After Obama made this statement, the McCain campaign began handing out tire gauges to reporters. Prominently engraved across the cylinder were the words, “Obama’s energy plan.” While it turned out that there is evidence to suggest that Obama was actually correct about the amount of fuel saved by keeping one’s tires adequately inflated, this is not the main point. More telling is the fact that the McCain campaign made a straw man out of Obama’s energy policy. In fact, Obama’s energy policy provided for the development of alternative energy sources. Nor did Obama’s comment deny that domestic drilling should be a part of an energy policy package. “Increased domestic oil exploration certainly has its place, said Obama on August 4, “as we make our economy more fuel-efficient and transition to other, renewable, American-made sources of energy. But it is not the solution.” The fact is, Obama had been pressing the idea of alternative energy sources including wind, solar, and bio fuels such as corn ethanol all along. The McCain campaign knew this but it was easier to attack a straw man than to tell the truth.
When Sarah Palin claimed to have said “No thanks” to the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” she left out that she was also a strong advocate of it at first. When she said she sold her jet on E-Bay, she failed to mention that, while she put the jet up for sail on E-Bay three times, she was unsuccessful at selling it there. These are half-truths at best, lies at worst.
Unfortunately, instead of addressing the issues, the McCain/Palin campaign has tended to follow this pattern of factual distortions, deception, well poisoning, manipulation, and personal attacks. This bodes badly for the prognosis of what living under a McCain/Palin administration would be like. In all probability, much like the Bush administration, it would lack candor and would do its best to manipulate and deceive the public into supporting its policies.
What can the media do to about it? The media should not allow itself to become the rag of a government party. It should carefully check the facts before it decides to print a story. It should be vigilantly on the outlook for attempts by a campaign to use media smear tactics and other fallacies in order to defeat its opponent. The job of the Fourth Estate is to keep the people informed about government corruption, not to be a handmaiden to it.
What can the voters do about it? The American public needs to demand that the issues be addressed. They need to be sensitive to the attempt to deceive and manipulate their vote, and they need to insist on evidence and rational argument before believing what is claimed.
The McCain/Palin campaign is not only playing dirty with its political opponent. It is also an assault on the integrity of every American who is exposed to these ploys. This is to treat us all like objects to be manipulated and used for political gain, and not as persons. Voters should insist on rational argument to address the crucial issues at stake in the upcoming election. Anything less is an affront to the dignity and personhood of the American people.
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