Politics in America has almost always been more about the characters instead of the issues. Politicians used to have gun duels. Tennessee's own Andrew Jackson probably wouldn't have been elected if it weren't for his "Indian Fightin'." The overstressing of spirituality/military experience/charisma is really quite funny to me in a dark way. Here in the Bible Belt it seems like the stereotypes are almost entirely true about how petty things determine a person's vote.
From what I understand, Bush's campaign hasn't told he veterans' group to stop the ad. I think that would go a lot further thant simply saying "we don't need these ads." That might also set the tone for liberal organizations like MoveOn to keep from being dirty. I find it funny how politicians on both sides always say puiblicly "I'm not going to run a negative campaign"," and then brutal attack ads follow, and they aren't asked about the m being negative. To that, I think the line, cheesiness aside, "I'm __, and I approve this message" has helped a lot.
|