http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/15/democrats-to-romney-stop-whining-over-felony-remark/
This is an election year in America, and that means politicians of every stripe are out there campaigning along with all their supporters. You do know what that means? All hail negative (attacks on your opponents and everything he or she ever did or thought, however irrelevant) campaign tactics.
Presidential campaigns are no different, although this year we seem to be off to a faster start than usual. I guess that is a product of the demise of the smoke-filled rooms of yesteryear. Normally, we wouldn’t know who the candidates would be (other than probably the incumbent) before the party conventions in August.
Still, as marketing gurus and political consultants will tell you going back probably to the dawn of man that saying negative things about your opponent is always effective. In fact, to borrow part of the old cliché, it is American as apple pie.
Actually, a student of American history, particularly its elections and politics, will tell you that things today are relatively calm compared to some of the efforts of days gone by. Still, it doesn’t make it any better or the candidates any better and in fact it still makes candidates look rather ugly. (As my dear wife points out: It makes them look like children on a playground, rather than mature adults).
The sad thing is that you can imply something that obviously isn’t true and get away with it. Especially if your supporters get on the bandwagon and keep hammering away at it.
For example, I don’t care if President Obama’s birth certificate is a fake or not. It doesn’t matter. What matters is whether his policies and plans advance my liberty.
It doesn’t matter whether or not Mr. Romney was the titular head of a venture capital firm out to make a profit 12 years ago or not. What matters is whether his policies and plans protect my rights to life and the pursuit of happiness.
That is what matters on Nov. 6, 2012.
Still, there are those who jump on issues like those and flog them like a dead horse.
I suspect that someone far smarter and better educated than I am could tell you why, but I have my own explanation. We, humans, just like to tear down people, especially people who have the opportunity to wield considerable authority. We could do better, we say with our puffed up chests. Maybe we could, but we aren’t so maybe we should go back in the teapot as Pappy used to say.
The founders were right that the people who cast their votes should be something more than followers. They should be thinkers too. But thinking is work … and we all know our attitude about work or anything that takes any effort: EEEEEEK!!!! Get that away from me, I don’t want to do it.
Of course, not thinking doesn’t do much good for the individual and their liberty, but then we will trade that for the security of knowing someone else is at the wheel, the throttle and the brake. It’s not our fault then. We can always blame someone else when the train wrecks.
But this train wreck will be our fault. People can stop negative campaigning by telling those who do it that they just lost their vote. Enough people do that, and I bet that those who try not to indulge in personal attacks (rather than attacks on issues that really matter) will benefit. That would be nice, and then those people might be more amenable to compromise, which is the life blood of politics and the art of the possible. We can’t have that. Only those pure of heart, or is ideology, need apply.
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