If you don’t understand what political mudslinging is about, all you have to do is recall television ads for various candidates during an election cycle, at least in the United States. In modern elections, candidates seem to spend more time telling voters how bad the other guy is, and instead of expounding on their own principles and platforms, they only try to convince voters that they aren’t quite as bad as the opponent. Many candidates attack not only each other’s issues, but also attack each other on a very personal level.
Worse yet, at times political mudslinging may also include members of a candidate’s family. Outright accusations are rarely necessary to achieve the goal of creating scandal. One may simply use innuendo or hyperbole as forms of political mudslinging. In other words, one does not have to prove that the other candidate is corrupt or dishonest; he or she only needs to plant that seed.
Enough political mudslinging can lead to a candidate dropping out of the race, especially if his or her family is being viciously attacked. Political mudslinging can become so ugly that is can cause a potential nominee to lose favor with his or her political party. The prospective candidate may then have no choice but to bow out, as the party distances itself from the candidate.
Find out what's happening in Berlinfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Lifelong Berlinite resorted to the lowest levels of mudslinging, expounding upon a candidate's family tragedy. Where is the leadership from the Democratic Party calling an end to this lowest level of mudslinging?
And where is the leadership from the Democratic candidates? Why are all of them silent? Does their continued silence suggest a degree of complicity in this mudslinging?
