ARPAVAX:UNKNOWN:wildbill (10/22/82)
Since there doesn't seem to be a net.politics or a net.poli-sci,
(whatever happened to fa.poli-sci?) I guess this is as good a place as any
for this message.
It seems that the ad hominem argument has become far and away the
most popular style of political advertisement these days. Almost every
person running for office in Northern California seems to be trying in
any way possible to cut down his/her opponent rather than focusing on the
campaign issues. About the only issue-oriented commentary comes when the
opponent has taken some simply outrageous stand which can be used against
him/her regardless of where the voter may stand in the political spectrum,
which also falls into the ad hominem category. Anyway:
Is this strictly a local phenomenon? (Presumably, So. Cal. types are
also getting the Brown-Wilson and Bradley-Deukmejian mudfights.) What other
areas of the country are observing this? When will the first libel suit ensue?
I'm not afraid to cast my ballot,
Bill Laubenheimer
ucbvax!wildbill
csvax.wildbill@berkeley
P.S. Your vote is important! Use it wisely!bin (10/28/82)
#R:ucbvax:-890500:uiuceml:14000001:000:435 uiuceml!bin Oct 27 10:58:00 1982 How about the Thompson/Stevenson race in Illinois? This name-calling fest got so intense that at one point Stevenson spent a day denying that he was a "wimp". Unfortunately for him, Thompson hadn't (yet) called him one. I think the problem in this state is that the candidates differ very little on this issues and are compensating by jumping on each other's lackluster personalities. I'm voting for Zippy the Pinhead. Gentle Bin