The Editor,
Why is it that the media seem to think that every person running for office today should have every past indiscretion – regardless of how trivial – publicly aired and discussed as if it were some mark they should wear on their forehead forever?
Who cares whether a candidate received a traffic ticket for using a cell phone while driving. A spousal abuse charge from eight years ago that was never prosecuted or a failing to blow charge from 12 years ago does not make a candidate incapable of doing a good job as mayor.
People should be judged on their ability to be an elected official, not whether they had some past issues that are totally unrelated to the job.
Our fixation on insisting that candidates be perfect is robbing us of some of the most qualified and experienced people who would prefer that their personal lives remain private.
The standards of today would have robbed society of many of our political giants of the past.
Perry Coleman, Delta