The Capital Times
Dirty politics, presidential candidates covered in mud
Campaign tactics focus on
weaknesses of opponent,
not strengths of candidate
By Sharon Furfaro
Assistant Editor
srf 171 @psu.edu
Ready! Aim! Splat!
Splat?
Ah politics. The race for presi
dency. The mudslinging.
This election year, campaign
commercials have become
downright dirty. Through the tele
vision screen into the living
room, the Republicans and
Democrats have countered
attacks tit-for-tat. The new strate
gy is not telling the American
public what the candidate will do
for the country and why he or she
is the better candidate - no, now
the name of the game is telling
the American public what the
other candidate will not do for the
country. Also, any poor life deci
sions made by the other candi
date a decade ago may come to
light . . . splat! . . . and why the
other candidate is incompetent,
dangerous, arrogant. . .
The point is, the way Senator
John Kerry and President
George W. Bush portray them
selves is very different than the
way they portray each other.
Each candidate spins facts and
figures to be seen in the best
light.
“Hi. I'm so-and-so, and I
approve this message.”
Whether or not the messages
are approved by the other candi
date and the American public
remains in question. The strate
gies and tactics displayed thus
far have recieved criticism by
conservatives and liberals alike.
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macing. Kerry did a better job of
remaining expressionless and
his tone seemed more con
trolled.
However, Bush did a better job
of speaking to the cameras,
where an estimated 50 million
viewers/voters lurked. Kerry
often looked away from the cam
eras.
Another subject included North
Korea. Kerry favored more one
on-one talks with the rogue
nation, something the Bush
According to Kerry, in commer
cials supporting Kerry, Senator
John Kerry is a budget-balanc
ing, middle class supporting,
medicinal drug-re-importing,
stem-cell researching, health
care reinforcing, tax-break giv
ing, United Nations embracing,
allies-supplier to Iraq, war com
manding genius who promises a
“new direction for America.”
According to Bush, in commer
cials countering Kerry’s, Senator
John Kerry is a flip-flopping, high
tax voting, big government, for
war-against-war-for-war-against-
war, extremely far left liberal who
doesn’t even know where he
stands and is practically a
Senate no-show.
Are they talking about the same
man? Now for the president. . .
According to Bush, in commer
cials supporting Bush, President
George W. Bush is a “uniter, not
a divider,” small business help
ing, freedom-fighting, individual
power-giving, better education
advocating, huge tax break shar
ing, government downsizing, job
supplying, faith-based conserva
tive who offers “steady leader
ship in a time of change.”
According to Kerry, in commer
cials countering Bush’s,
President George W. Bush is a
poor healthcare handling, fiscally
irresponsible, massive deficit
creating, job losing, American
safety-forsaking nincompoop
who we cannot risk having for
another fQur years.
An independent group called
Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
paid for ads that criticized Kerry’s
record during the Vietnam War.
Kerry asked the president to
White House has withdrawn
from. Kerry relayed that because
of his handling of Iraq Bush can
not be trusted in dealing with
North Korea and its leader, Kim
Jong 11.
Bush favors six-party talks with
the pursuer of nuclear weapons.
He believes regional pressure
from Japan, Russia, China and
South Korea would be a better
strategy in halting the weapons
program.
Homeland security funding was
also discussed. The challenger
once again took the offensive in
Democrats and Republicans go head to head to com
pete for the presidential spot in the White House. Both
parties use commercial ads to gain votes.
denounce the ads, calling them
“a front for the Bush campaign,”
and the question has been asked
- did the Republicans fund this
campaign? Bush did not
denounce the ads and has
remained silent on the issue.
Now there are ads showing dif
ferent veterans commending
Kerry’s record during the war.
In Kerry’s “Keeping Our Word”
commercial, the ad states that
America has lost 2.9 million jobs
under the Bush administration.
According to Factcheck.org,
however, only 2.2 million jobs
have been lost. The figure given
was off by 700,000 jobs - that’s
as if almost the entire population
of Delaware - men, women and
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saying the death of long-held
alliances has had a trickle-down
affect. The senator explained
that with fewer alliances, wars
are costlier, leaving less money
for domestic security. He also
attacked Bush’s two tax cuts,
which he said were aimed at the
country’s wealthiest 1 percent.
The president countered by
saying, “We’re doing our duty to
provide the funding. But the best
way to protect this homeland is
to stay on the offense.”
Cartoon courtesy of the
Star Tribune.
News
children - had jobs, but were
counted as lost.
Bush has said that he will lower
taxes and his opponent will raise
taxes. Kerry has said that he will
lower taxes and his opponent
only lowers taxes for the rich.
Kerry has said that Bush has lost
jobs; Bush has said that under
his administration many jobs
have been created. These are
just a few of many examples
where the two presidential candi
dates seem to be presenting
completely contradictory infor
mation. So, which one is telling
the truth? What is the truth?
Our forefathers would roll in
their graves if they knew the
extent of this year’s mudslinging.
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Symbols for the parties evoke mixed feelings; candi
dates attempt to create images that appeal to the yet
undecided voters.
Or would they? According to a
BBC news article, Thomas
Jefferson’s opponent accused
him of “favoring the teaching of
‘murder, robbery, rape, adultery
and incest’” during the election of
1800.
In 1828, John Quincy Adams
was running for President
against General Andrew
Jackson. According to the same
article, Adams was called a
pimp, due to a rumor that he
prompted an affair between an
American ambassador and a
Russian nobleman. In retort,
Adams’ supporters designed a
pamphlet that stated, “General
Jackson’s mother was a com
mon prostitute brought to this
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Photos courtesy of Yahoo Images
country by British soldiers! She
afterwards married a mulatto
man with whom she had several
children of which number
General Jackson is one!!” Ouch -
Adams’ “your mom” approach to
the campaign just goes to show
that some things never change.
At least Kerry and Bush
aren't attacking each other's
families . . . yet.
With the election weeks away,
Democrats and Republicans
need to clean the mud out of
their commercials in a giant
washing machine and be
“spinned” dry. Well, maybe no
spinning. There’s been enough
of that already.
Photo by Kelly Nagurny
By Sharon Furfaro
Assistant Editor
srfl7l @psu.edu
If you are like me, you
may have found the
debates to be very amus
ing. Politics can be likened
to a game - player A and
player B try to get to the
White House first by
employing winner-takes-all,
‘whatever it takes’ strate
gies that sometimes beg the
question: Where is the
judgement here?
Don’t be blindsided by the
moves of the game, howev
er. Take some time and
look beyond the “plans” and
“strategeries” and vote.
Despite the absurdity of
some of the campaign tac
tics, it is important to see
through to the valid points
each candidate makes.
Use your brain. Get
informed, watch the news,
think for yourself, decide
who you would like to run
the country you live in and
VOTE. Your vote DOES
count.
I created this cartoon after
watching the second
debate. I have always loved
art for art’s sake, but I
never thought to use it to
poke fun at the world
around me until now.
We can all lighten up a lit
tle and laugh at the cam
paigns - laughter never hurt
anyone.
“Hi. I’m Sharon Furfaro,
and I approve this mes-
sage.”