Take note, Ohio. Election of fraudster George Santos terrible sign for democracy| Opinion

William DiMascio is a former Associated Press Bureau chief for the state of Ohio, executive editor of the Cleveland Press and communications consultant. Now retired, he lives in Upper Arlington.

What’s left to say about despicable George Santos, the New York con man who lied his way into Congress: That he has taken the word embellish to new heights?

That his nose is longer than Pinocchio’s? That he is the reincarnation of America’s most dishonest former president?

Well, there is more, and it is dangerous.

It should concern people throughout the United States. Indeed, it is, perhaps, the bitterest pill to swallow because we the people chose to elevate to a position of leadership an individual with less integrity than a single-cell organism.

Letters: George Santos left 'liar' off his resume

Information was out there

Consider the fact that voters who put Santos in Congress did so after being told by their local newspaper weeks before the election that the self-styled gay Latino “is so bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy” that it refused to endorse him.

Long Island’s "North Shore Leader" also explained months in advance that a venture fund he directed was shut down by the SEC in 2020 as a “Ponzi scheme” – the same kind of scam that bilked millions of dollars from investors and landed Bernie Madoff in prison.

Democracy depends on a knowledgeable public. It is up to voters to be informed about candidates and issues, and when it comes to races for seats in the U.S. House, it is the local news media that do the informing.

This is true of contests in New York, or Nebraska or central Ohio. With 434 positions up for grabs, the volume is too great, so local outlets focus on the hometown races.

More:As Santos fiddles with his phone, investigators circle, speaker votes are cast.

The news about duplicitous Santos didn’t make it into the "New York Times," "Washington Post" and even Fox News until after the votes were counted.

Score one for community journalism.

We might all give a thought to the diminished influence of local news media, especially print outlets, over the past many decades. The impact has been profound and should concern all of us, including those who think that our democracy is in a precarious state and that community – state and local – affairs are unworthy of our time and attention.

For the most part, with the exception of periodic elections, most of us are bystanders to the events of the day. National affairs come wrapped in glitz by the big money television networks and national newspapers.

Local matters, with the possible exception of Buckeye sports, can seem boring by comparison.

Our view: Facebook, Google have grown strong on the back of news publishers. Now they must pay.

Ezra Klein, a well-known journalist and political analyst, writes in the recent edition of Kettering Review about the nation’s political polarization and its effect on democratic governance.

He says, “we give too much attention to national politics, which we can do very little to change, and too little attention to state and local politics, where our voices can matter much more.”

In opening the Constitution, we the people laid out a heavy set of expectations for our leaders: “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

Voters probably don’t think about those exact objectives when they head to the polls, but they most likely see elections as opportunities to express their opinions about which candidates are best equipped to keep us on the track the Framers designed.

It’s sort of like forming a “more perfect” union. Even our esteemed Forefathers failed to get right all the difficult aspirations expressed in our foundational documents. They did, however, open the door for future adjustments that would help us get closer to the “more perfect” state by following the truth and valuing honesty.

Now that his lies have been exposed, George Santos is trying to twist the truth by playing the victim card. “Everybody wants to nitpick at me,” he told former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who was guest hosting "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

Then he turned around and said he could explain his situation, but it would go “way above the American people’s head.”

What Santos has done with his lies about his background is not against the law. Scoundrels and con men have made this their stock in trade.

But the last thing to say about this sorry state of affairs is that by sending such a fraudster to Congress as your representative is surely like driving a stake into citizens’ hopes for a more perfect democracy.

William DiMascio is a former Associated Press Bureau chief for the state of Ohio, executive editor of the Cleveland Press and communications consultant. Now retired, he lives in Upper Arlington.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What does George Santos elections say about health of American democracy?