UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
Political trash
GOP ad in 50th District hits below the belt
April 29, 2006
If Republicans can't win the 50th Congressional District without resorting to the kind of dishonest television advertising we've seen of late from the National Republican Congressional Committee, then they've got a lot more to worry about than Democrat Francine Busby.
The fact that Busby won nearly 44 percent of the vote in the April 11 primary was commendable given the fact that the district is only 30 percent Democratic by registration. But it was merely in line with the 44 percent that John Kerry got in the district in the 2004 presidential race and the 43 percent that Al Gore received in the 50th in 2000. And local experts have for months predicted that, despite the Randy Cunningham bribery scandal, the district was likely to remain in Republican hands this year.
So Busby's showing was hardly reason for the Republicans to panic with a sleazy smear campaign. But that's what the NRCC did, buying substantial television time for an attack ad that portrays Busby as a defender of teachers who engage in child pornography.
(snip)
Busby's opponent in the June 6 runoff, Republican Brian Bilbray, has said only that he wishes the NRCC would not try to “trash people.” But plenty of other Republicans have been more critical of the NRCC ad, to their credit. Unfortunately, Busby has now responded with a retaliatory attack ad of her own. The high road is getting steeper and steeper. The voters of the 50th District deserve a hard-fought campaign, but one that is based on substantive debate, not cheap political trash. Too bad what they're getting now is the trash.
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060429/news_lz1ed29top.html 
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