Campaign Standards Community Forum

Volunteer leaders of the Campaign Standards Community Forum will activate a work group to prepare for a public forum regarding setting campaign standards to be upheld by the community through the program of The People Speak.

A Campaign Standards draft proposal prepared by this work group will subsequently be brought to a public forum, with the goal of establishing clear campaign standards for local elections.

The final version of the proposed Campaign Standards will be adopted by The People Speak Leadership Council. While the precise formulation of these standards will benefit from the community’s deliberations and wisdom, the overall framework will be straightforward and unambiguous.

The promiscuous and offensive use of innuendo, exaggeration, inaccurate or false claims, and expedient out-of-context information must STOP. Candidates must learn to campaign and compete based on their positive assets – their relevant experience, guiding vision, core message, base of supporters, ability to inspire-motivate-lead, and more.

Legitimate allegations deemed to be crucial information for voters must be vetted through the Community Court of Public Opinion and the full processes of The People Speak.

The same principles apply to independent expenditure committees. In today’s loathsome state of affairs, the worst of attack-oriented, sleazy hit pieces are outsourced to these committees, and this too must STOP. Established independent expenditure committees have legitimate constituencies with valid issues and concerns. Their advocacy should be based on educating voters about their philosophical and public policy priorities, and why they believe a specific candidate is the best choice for the community as a whole.