So, here is my rant…

I have been watching the Republican Party bash the Democratic Party and the Democratic Party bash the Republican Party. Here is where I get confused. The Republican is bashing the Democrat at a Republican rally…The Democrat is bashing the Republican at the Democrat rally.

What is the logic if the Democrats attend the Democratic rally and the Republicans attend the Republican rally? They have all the votes of the people attending. So, what good does it do to make the other look bad…when they are voting for you anyhow?


I plan on voting...I do not really care what one is saying about the other! My mind is made up.

Thier hoping bashing the other side to get votes. That is not the way to get votes. Civility is gone and forgotten. Nasty is common. I don't watch the Repullcans nor the Democrats. I make up my own mind. Nasty is not nice.

quote:

Civility is gone and forgotten.

Stormer, I like you but I have to question how much you know about past American politics (no offense intended). Nasty has ALWAYS been the name of the game. Do a little research, you'll find that name calling, back biting, family bashing, gender bashing, rumors etc. have ALWAYS been prominent in American politics, especially when it comes to the Presidential race.

Go digging, look at the Andrew (old hickory) Jackson campaign for President. There was serious mud slung around that one. Politics in this country has always been a smear fest, I'd venture to say that it's a staple of the democratic process, a sad case but apparently part of the game.

later...

In a nutshell, it's always easier to throw epithets and mud than to address and arrive at solutions to the actual issues facing the country.

We the People always get the government that we deserve. If WE don't start addressing the issues and simply take the mud slinging as entertainment and sensationalism, then there is no hope for any meaningful reform.

It is up to us, not the politicians themselves. Like marketing ploys, they are simply feeding us what they think we want.

mw

Lokie
You're so right. They run for office on promises, and when they get elected they do what they wanted all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by mabwood:
In a nutshell, it's always easier to throw epithets and mud than to address and arrive at solutions to the actual issues facing the country.

We the People always get the government that we deserve. If WE don't start addressing the issues and simply take the mud slinging as entertainment and sensationalism, then there is no hope for any meaningful reform.

It is up to us, not the politicians themselves. Like marketing ploys, they are simply feeding us what they think we want.

mw

There is much truth in what you say here. But I distinguish between mudslinging and negative advertising. An example of mudslinging is the recent vicious personal lies and characterizations about Sarah Palin (some posted on this board by people who apparently just wanted to believe the dirt.)
Some negative ads are legit. "He'll raise your taxes, I won't", etc. and people do respond to negative despite the many protests about negative advertising.
Where it begins to become problematic for me is when the negative advertising uses half truths, also known as spin, to distort the record or positions of the opponents. This happens a tremendous amount of the time and is difficult for us common folk to resolve. It eventually devolves into the perception of a He said-She said scenario.

quote:

Originally posted by BBooBBoo:
What is the logic if the Democrats attend the Democratic rally and the Republicans attend the Republican rally? They have all the votes of the people attending. So, what good does it do to make the other look bad…when they are voting for you anyhow?

There is a lot of "preaching to the choir" going on -- they like to call it "energizing the base." They are also hoping that the media picks up the information and distributes it to the general public. Hell, some of the political TV ads aren't even broadcast on bought-time -- they just want the cable news channels to pick them up and send them out for free (calling it "news").

You're right that their not going to change minds (at least not mine1), but they do hope to influence the decisions of those who are still fence sitting.

...gjd

quote:

Originally posted by MattFox49:
Where it begins to become problematic for me is when the negative advertising uses half truths, also known as spin, to distort the record or positions of the opponents. This happens a tremendous amount of the time and is difficult for us common folk to resolve. It eventually devolves into the perception of a He said-She said scenario.

There are several "fact check" sites out there. Factcheck.org is one of them:

FACT CHECK McCain Acceptance Speech

FACT CHECK Obama Acceptance Speech

...gjd

quote:

Originally posted by geejaydee:

quote:

Originally posted by BBooBBoo:
What is the logic if the Democrats attend the Democratic rally and the Republicans attend the Republican rally? They have all the votes of the people attending. So, what good does it do to make the other look bad…when they are voting for you anyhow?

There is a lot of "preaching to the choir" going on -- they like to call it "energizing the base." They are also hoping that the media picks up the information and distributes it to the general public. Hell, some of the political TV ads aren't even broadcast on bought-time -- they just want the cable news channels to pick them up and send them out for free (calling it "news").

You're right that their not going to change minds (at least not mine1), but they do hope to influence the decisions of those who are still fence sitting.

...gjd

In my honest opinion, those fence sitters can vote independent. Why should they have to be convinced based on who has a bigger bark? If you think about it that is all it is, a bark! They all say they are going to do this and they are going to do that…the changes that are “promised” for the most part are going to take longer than on four year term and if they go for eight…someone new is going to come in and start a change that is going to take longer than four years to implement.

Government is government and politics are politics. Nature is going to take it course no matter who is running the show. People are still going to get paid; drilling is going to happen, taxes are going to go up, and politics will still be politics.