The “People’s Pledge” was less than perfect, but does not deserve the scorn of Jeff Jacoby’s Jan. 9 op-ed column “ ‘Pledge’ stifled speech, but didn’t make Warren-Brown race less nasty.”

We could argue about the lack of civility during the campaign, but the pledge never promised civility. It promised candidate accountability if either wanted to take the campaign negative. That was unquestionably achieved.