Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Ad Hominem, Cont.
I've written here before about President Trump's use of ad hominem invective against opponents. He gives derogatory nicknames to them and implies or says outright that they aren't effective. He's at it again with the suggestion that Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden is senile. There is just enough possible truth to the charge to make it effective. Bien hasn't helped himself by being a life-long gaffe-o-matic who can't seem to keep from misstating things or making dubious claims. Trump with his feral sense of survival is boring in on that fault. Is it civil? No. Is it fair? Hardly. Will Trump use the charge to turn concern about his own intelligence against his likely opponent? Yes. It's "I might be bad but he is worse." Biden has no choice. He needs to get out ahead of such charges and defeat them by being a good candidate. To the extent he can, he will do well. If he can't, Trump is looking at a second term.
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