A footnote: I love this video but they join the “War on Context” with the snarky “try cracking a history book” at the end as – while they are exactly correct that foul things have been said in the name of campaigning through history, they get a Village Square rap on the knuckles for doing some major cherry picking.
First of all, we should note that the Jefferson and Adams campaign was ultimately the first election in human history with a peaceful transition of power from one party/group of people to another… let’s just say given the unique feat they were undertaking, it’s not that hard to imagine that tensions ran high. The standard way to handle it up until then was with bayonettes.  Read all »
Hard to imagine an ad much worse than the one Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate is running against Republican Rand Paul (below). Paul’s response ad (still looking for it online) didn’t beat it but gave it a run for it’s money. Eww, just ewwww.
Political parties, meanwhile, have distilled themselves so completely to their essences that they have caricatured themselves into cartoonish self-parody. Witness the recent town hall wherein President Obama’s audience was culled from a casting call and the Republican ad campaign in West Virginia that sought “hicky” people.
Oy, as we say down South. Republicans and Democrats are so busy pointing fingers, they fail to see what is plainly obvious. They are mirror images of each other and each is equally cynical and corrupt.
The increasing polarization of cable news is transforming, and in some ways shrinking, the electoral landscape. What has emerged is a form of narrowcasting, allowing candidates a welcoming platform that helps them avoid hostile press questioning and, in some cases, minimize the slog and the slip-ups of retail campaigning.
“There’s no question it’s contributing to the splintering of the political system and the means by which people get information about that system,” said Robert Thompson, who runs the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. “If there’s no standard base line of fact and reporting, where can the conversation go?”
Love to hear what people think, both sides of the aisle. Read the whole article HERE.
Lea (the conservative) usually takes muffins to the young staffers at the Republican campaign office in election years. That’s pre-Village-Square.
Post-Village-Square… Lea called me (Liz, the liberal) and suggested that the better thing to do would be to take muffins to both the McCain and the Obama campaign offices. So, this morning we loaded up 2 baskets with an assortment of homemade muffins and Village Square bumper stickers and buttons, then made two of the more unusual visits the campaigns have likely received.
On the beautiful card Lea made:
The unity of freedom has never relied on uniformity of opinion.
— John F. Kennedy
Don’t miss Constitutional Amendments 101 tonight!! 5:30 to 7:30 PM, bring your favorite take-out and learn about the six Florida ballot measures.
UPDATE: Thanks to all 8 of our panelists this evening, who were informative, knowledgeable, professional and – I’m partial to this one - civil. And thanks, also, to our audience who comported themselves with equal decency and grace. If anyone involved in the discussion has a factual issue they’d like to convey, send it on to liz@tothevillagesquare.org and we’ll get it up on the blog.
Also, please check 2 posts down for our resource guide on constitutional amendments.
