Our View: Some respect, please

We would have expected Dennis Hession and Mary Verner to be the last people whose campaign for mayor would sink to the tawdry level where this one’s headed.

Name-calling. Sarcasm. Insinuation. Those are reminders of the dysfunctional behavior that strained City Hall several years ago. Remember those stories that Boise officials used tapes of Spokane City Council meetings to gain an advantage in business recruiting?

The testy exchanges now passing for political discourse in Spokane’s mayoral race aren’t that bad – yet – but they are deeply disappointing.

Hession and Verner are smart, principled people. He’s no racist. She’s no liar. They have different strengths and weaknesses and different approaches to the city of Spokane’s challenges, but that’s what a campaign is for. It’s a golden chance to reveal the differences, spell out proposals and help voters make an informed decision.

The candidates have an opportunity – make that a responsibility – to present the strongest case for themselves and their ideas, not blanket the opponent with grime. Criticism isn’t out of bounds, but it can be leveled with civility. Maybe the juvenile style we’ve seen of late is based on advice from political advisers, but if so, they should be ignored and fired.

Early in Monday’s televised debate, both candidates talked generally about their ability to get along and work constructively across political differences. So far, so good.

But about 30 minutes later, when asked to name something likable about the opponent, neither candidate could come up with a reply that was both substantive and sincere. Hession said he likes Verner’s son. Verner applauded Hession for trying to exhibit characteristics he thinks are appropriate for the mayor.

For both candidates, it was a chance to restore some humanity to the contest, yet both passed it up for a cheap dig. They could have issued a reminder that leaders can be political without getting personal. Instead, they resorted to the kind of negativity that breeds voter cynicism.

When the election is over, win or lose, Dennis Hession and Mary Verner will continue to be influential figures in Spokane. They may have to work with each other, and they certainly will have to work with each other’s supporters at times. If relationships are trashed now, future attempts at cooperation will be that much less promising.

There is more than two weeks before election day, so there’s time to get back on track. We appeal to both candidates to shed the pre-Halloween gremlin behavior and display their nobler, more respectful selves. If they continue along the present path, they will only be betraying the city – their city – that longs for dignity and deserves high-road politics.