COLUMN: Presidential debate obscures genuine issues
by Andi Berlin l Arizona Daily Wildcat (U. Arizona)
Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Opinion
Our political biases, personalities and sensory perceptions may lead us to declare a winner from Friday's presidential debate, but we really should know better. We don't know who won, the media doesn't really know who won, the obnoxious woman you overheard at Vila Thai last night doesn't know who won - no matter what her Tiger Beer said - and the candidates themselves probably don't know either.
The only people who do know, obviously, are their respective campaign staffs.
Despite predilections, the Republican campaign actually figured it out this week when they announced Sen. John McCain as the winner, before he even decided to go through with the debate. A writer at the Washington Post leaked a screenshot of an online ad on Friday morning, featuring robot McCain with that goofy forced smile in front of an American Flag and the words "McCain wins debate!" underneath.
Although embarrassing, the incident does nothing but publicize the rampant spin machine on both sides of the fence - a spin machine that is by no means new.
Perhaps a precursor, the "Kerry Won" online campaign in 2004 demonstrated that people who saw his ad after the debate were statistically more likely to believe that Kerry won, regardless of whether they were Republican, Democratic or independent. Thankfully, that ad leaked after the debate was over.
Both campaigns set out Friday night and Saturday morning with a number of dishonest and misleading tactics to prove their domination: McCain's side faulted Sen. Obama for seemingly pausing before saying the name of a dead soldier he was invoking; Obama's side faulted McCain for not using the words "middle class," which was in turn followed by McCain faulting Obama for not using the word "victory" when referring to Iraq; McCain countered again by compiling all of the instances where Obama agreed with him, god forbid; and Obama's side set their sights to the future by mocking Gov. Sarah Palin.
It's no secret that each side has a vested interest in winning, but it's kind of disheartening how well this crap actually works.
The only people who do know, obviously, are their respective campaign staffs.
Despite predilections, the Republican campaign actually figured it out this week when they announced Sen. John McCain as the winner, before he even decided to go through with the debate. A writer at the Washington Post leaked a screenshot of an online ad on Friday morning, featuring robot McCain with that goofy forced smile in front of an American Flag and the words "McCain wins debate!" underneath.
Although embarrassing, the incident does nothing but publicize the rampant spin machine on both sides of the fence - a spin machine that is by no means new.
Perhaps a precursor, the "Kerry Won" online campaign in 2004 demonstrated that people who saw his ad after the debate were statistically more likely to believe that Kerry won, regardless of whether they were Republican, Democratic or independent. Thankfully, that ad leaked after the debate was over.
Both campaigns set out Friday night and Saturday morning with a number of dishonest and misleading tactics to prove their domination: McCain's side faulted Sen. Obama for seemingly pausing before saying the name of a dead soldier he was invoking; Obama's side faulted McCain for not using the words "middle class," which was in turn followed by McCain faulting Obama for not using the word "victory" when referring to Iraq; McCain countered again by compiling all of the instances where Obama agreed with him, god forbid; and Obama's side set their sights to the future by mocking Gov. Sarah Palin.
It's no secret that each side has a vested interest in winning, but it's kind of disheartening how well this crap actually works.
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