Odious ads smell up Supreme Court race

The race between Gerry Alexander and John Groen for a seat on the Washington Supreme Court has spawned some odious ads. It is not that they lie. Much of what the ads say is technically true and also worthless.

One of the most obnoxious of these assaults begins by reminding listeners of the arrest of Justice Bobbe Bridge in 2003 for driving while drunk. "The very next day," the ad says, "Chief Justice Gerry Alexander publicly expresses support for Bridge." It ends: "Gerry Alexander: Justice for who?" It's "whom," but let it pass. The nastiness of the justice-for-whom question is in suggesting that Alexander bent the law. The ad doesn't say this, but plants the thought. In fact, Alexander was not deciding a question of law. News reporters were calling him on the telephone, inviting him to suggest that his sorrowful colleague resign, and Alexander declined. He was being a gentleman — and has no regrets. Bridge, he says, "has led an exemplary life since then."

His challenger, John Groen, has also been unfairly bitten. An ad begins, "Justice for sale? John Groen and far-right extremists are trying to buy our Supreme Court. They are so extreme they want to gut protection of our clean air and water. They oppose stem cell research and a woman's right to choose."

Some who oppose abortion and stem-cell research may have supported Groen, but Groen has not come out against these things — and abortion-related issues have been federalized anyway. The Washington Supreme Court is unlikely to hear them. As for "far-right," our sense of Groen's conservatism is that it is closest to that of Justice Jim Johnson. Groen says he is "very much in favor of clean air and water, especially when I'm kayaking."

A campaign that is about experience and judicial philosophy, if you listen to the candidates, has become, on television, a mudfest of denunciation and imaginary fears.

Blame not the candidates, neither of whom has the money for TV ads. The drunken-justice hit piece was paid for by the Building Industry Association of Washington. The stem-cell-and-abortion hit piece was paid for by Paul Brainerd, the Tulalip Tribes and PACs of the Washington Education Association, the Service Employees International Union and the National Abortion Rights Action League.

The Alexander-Groen race will be decided Tuesday. Voters should read the candidates' Web pages. Read your newspaper. Watch TV news — but when the ads come on, prepare for the bamboozle.