Radioactive Rhetoric

[babylonsister]

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/02/22/radioactive_rhetoric.html

February 22, 2012

Radioactive Rhetoric

John Avlon notes that for all the entertainment of the GOP presidential debates "there is a civic cost to the radioactive rhetoric that gets thrown out to excite the conservative crowds."

"It's not just that the most irresponsible candidates can play to the base and get a boost in the polls, while more sober-minded candidates like Jon Huntsman fail to get attention. The real damage is to the process of running for president itself. Because when low blows get rewarded, the incentive to try to emulate Lincoln -- holding yourself to a higher standard -- is diminished. And one barometer of this atmospheric shift is in the increasingly overheated rhetoric by candidates attacking the current president. This serial disrespect ends up unintentionally diminishing the office of president itself."

[marsis]

1. Funny how

everyone hates negative campaigning but always fall for it. It works because America's voters aren't the brightest lot in the world.

[Vincardog]

2. The problem with being a whore is it is unseemly to haggle about the price

[VWolf]

3. I don't know about that.

Pres Obama more-or-less took the high road in 2008.

Of course, consider the competition.

[politicasista]

4. That's weird

Don't know why people like Gore and Kerry still get hated on for their "slow" response to the negative campaigning/ads (inventing the Internet, Swifties), but Obama gets lauded for staying about the fray and taking the high road and it works. The GOPers are destroying each other and he doesn't have to mention Mittens or Santo by name.

Is it because it took the level of disrespect for O and the Presidency to get people to see how bad the GOPers are? Don't know if anyone has the answer here, but just curious.