I have no patience for dirty political campaigns. In theory I understand the idea behind a dirty campaign. If you make the other person look bad enough, no one will vote for them.
Here's the problem, just because you smeared their name doesn't mean you're a good candidate. I'm not going to vote for you simply because you're not the other person. You have to actually build a case for yourself.
The current Texas gubernatorial election is a great example of everything I find distasteful about 21st century politics.
THE TEXAS RACE
We're less than a month away from the 2014 mid-term elections, and it marks a particularly interesting election for Texas, where I live, because it means the end of Rick Perry's near 15 year term as governor of Texas. Republicans are eager to continue their 20 year reign over the state of Texas, and Democrats are eager to turn Texas blue.The end result of this political grudge match is two very nasty campaigns!
PLANNED PARENTHOOD STARTS THE NASTY!
The nastiness didn't start with the candidates themselves. The first sign that things were going to turn nasty came months and months ago when my Facebook feed starting having daily assaults from sponsored ads from Planned Parenthood. In the midst of the Hobby Lobby birth control debate, Planned Parenthood and a few other companies started running smear campaigns against candidates who sided with Hobby Lobby.
It would be one thing if the ads presented FACTS or QUOTES from Greg Abbott regarding the issue. Instead, these ads were misinformation and smear tactics. The ads were so absurd and misleading that I screen captured them.
Stop and consider what these ads are saying, "Greg Abbott doesn't trust women to make their own birth control decisions." There are two key claims:
- Greg Abbott doesn't trust women's decision making ability
- Greg Abbott wants to decide on their birth control for them
Where do they get this idea from? Because he believes a privately owned business should be allowed to refuse to pay for certain birth controls for religious reasons.
- His position has nothing to do with women's decision making ability
- His position has nothing to do with actually wanting to control women's birth control
- He doesn't believe the government should tell businesses what types of birth control THEY HAVE TO pay for for their employees
- As far as I know, he has NO opinion on what birth control they buy on their own
Whether you agree or disagree with Greg Abbott's position, their smear campaigns' claims are misinformation at best, and out-right intentionally deceptive lies at worst.
But, they continue to run these ads. This one appeared in my feed yesterday:
Yesterday's claim about Greg Abbott: "[He] Believes: Bosses should control women's access to birth control."
Once again, Greg Abbott doesn't believe that the Federal government should mandate what birth controls privately owned businesses HAVE TO pay for their employees. His actual position seems to be that he wants businesses OUT of the birth control business unless they choose to offer it as a benefit. He doesn't want to control anyone's access to birth control; Birth control is readily available without needing to include your boss in the mix.
Now, you may totally disagree with his position but, at the core of what Greg Abbott ACTUALLY stands for, it has nothing to do with him trying to control women's access to birth control, or giving power to women's bosses.
These ads spread misinformation and make a joke of real issues. Planned Parenthood should be embarrassed that they're running these ads.
But this isn't a one sided mud slinging match...
GREG ABBOTT JOINS IN TOO
As we get closer to the election, there seems to be more and more mud slinging going on. Early on, it seemed Abbott was trying to run a cleaner campaign but, more recently, his ads have turned negative.
A look at his YouTube channel shows the shift in his campaign:
The video uploaded right before this was titled, "Senator Wendy Davis Melts Down Again In Debate." As we head into the final weeks of their campaigns, the focus has shifted to...
- Wendy makes disgusting comments
- Wendy is a liar
- Wendy is unethical
- Wendy gets her numbers wrong
- Wendy had a melt down
There's no shortage of commentary on Wendy Davis, but there's nothing which will actually convince me that I should vote for him, it's just responding to mud slinging with mud slinging.
WENDY DAVIS JOINS THE MUD SLINGING
The most offensive ads have come from Wendy Davis' campaign itself. In Abbott's 20 year political career, he's been involved in voting on a number of hot button issues. Davis decided to run a series of ads that spun the way he voted on key issues in order to build absurd narratives about Abbott.
The end results:
- An ad suggesting that Greg Abbott is against education.
- An ad which claims Greg Abbott is pro-cancer, and battling against prayers to find a cure.
- An ad suggesting that Greg Abbott is pro-rape.
Those are literally the implications of these ads. They're shameless, and they're offensive. They're built on manipulating people, and distorting facts to craft a ludicrous narrative about Greg Abbott.
WHY DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU'RE FOR?
Tearing down your opponent doesn't make you look good. It makes you look insecure at best, and dishonest at worst. If your past and your policies aren't strong enough to win the election, maybe you shouldn't be running?
Perhaps our system really is so broken that both sides' only option for attempting to succeed is to craft ridiculous narratives about the other person's incompetence. If that's the case, then we really need to re-evaluate our system.
I don't care about your spin regarding the other person!
I do care about what you actually stand for, and your action plan!
You're supposed to be public servants, not spin doctors. Truth serves the people, not self-serving deceptions.
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