Nobody ever makes any money or gets elected by betting on the intelligence of
the American people. A cerebral rational candidate running a rational campaign
always loses.
What counts are baseless accusations repeated often. If a
voter hears the same thing often enough, it becomes true whether or not it is.
You never want to confuse voters with facts. Elections are not about
facts; they are about emotions and cultivating prejudices.
You pay
campaign managers a fortune to identify groups with a beef, or a screw loose,
and figure out a way to target them with a message just for them that won't
drive away the support of other groups you need.
The most effective tool
is the 30 second sound bite. You make a statement and don't have to qualify or
explain it, or defend it; just make it and stop. What you say will have more
impact on voters than your opponent's long tedious explanation of why your
statement is not true.
Are voters today less informed? I think so. One
reason is beause we are so barraged with information that we shut out all but
the simplest most emphatic messages. The ideal campaign message consists of just
one word or phrase.
"Socialist!" was good.
Another good one is
"baby-killer." Santorum has been using that. Gingrich. Randy-Neugie. Here's
CNN's debunking of the accusation:
"After researching and analyzing the issue, two
independent fact-checking groups, Politifact and Factcheck.org both determined
it's not true to claim Obama supported legislation that said "any child born
prematurely ... can be killed." In fact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact
rated the Santorum's assertion "Pants on fire" -- its rating that a statement is
"not accurate and makes a ridiculous claim."
"Then there's the part of
Gingrich's statement that the "elite media" ignored the story in 2008. In fact,
a search on Nexis shows at least eight times when it was mentioned or discussed
in detail on CNN during the 2008 campaign." From http://articles.cnn.com/2012-02-24/poli
... M:POLITICS
Not that debunking matters. What matters and
what is remembered is the accusation. Comprehending the debunking takes too much
time and IQ points.
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