Slinging the Mud

According to an article on Yahoo News, candidates in this year's mid-tem congressional elections have spent about $17 million on ads to promote their platforms. They've also spent about $160 million on ads that atack their opponents. As the article puts it, "That's just over $1 of nice for every $10 of nasty."

The message: Don't vote for me, vote against the other guy.

What a joke. And the bigger joke is that a lot of American voters are stupid enough to fall for it. One classic example is right here in the great Red state of Utah. Consider challenger LaVar Christensen's recent radio ad, which is echoed almost word-for-word on his web site:

Political experts are reporting that for the first time in 12 years, Democrats in Washington have a strong chance of winning enough seats in the coming election to take control of Congress.

What will that mean for you, for Utah and for America?

* If we allow it, Democrat[ic] control of Congress will cause us to abandon Iraq’s fragile new democracy and surrender that vital region and everything we have worked for to terrorists.

* It will mean increased dependence on foreign oil, rising gas prices and falling moral standards.

* It will definitely mean higher taxes, including the return of the hated death tax that takes up to 50% of your assets when you die.

* It will also mean endless congressional investigations and spiteful and baseless actions directed against President Bush.

This year, one seat in Congress could make the difference between Republican control…and losing control. That’s why AMERICA NEEDS UTAH.

We can help secure a safe and hopeful future for all Americans. In these uncertain times, AMERICA NEEDS UTAH. America needs a strong Republican leader from Utah’s second district who will not vote to turn Congress over to the Democrats. The incumbent has joined his fellow [D]emocrats in Washington in electing Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco as their leader. But that is not the direction Utah wants to go and it is not the America we want for our children.

Vote for LaVar Christensen, Republican for Congress. Together, we can make the difference.

Grammatical and capitalization errors aside, this message is nuts. Republican control or losing control? Are those really our only two options? Vote for LaVar, or the Democrats take over and America goes to hell in a handbasket?

Fortunately, I don't think the man has any chance of winning...not because Utah voters are smart enough not to fall for the slippery-slope logical fallacy of an argument on which the whole pitch is built, but because he's trying to run in the one area in Utah that consistently elects Democrats to important offices.

I'm a Republican, albeit and moderate and often disgruntled one (and some on the right-hand fringe would undoubtedly call me a RINO). But there's no way I would vote for this man. I can't justify basing a vote on the idea that "If you vote for the other guy, the terrorists will have won". What a load of tripe.

Sure, the other guy is a Democrat. But at least he's not a nut.