Veteran Sacramento observer, George Skelton, wrote an important and fascinating column yesterday about a billionaire gubernatorial candidate’s radio ads titled “Meg Whitman’s radio whoppers”. In the ads Skelton references, Whitman says baldly that “in the last 10 years, state spending has gone up 80%”. Skelton did some research and wrote, “It doesn’t take much digging to learn that general fund spending “in the last 10 years” has risen just 27%, according to finance department data. Adjusted for inflation and population growth, spending actually has decreased by 16.6%”. Skelton goes on to demolish Whitman’s ads and her credibility. Near the end he writes, “I doubt Whitman ran any numbers herself. She probably just read what some overheated campaign staffer handed her. But if the candidate for governor had been paying any attention to state government, she should have known that the ad was unbefitting bunk”.

We’re all numbed to campaign spin, exaggeration and distortion. Because we never seem to see the word “lie” in newsprint or on the TeeVee news no matter how egregious the distortion put forward by a candidate or elected official, we owe George Skelton our thanks, even if he used “lie” but once. His use of “whopper”, “bunk” and “blatant baloney” mean the same. Indeed, he showed us both the lies and the liar. This is important because the terms lie, lying and liar carry emotional weight and corrode the credibility of persons associated with those terms in a way that acquiescence to exaggeration and spin do not. Over time, failure to call out the lies allows candidates and elected officials to create an alternate reality in which their credibility and suitability for office is never seriously questioned by the media and the voters. It also demeans and corrupts the political process.

As Skelton says:

“The radio ad fibs may seem like a small thing, but it’s in the public’s interest to keep the campaign dialogue as honest as possible. It’s also in the candidates’ interest because it goes to their credibility… Given Sacramento’s dire condition, the facts are enough condemnation. Candidates don’t need to embellish, let alone prevaricate. It makes them look like just another politician.”

This is not Whitman’s first foray into prevarication. Her explanations as to her recent assumption of the duties of citizenship and her serial absences from the polling booth show she is quite capable of rending the truth repeatedly when it suits her needs. See here, here and here. All the more reason to join CLCV’s GreenGov2010, to insure the voters know the truth about where Meg and her competitors really stand on protecting California’s health and natural wonders.