Cynicism has been building for years over the state of the American political system. A study done in the early ‘90s at the behest of the Kettering Foundation found that embarrassing voter turnout rates reflected not the public apathy that was widely suspected, but public disgust.

One needn’t look far for causes.

Consider the tempest that arose this week between two candidates for an open seat on the Board of Spokane County Commissioners.

It came to light that Mark Richard, one of three Republicans seeking the GOP nomination to succeed departing Commissioner Kate McCaslin, filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy seven years ago. It came to light because the mother of Matt Ewers, one of Richard’s rivals, had delivered information about the bankruptcy – anonymously – to news and political entities. And another Ewers backer was sending out e-mail messages about the bankruptcy.

Richard has declared the information is not relevant to this campaign because the Chapter 7 filing was prompted by a combination of health-care circumstances beyond his control. Of course it’s relevant – if voters think it is.

But if it is relevant, Ewers and his organization have no excuse for going about raising the issue so surreptitiously. Still, he denied any knowledge about who put the negative information out.

He declared it wasn’t his campaign and said at first that he didn’t know if it was his mother. Later he acknowledged it was but said he couldn’t control her.

Such antics are not limited to these candidates or this campaign; the incident was an example of the tawdry direction taken by so many campaigns.

There have been others.

There will be more.

But as long as they continue, they will waste energy and distract attention from constructive, informative discussions that help voters understand what’s at stake in the elections of the coming weeks.

Taxation, public safety, roads, sewers, parks – such issues concern voters and call for detailed explanations of the policy proposals being offered by the respective candidates.

Unfairly, but understandably, the word “politician” has become a pejorative term in our culture.

Politics – engaging in public service through a democratic process and representative government – should be an honorable calling.

Whether it reclaims that status depends on the practitioners and the way they conduct themselves.