The Smear Gap
McCain’s attacks on Obama go too far. He knows better.
This is hardly the nastiest campaign in recent memory. But it’s not shaping up as the “civil” contest that both candidates promised either. Instead, we’re seeing the emergence of a “smear gap”. John McCain making stuff up about Barack Obama, and Obama trying to figure out how hard he should hit back.
As usual, news organizations are deeply afraid to say that one side is more negative than the other. Doing so sounds “unfair.” It’s much easier, and less controversial, to say that “both candidates” are being negative. That would be “balanced”, but also untrue.
One of the wonders of the Web is that it’s now possible for neutral observers to determine the truth or falsity of various attacks, and to have that information instantly available to anyone. The best arbiter is factcheck.org, which is sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (Disclosure: Newsweek.com has a partnership with factcheck.org). If you don’t believe me about the smear gap, check their analyses of campaign ads.
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