Imagine less mudslinging in campaign

We can at least imagine. Imagine what it would be like if we could be spared all those nasty attack ads in the next election. That is possible, although probably unlikely, in the race for one of Wisconsin’s U.S. Senate seats. The race between incumbent Ron Johnson and former Senator Russ Feingold is likely to be one of the most watched Senate races in the country. A victory by Feingold could change the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. That means the Super Pacs and other special interest groups are licking their chops ready to write those big checks to attack the candidates. These are the ads typically the worst of the worst, often bending the truth and featuring ominous music and chilling warnings. Feingold is now calling on Senator Johnson to agree to keep all this third party money out of their Senate race. You might think Feingold would be eager to accept Pac money, since he refused to do so in the 2010 election when he lost to Johnson. Under Feingold’s plan, both sides would agree to disavow money from political action groups. If a group did spend money to help either campaign, half of the cost of the ad would have to go to charity. That would finally be campaign money well spent. It is not clear if Johnson will agree to turning his back on those millions of dollars in campaign cash, but if there was no special interest money in this campaign, that would be something to imagine.