Negative Waste

Is trash talking useful? In the long run, yes. It’s informative and acts as a check on candidate’s claims. But I’ve been getting irritated when every speech is only half information and half bashing (cough PALIN cough). 

CNN reports that Palin spent her weekend in Flordia, addressing the 3 million seniors over 65. The article was critical of Palin’s negative turn in her speech, saying Obama exploited seniors’ fears, and calling his tax plan “phony.”

The most irritating thing reported in the article was this:

“Palin also continued to repeat a claim, which has been debunked, that ‘according to an independent analysis, our opponent's new policies will destroy nearly 6 million jobs over the next decade.’ She later made the same claim at rallies in Central Florida and Raleigh, North Carolina.

I mean come on! You’ve been proved wrong, you can’t keep telling the public the same lie. Well, I guess you can and that’s American politics, but at least try to be a little more inconspicuous.I’d much rather hear why your plan is BETTER, not why the Democrat’s plan sucks. But you can’t always get what you want. Most Americans disapprove of negative campaigning, yet we can’t get enough of it. We’re watching the crash on the side of the road, with no empathy and a lot of time wasted waiting in traffic. We’re a consumer culture; we eat up anything that entertains us. Palin’s negative campaigning isn’t exactly what we want, but it’s getting us talking about her, and it’s giving her exposure in the media. Three days before the election, it has to be an all out effort.