Do you think a key Republican strategy is to keep Democrats on the defensive by using lies and rumors?

Question

I think it is. This especially happens during election time. The Democratic candidates have to mess either with pointless rumors or outright lies ranging from whether they actually earned their medals in war to whether they are homosexual or not. What do you think ? And if you agree, why would the Republicans feel a need to resort to such tactics ?

Answer 1

Yes it is painfully obvious that is their strategy. It is ridiculous that the Republicans can't run on the straight facts or debate issues. They resort to such tactics because they have nothing else. They are positively gleeful over the Moveon.org ad because it takes the attention away from them voting against troops this week. It gives them nonsense to focus on.

Answer 2

I think you should look at the practices of you own party first. For example....During the last election cycle ads (by Dems) came out that if you vote Rep then black churches will be burned. Or how about how the Dems sent out registration forms designed to look like draft notices stating that a vote for a Rep was a vote for a draft.

The truth is I would love an election to be about the issues but too many people would rather argue emotion rather than facts.

Basically your question shows that you are only going to look at evidence that supports your preconceived ideas. Don't believe me? When was the last time you actually changed your mind about one of your own candidates? Or were you more likely to excuse any malfeasance by a Dem as just being human nature?

Answer 3

Overall, this isn't a party issue. It's a politician issue. All we hear is bullsh*t, because most of America believes and even loves to hear bullsh*t. If a majority of Americans wanted to discuss issues rather than pointless personal characteristics, we might actually hear something of value during interviews and debates. It just seems to be the Democrats lately who have to deal with the most asinine of the accusations.

Answer 4

Why do YOU feel the need to resort to such tactics? It's a key Democrat strategy to keep Republicans on the defensive by using lies, rumors, and half-truths. Democrats are also famous for double standards, and accusing Republicans of doing whatever dirty tricks Democrats are doing in order to keep non-thinkers off balance.

The reason Democrats feel a need to resort to these tactics is because they have nothing to offer the country but socialist garbage. They know those of us who think for ourselves aren't going to fall for a direct assault on our freedoms, so they sneak in from the side pretending to be on the side of the "downtrodden" in order to gain their votes. In this manner they try to get as many people as possible to depend on the government rather than on themselves.

Democrats have even gone so far as to change "welfare" to "entitlements" in an effort to convince people they're entitled to welfare benefits if they don't feel like working for a living. Give me a break!

Democrats want the US to be Socialist, meaning more taxes & power for a bigger government, and making people depend on the government for every little thing. They do not want us to think for ourselves (Hillary Clinton said so). This is slavery.

Republicans want the country to be strong, which allows the individuals a fair opportunity to be strong enough to be self-reliant. This is freedom.

Which do you want? Slavery to a socialist government that takes almost everything from you, then tells you what you want & need and what you deserve to get? Or control over a republic that wants you to be strong enough to rule your own destiny?

Vote wisely.

Answer 5

Of course! Goes back to Lee Atwater, who was chief political strategist to the first George Bush. Dole didn't engage in this in '96, but Bush the son picked up the charge with his own Svengali, one Karl Rove.

Read September's "Atlantic Monthly" for details on Rove and this very question.

Answer 6

Boy are you right, that's all these Democrats have been doing is lying and spreading rumors. I'm glad you've finally seen the light. The Republicans had to turn to outing these Democrat scalliwags to counter all that Democrat propaganda.

Answer 7

Well, Karl Rove did go on White House leave of absence to go spelunking for cash cows, so it's possible a few GOP candidates may e mail him for a few pointers. Unfortunately for the GOP, facts belie the issues of which they complain. So it may be hard for even Bushs' Brain to incapacitate reality. You can see it in the political answers about Hillary Clinton et al. The GOP is out of energy, but full of gas, rhetorically speaking...

Answer 8

Absolutely.They need those tactics because if the American people focused on real issue's without prejudice they would reject the regressive right and its failed policies for good.Truth and reality have a liberal bias.
Republicans will continue to use these tactics as long as they work.Part of the reason they work is lack of political courage by the American left to not play these games and to not get caught up in their terms and rhetoric but debate on your own terms.That's something I really admire about the Clintons.

Answer 9

Absolutely. Keeps people off-balance.

Kerry, for example, spent so much time defending himself against the Swiftboat attacks that no one got a chance to hear his ideas, only his excuses.

Answer 10

Yeah, right. Good luck with that. The fact is, that if a Republican is even accused of doing something, the Dems force him out. If a Dem does it, he is given a more prominent place in the Democratic Party.