle
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The Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications at Shepherd University places a high value on constructive debate and fact-based public discussion.
In political campaigns, we advocate messages focused on issues and not personal attacks and name-calling. At the risk of sounding like optimistic dreamers, we believe it is a mission worth pursuing. Unfortunately, the current Republican primary campaign for Congress in West Virginia's new Second District, both incumbent candidates -- Alex Mooney and David McKinley -- have disappointed and would get Fs for civility.
For those following this campaign, the candidates apparently neither like nor respect the other. This seems strange for two men from the same state who share virtually identical conservative voting records. Ads and direct mail from both campaigns and the PACs that support them demonstrate they have taken a "win-at-any-cost" approach with messages laced with half-truths, out of context claims, and embellished facts.
In one recent Mooney-sponsored TV spot, the narrator begins by saying, "David McKinley betrayed West Virginia. McKinley joined Nancy Pelosi in voting for the January 6th anti-Trump witch hunt that attacks our president and our values."
Was McKinley really betraying West Virginia or simply bucking the demands of Donald Trump that loyal GOP House members oppose the investigation?
Mooney's vote to oppose the congressional investigation in which hundreds of people stormed the Capitol helped earn him Trump's endorsement. Never mind that McKinley's pro-Trump voting record during the former president's four years was five percentage points higher than that of Mooney's. But McKinley's 92% pro-Trump voting record didn't stop Mooney from charging that his opponent has "voted time and time again for his far-left agenda." David McKinley might be a lot of things but being "far left" is not one of them.
Not to be outdone, David McKinley has a track record of dishing out a torrent of uncivil campaign messages. His campaign materials have highlighted a 2014 Forbes article describing Mooney as a "political prostitute" for running for office in three different states and not paying property taxes in West Virginia." The tax issue may have been true eight years ago, but it's evident more recently that Mooney has been paying taxes as a homeowner in West Virginia.
Another serious charge from the McKinley campaign has to do with a House Ethics Committee probe of alleged misuse of $40,000 in campaign funds. While it's true there is an investigation into Mooney's spending, the Ethics Committee has not ruled on the alleged violation and that is not expected until May. The messaging out of the McKinley campaign would have you believe that Mooney has already been found guilty.
These are just a few of the examples of the charges and counter charges being fired back and forth. There are others. Both candidates claim the other guy is unethical and corrupt, and therefore undeserving of being elected to Congress. According to Mooney, David McKinley has a "zeal for working with liberal Democrats." McKinley counters with attacks that Mooney is a "self-serving politician only looking out for himself." It is the proverbial race to the bottom, and it shows no signs of letting up.
Why should any of this matter? We all know that politics is a rough business. Rough is one thing. But offering voters a choice between who is the less villainous fails to match the importance of what's at stake in the May 10 primary when Republicans will be choosing THE person who they believe can get the job done for the Second District and then proceed to the general election in November.
In 1970, West Virginia had five members serving in Congress. Today, due to population loss, the state's number of representatives has dwindled to two, and the important decisions voters make have increased proportionally.
We at the Stubblefield Institute would have greater respect for a debate over who has bigger ideas, or who has been more effective in passing legislation to improve education, strengthen our infrastructure, bolster our state's economy, create good paying jobs, protect our citizenry, and a host of other crucial issues that are vital to our state and nation. The voters of West Virginia deserve better than what is being offered by the Mooney and McKinley campaigns.
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Scott Widmeyer is a co-founder of the Stubblefield Institute at Shepherd University and a native of Martinsburg.