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Political Fair Play

By Staff | Feb 8, 2012

Since the filing period has ended, the ballots are now set for the May 8 election. Of course this is the day for the West Virginia Primary, but it’s also increasingly becoming the day for municipal and other decisions, particularly because of the high cost of mandated early voting.

So with the ballots set, the political season begins in earnest. You will see in this edition of the Wetzel Chronicle, as in the past few issues, some candidates officially announcing their candidacy. Also, www.wetzelchronicle.com/page/content.detail/id/510694/Races-Fill-Local-Ballots.html?nav=5001 gives a complete rundown of the filings in races of local interest.

Our political policy can be found at www.wetzelchronicle.com/page/category.detail/nav/5026/Submission-Guidelines.html This policy should be of particular interest to candidates, their committees, and anyone planning to write a letter to the editor about a candidate. We strictly adhere to this policy so as to create as level a “playing ground” as possible in this politically charged season. Like a player in any sport, it is best to know the rules before the game begins.

We hope this “game” is one full of good sportsmanship and open, honest discussion. It seems the political arena, from the national to municipal levels, has become fairly nasty in recent years. We truly hope local candidates can rise above mud slinging and deceptive practices to focus simply on the issues and their abilities to effectively do the job they seek.

In the past we have sort of relished the political season–it provided a new aspect to this business of news gathering and disseminating. It involved a degree of conjecture that made our job a bit more exciting. Unfortunately in recent years the anticipation of it has often been replaced by dread as deception and posturing bring out the worst in people.

So as the next three months unfold, we promise to do our best to provide fair, unbiased coverage of the candidates and the news in general. We hope you’ll do your best to play fair too.