Opinion: Political Name-Calling Exposes Uninformed Electorate

One of the challenges of writing editorials about a month in advance of when they reach your hands is writing something that is timely to the unfolding events of the day. As you read this, we are only a couple months out from the Presidential election.
I feel pretty safe in assuming you’ve had your fill of TV spots and heated rhetoric, especially here in Florida. As I write this, the political story of the day was a bit of name calling between President Obama and Mitt Romney. Nothing new, right? But, what made this stand out was the names both men used.

At a fundraiser, President Obama referred to Romney as being sort of a reverse Robin Hood, stealing from the poor and giving to the rich, so he was “Romney-Hood,” as he put it. Not to be outdone, Romney in reply to a statement from the President, said it was, “Obamaloney.”
Really? Is this the best we can expect from the individuals/parties asking for our vote?

Beyond name-calling, the candidates and their supporters don’t seem to mind bending the truth to fit their rhetoric — and sometimes they are doozies. So, if these distortions are so blatant, why do the campaigns continue to do it? Because it works. As this election unfolds, I’ve wondered more and more — why do such tactics work?
That the two candidates and their parties act like 3rd graders calling each other names on a playground is likely a sad commentary on just how uninformed the electorate has become.

I follow politics pretty closely, and I’d judge myself maybe 30% properly informed on the important issues of the day. That’s pretty frightening when you consider that many in the public pay politics no mind at all. This is the very reason these tactics work. We simply don’t know enough to know better when politicians mislead us. And, boy do they ever take advantage of it — both sides.

Those political junkies who believe they are so informed aren’t helping the conversation much. I have both conservative and liberal friends. I’ve found the stronger they lean in their political direction, the more likely they are to fill my eMail inbox and clutter up my social media feeds with wild allegations about their political opposition. There’s no thought about whether these things are true or how inane they are — if it fits their mold of thinking — they pass it on.
If all these examples of online hysteria were true, God would have smitten us long ago, or the planet would have melted due to global warming, or we would have been turned into face-eating zombies by genetically modified crops.

Guess what? We are still here. So to my Facebook friends who shared the bumper stickers about the evil 1%ers or those who insist they know where the President “really” was born — chill. It is fine to have an opinion, but some of these things only coarsen the dialogue and certainly don’t help your cause.

Finally, on a side-but-related note, my colleague, Paul Rusnak, is writing a great series on using social media as a means of marketing your business. I truly believe social media is an amazing way to reach your customers. But, if you use social media for your business, I have one piece of advice: Leave your politics at the virtual door. Tell your customers about the great produce or service you provide. Don’t risk alienating them with hard right or left stands. There are other forums for that.

It's fine to express your point of view, but some of these things only coarsen the dialogue and certainly don't help your cause.