Elect Edwards

All of the negative advertisements, inaccurate claims and incivilities that have dominated North Carolina's 1998 Senate race between incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth and Democratic challenger John Edwards can, at times, be frustrating. But what truly makes this campaign disheartening is to think that millions of dollars are actually being spent to achieve this effect.

The entire campaign so far has been utterly disingenuous and almost laughable. Faircloth's campaign has been misleading at best, deceitful and untruthful at worst.

Edwards' campaign, although not as mean-spirited, is also very far from impeccable. The attempts to cast him as a noble citizen defending the rights of the injured is illusory. After remembering that he made a large portion of his multi-million dollar fortune from his personal injury practice, his occupation loses some of its honor and appeal.

Considering that Edwards has voted in only 7 out of the last 13 elections, and has never held public office, his entry into politics at such a high level seems odd. It is entirely possible that he saw a vulnerable incumbent and is making a bid to grab the position, much like Faircloth did in 1992 against then Sen. Terry Sanford, and such a motivation is inappropriate for such an important public office.

At least Edwards' support of campaign finance reform is buoyed by his refusal to accept monetary support from lobbyists. Faircloth, although he has spent a considerable sum of his own money, continues to indebt his office to the interests of his supporting political action committees and donors.Seeing as how Edwards isn't tied to any special interest groups, he is given the freedom to pursue platform in which he believes will be in the interests of the state. His agenda is reasonable; he supports a form of the Patient's Bill of Rights and ranks environmental issues highly on his list of to-dos.

On the other side, Faircloth's voting record on important legislation is thoroughly abysmal. In 1993 he voted against the Brady Bill, in 1994 he voted against legislation to safeguard access to abortion clinics. In '96 and '97, Faircloth cast his lot against legislation to prohibit gay employment discrimination and the ratification of the chemical-weapons treaty. Furthermore, he supported the balanced budget amendment and a move to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Faircloth's record with the environmentalists is disgraceful-he is consistently ranked among the worst environmental offenders.

It is hard to believe that such a voting policy supports a growing and progressive North Carolina.

Faircloth also has a habit of changing his ideology to gain the support of his constituents, he is the equivalent of a political chameleon. Voters should not reward candidates who change ideology with election cycles.