Scary: As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone

[AZBlue]

From the moment Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared that she had opposed the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," critics, the news media and nonpartisan fact checkers have called it a fabrication or, at best, a half-truth. But yesterday in Lebanon, Ohio, and again in Lancaster, Pa., she crossed that bridge again.

(snip)

Palin's position on the bridge that would have linked Ketchikan to Gravina Island is one example of a candidate staying on message even when that message has been publicly discredited. Palin has continued to say she opposed a project she once campaigned for -- then killed later, only after support for it had collapsed in Congress.

As the presidential campaign moves into a final, heated stretch, untrue accusations and rumors have started to swirl at a pace so quick that they become regarded as fact before they can be disproved.

Now, this is scary:

John Feehery, a Republican strategist, said the campaign is entering a stage in which skirmishes over the facts are less important than the dominant themes that are forming voters' opinions of the candidates.

"The more the New York Times and The Washington Post go after Sarah Palin, the better off she is, because there's a bigger truth out there and the bigger truths are she's new, she's popular in Alaska and she is an insurgent," Feehery said. "As long as those are out there, these little facts don't really matter."

Again, emotions and not facts are turning out to be a key to the election.


And this is even scarier:

A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken Sept. 5 to Sept. 7 found that 51 percent of voters think Obama would raise their taxes, even though his plan would actually cut taxes for the overwhelming majority of Americans. Obama has proposed eliminating income taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 a year, but 41 percent of those seniors say their income taxes would go up in an Obama administration.

Scariest yet:

"We have created a system where there is not a lot of shame in stretching the truth," said Charlie Cook, editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/09/AR2008090903727.html?hpid=topnews

I post this not to worry you despite the scary messages within it. I post this to encourage everyone to act.

So, let's talk...what are we going to do about the media? I think they, not the GOP, are our greatest enemy this election.

[Borgnine]

1. What can we do?

I'm at a loss myself. The problem is this: The Republicans successfully framed this debate decades ago. By hammering the "liberal media" meme, followed by corporate buyouts of most of our institutions, they've bullied the press into playing nice with them. The minute they start to tell the truth, they can trot out the "liberal media" garbage (which they did last week).

We've been shut out, save for the Internet and one or two token programs on MSNBC.

[AZBlue]

4. Maybe we need to push Obama & Biden to argue from a different angle.

I was opposed to this until this morning - but this lipstick on a pig stupidity has convinced me that Americans - and in turn the media - can not deal with actual issues. This election, as so many before it, will sadly be about personality. And with Obama and Biden we have two great, honorable people - and that may be what we need to push. That and the lack of honor or ethics in the McCain/Palin team.

[truthisfreedom]

2. "Not a lot of shame in stretching the truth???" I beg to differ! McCain has NO HONOR.

He's a shell of a man who hides behind women when attacked. Somewhere between 7 and 12 homes, hides behind Cindy. Lipstick on a pig, hides behind Sarah.

[AZBlue]

5. And she hides behind false issues.

Lipstick on a pig is not an issue, the economy is. But the GOP knows they have nothing to show on issues, so they're going to make this about innuendo and lies.

[GrizzlyMan]

3. It will all settle down

I don't agree with the Republican strategist. I think there is a cummulative effect of outing her lies. It's not going to move the strident Repugs, but it will make some of the fence sitters wonder about her intergrity. Charm can go far, but I don't know that she can continue to trot out the same old speeches day after day week after week before these same people get sick of hearing about it.

Cook I respect and I'm sad to say he is right which is why I don't have a problem with Obama stretching the truth in any way he needs to in order to win. And winning is all that matters.

I do think we're in for about another 2 weeks of all Palin, all the time. At that point the first debate will be held and this election will either be one or lost on that night. There are estimates up to 100 million will be watching. Many of those people will be just now forming their opinions. Obama needs to get it done. I'm less concerned about these daily skirmishes than I am in his performance in the debate.

[AZBlue]

6. I agree, debates will be key.

But I think that Obama and Biden are going to have to hit back a little more than they have been. I know it's not what they want to do, but I'm afraid if they don't that the GOP will frame the parameters of this election and will take it.