VOTERS: Do your own research

In the same clump of mail as my absentee ballot, I received a letter from one of the Republican candidates for Legislative District 3, seat A (formerly occupied by Jim Clark). This letter made the claim that the sender was “the ONLY conservative” candidate for the seat and further stated he was the only “authentic Pro-Life” candidate.

I contacted the other candidates for that particular position (there are three of them) and quickly established, as I rather suspected, that all three have impeccable Pro-Life credentials.

This election cycle, there seems to be a lot of that going around.

Please contact the candidates themselves to determine where they stand on a particular issue.  It’s a safe bet that any candidate, so bereft of specific, tangible accomplishment of his own that he must resort to hazy mischaracterizations of his opponent’s beliefs -- with statements only one infinitesimal notch above, “He’s just GOBS less conservative than me, really”-- would prove to be an unreliable public servant, if we were ever foolish enough to elect him.

If you’re conservative, like me, don’t make the mistake of being bamboozled into giving your vote to a scoundrel on the basis of an unsubstantiated claim to be “more conservative.” Separate the wheat from the chaff; check the facts!

PAUL MATTHEWS

Rathdrum