I was reading some blogs in the geoblogosphere and came across this excellent post regarding the current controversy over McCain’s political advertisements.
[T]he McCain/Palin supporters were getting a little worried about the two-week lying binge they’ve been on (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).
Seriously … if I were an undecided voter (that’s who they are trying to persuade at this point) I would be offended. Do they think people are that stupid?
Wasn’t John McCain about honor, integrity, and straight-talkin’? It’s actually quite sickening to watch. And they keep doing it even as the media (finally) catches on. It will backfire … the independents and undecided voters I know are fiercely against partisan sleaze shenanigans. Aren’t they running on reform now? You know, ending the “politics as usual”? (pssst … their campaign is run by lobbyists).
And Jeffrey Zeldman makes this point:
If you’re selling toothpaste, your claims must be vetted by legal and medical professionals. But not if you’re selling a candidate.
If you’re selling a candidate, not only can you lie about his record, but more to the point, you can lie about his opponent.
Here is the latest ad from the Obama campaign, calling McCain on his outright lies.