Friday, August 10, 2012
All's Fair In Politics
There is no gentlemanly competition in politics. It is tooth and claw and always has been. That is why complaints like this are not credible. If it takes trashing President Obama to win, Romney will do it -- or his proxies in SuperPacs. The sad part of this is that most voters dislike gutter campaigning. It's lousy PR and turns citizens off of both parties. So, why do candidates do it? It works for some voters. And a political campaign is a battle for every vote, every last one, because you never know when you will need it. Besides, it is an outlet for natural antipathy between competing views of the country. Will we ever get to a time when issues predominate over personalities? Probably not. From the beginning, there has been character-driven campaigning, some of it sewer ugly. Thomas Jefferson was behind much of it in the early days and look at the pillar on which we have placed him. Political consultants have history on which to stand, not that history makes much difference. So, Romney will complain. Obama will defend. Everything will be per usual.
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