When the nation was headed into serious election season this summer, a letter-writer wrote in the Seattle Times that he was going to put a notebook near his favorite television-watching chair and keep score of the negative political advertising. Then, he wrote, he was going to cast his vote for the candidates who least maligned their opponents.

Poor guy. He might not have had a clear choice when all was said and done, what with all the mudslinging and negative campaigning that was the hallmark of this year's election campaign.

Fortunately, it's all over, at least for this year.

The airwaves will be blissfully bereft of ads denouncing one candidate's education credentials, or lack thereof, another's ability to lead the state in or out of debt, or lack thereof, and, at the national level, who really is going to bring about change.

Of course this was a significant political year. The presidential election notwithstanding, Washington voters decided on a governor, state and U.S. representatives and initiatives concerning how we die, how we drive and how we certify our long-term care workers.

Locally, we decided on how to best raise taxes for transportation projects in Sequim, elected a U.S. representative, a couple of state representatives, a county commissioner and a PUD commissioner.

While the two PUD candidates did get a bit negative with newspaper ads and caused quite a commotion with the "Save Our PUD" signs, it was nothing compared to the state and national races.

Surveys show 62 percent of those asked say the tone of this year's presidential campaign has been more negative than those in recent years. In the four-month span between June and September, 47 percent of Republican ads focusing on presidential candidate Barack Obama were negative, 26 percent were positive and 27 percent mixed. On the Democratic side, 35 percent focusing on president candidate John McCain were negative, 39 percent were positive and 25 percent mixed.

However, since the Democrats aired twice as many ads in that time period, the total amount of negative advertising is pretty even.

The total bill for advertising is likely to exceed $1 billion.

In this country we often hear the phrase, "Anyone can grow up and be president." Unfortunately, this is far from the truth when one considers the amount of money a candidate has to raise in order to run, let alone win an election.

What do voters say?

According to a U.S. News & World Report opinion piece, voters always tell pollsters that they hate negative ads, yet politicians continue to run them.

"That's because the same polls show that they work. In a world with flawed politicians, we need negative ads, otherwise, we won't know candidates' defects until it's too late," writes Dick Morris, a former advisor to Bill Clinton.

Nonetheless, it's disheartening and it gets old fast to hear name calling and character bashing instead of focusing on the issues.

Nowhere was that more apparent than in the governor's race right here in Washington state and a couple of U.S. representatives races. No wonder Mr. letter-writer had issues.

But now it's over and we can get back to business until next election season. There is good news, however, in that there were more voters who registered, both in the state of Washington and nationwide, than in any other election.

In Clallam County, if more than 85 percent of the ballots are returned - remember, this is an all mail-in county - that will be a record as well.

Way to go, voters everywhere.



Could be election month for Washingtonians

Chances are very good we won't know the outcome of our state's gubernatorial race today. (As a point of clarification, this column was written before the election results were known).

The reason we might not know who's our governor is twofold: first, the race has been very close for its duration, only 2 percentage points difference at times. Second, Washington state is one of only six states that counts absentee ballots and mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. In most states, mail-in ballots must either be received by Election Day or must be dropped off before the polls close.

Washington, however, requires a ballot be postmarked by Election Day, which holds up counting votes and can leave close races up in the air for weeks.

Case in point: Last year's school levy constitutional amendment showed defeat the day after the election but absentee ballots showed the measure passed.

In 2004, the very same gubernatorial race we now are voting on wasn't decided for weeks.

Nearly every county in Washington votes by mail, as do 21 other states. All of those states, including Oregon, require ballots to be in by Election Day.

It's time for Washington to do the same.



And a good time was had by all

Many thanks to the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce that organized the downtown trick-or-treat fun and to the Sequim merchants who participated. There were many dozens of young ghosts and goblins who enjoyed a safe place to make a candy haul. Thanks, as well, to all the churches and organizations that provided safe parties and events for Sequim's little spooks.



Mary Powell can be reached at editor@sequimgazette.com or at 683-3311.