Thursday, October 07, 2004
Politics 101: Don't Get Caught in a Lie
Cheney's Performance Revisited:
exaggerations are not uncommon in politics. A vote cast to oppose a tax cut will be framed as a vote to raise taxes. Candidates tend to overstated their accomplishments and overblown fears of plans by their opponents. That's pretty basic stuff. But the underlying rule to all of this, know even to the most lowly hill staffer is...make sure you can back up what you say.
It's ironic that Bush/Cheney are painting Kerry as a flip flopper. Oh, the moniker is certainly accurate, but the repeated use of this in the recent debates, combined with continued assertions that Iraq had WMD and such is giving the press and their opponents fodder to pain them (rightfully) as out of touch. This was evident as I surveyed the news last night.
Nearly every channel (CNN, MSNBC, FOX and the networks) were showing a Cheney statement from the debate. This assertion was immediately followed by several clips of Cheney on various TV shows saying the exact opposite. The result. Cheney's ability to attack his opponent during the debate made him the technical winner. But the fact that those attacks were so quickly, easily refuted and publicly refuted leads to a huge reversal of fortune for the BC'04 team. Rather than discussing Edwards performance, or Kerry's record, the result was a day long coverage of Bush and Cheney 'flip-flops' on various issues and a gelling of the assertion that they are out of touch. This coverage is invaluable for Kerry/Edwards as it gets their message out to millions of views without their campaign having to spend one dime. And Cheney has no one to blame but himself.
exaggerations are not uncommon in politics. A vote cast to oppose a tax cut will be framed as a vote to raise taxes. Candidates tend to overstated their accomplishments and overblown fears of plans by their opponents. That's pretty basic stuff. But the underlying rule to all of this, know even to the most lowly hill staffer is...make sure you can back up what you say.
It's ironic that Bush/Cheney are painting Kerry as a flip flopper. Oh, the moniker is certainly accurate, but the repeated use of this in the recent debates, combined with continued assertions that Iraq had WMD and such is giving the press and their opponents fodder to pain them (rightfully) as out of touch. This was evident as I surveyed the news last night.
Nearly every channel (CNN, MSNBC, FOX and the networks) were showing a Cheney statement from the debate. This assertion was immediately followed by several clips of Cheney on various TV shows saying the exact opposite. The result. Cheney's ability to attack his opponent during the debate made him the technical winner. But the fact that those attacks were so quickly, easily refuted and publicly refuted leads to a huge reversal of fortune for the BC'04 team. Rather than discussing Edwards performance, or Kerry's record, the result was a day long coverage of Bush and Cheney 'flip-flops' on various issues and a gelling of the assertion that they are out of touch. This coverage is invaluable for Kerry/Edwards as it gets their message out to millions of views without their campaign having to spend one dime. And Cheney has no one to blame but himself.
