The ghost of Ed Fallon’s gubernatorial candidacy hasn’t even left the building yet, and already one of the clarion calls in his surprise showing in the June Democratic primary appears to be falling on deaf ears. His call for clean elections without the negative campaigning absent of the politics that special interests finance clearly resonated with some Iowans, but a proliferation of “issue” ads is a reminder that not much has changed.

The sad truth is, no matter how self-righteous we are in claiming otherwise, attack ads do work. In states like Iowa, where neither registered Republicans nor registered Democrats constitute a majority of the electorate, a candidate’s best hope often is carving out a wedge attractive to voters in the middle and an attack ad that panders to voters’ base emotions is an incredibly effective tool. And with a proliferation of political groups organized under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Service code, the political parties don’t even have to do the dirty work themselves.

That’s not to say negative ads are outright fabrications. For example, one attack ad said Democratic gubernatorial nominee Chet Culver would seek to repeal Iowa’s English-only legislation. Though that’s not untrue, Culver’s campaign said, the complete truth is that Culver doesn’t think the law goes far enough in providing ways for people to learn English.

Should that matter to Iowans? Absolutely. The ability of new Iowans to assimilate into the culture is a huge issue that touches many sectors, from workforce development to education to health care, which as a far cry from the xenophobic tone of the attack ad.

Smart voters ignore black-and-white answers from politicians. They understand that “yes” and “no” are absolutes with no room for middle ground, where the best governance usually occurs. Politicians, at the least the ones who are effective, understand the art of compromise, even if they won’t admit to it on the campaign trail.

Nearly 40,000 Iowans who cast ballots for Fallon in the Democratic primary apparently agree, and his legacy should be cleaner elections. That means Iowans can’t just say they don’t like negative ads; they must resolve not to be influenced by them or give money to the groups that sponsor them.