As campaigns heat up, what to make of the ads?

With election season right around the corner, already in full swing are those political ads — and sometimes the special interest groups come out swinging. The candidates for Bend’s Oregon House District 54, Democrat Craig Wilhelm and Republican Knute Buehler, weighed in.

You can’t miss those ads every time election season rolls around. But as for information, are they good sources or bad?

“Bad sources are negative attack ads that are provided by special interests that have a very narrow agenda that want to manipulate an election.,” said Buehler, who says in his current TV ads, “I’m a doctor, not a politician.”

“Politics is a tough business to be in,” Wilhelm added.

Campaign ads do provide a way for candidates to reach out to voters, and Buehler says ads are a necessary part of the political process.

The Oregon Secretary of State’s Office regulates the money spent and raised for ads — but it doesn’t regulate their accuracy.

“We don’t have any regulatory authority,” said spokesman Tony Green. We aren’t in the business of determining what’s true, what isn’t and what’s somewhere in between.”

Oregon law does say that candidates and special interest groups can’t outright lie to voters. But what if they do? How do you the voter even know who’s behind it?

“It’s not always easy to track down where an ad comes from,” Green said. “You have to catch (the line on) who paid for it.”

The state’s Orestar system at http://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Pages/orestar.aspx offers a variety of ways to search who’s opposing a candidate or measure and see who’s behind a specific ad. You can search for all political action committees signed up in favor or in opposition to a candidate or a measure.

Green says the secretary of state’s office does have the authority to investigate voter pamphlet statements.

You may recall in the late 1990s. Wes Cooley, a congressman from Central Oregon, was prosecuted for falsifying his military record in the voter pamphlet.

“When a candidate puts in a voter pamphlet statement that is false, that’s potentially criminal conviction,” Green said.

Of course, you can also look directly at a candidate’s website and compare his or her positions on specific issues. For instance, regarding a woman’s right to choose (the always-controversial issue of abortion), you’d find in this case both Buehler and Wilhelm agree.

Wilhelm says attack adds are just part of the process

“That’s politics,” he said. “Unfortunately, you have many passionate groups that want to be a part of the discussion. And I get that, and I think those in politics get that.”

Buehler added that he believes “this campaign should be more about the concerns and issues the people here in Bend care about, and not some narrow special interests from the Portland metro area.”

So what information can you rely on?

The secretary of state’s office says you should never rely only on what the advocates are saying. In fact, Green added, “You should listen to what your television newscasters are saying. They are going to get a good critique of the situation.”