For most of my career, when we did mail pieces criticizing our opponents, we had substantiation for our accusations. We could argue whether the hit was fair or not, but that’s politics. We always had proof to back up our claims and the Republicans had evidence to back up theirs.
This year, though, the Republican Party is just making up stuff–no citations, no documentation, just a bunch of words. I guess that’s what happens when a political party is taken over by a habitual liar and his propaganda machine on Fox News.
In one race, Republicans dropped a mailer accusing a candidate with whom I’m working of being a “New York Liberal” with “New York liberal values.” My candidate is an 8thgeneration North Carolinian. Both her parents were born and raised here. She’s never lived in another state.
So what are “New York Liberal values” anyway? I suspect there’s more than hint of anti-Semitism here. The ad is a dog whistle to the GOP base. Appeals to racism and bigotry have a long history in North Carolina politics. They’re trying to paint my candidate as “other.” She’s not one of us. And who are “us?” Why, white Christian Southerners, of course.
The mailer also bashes my candidate by saying her “allies” signed a pledge that would raise taxes. Her “allies?” That’s BS.
Using that logic, her opponent supports a state religion since his allies in the legislature introduce a bill calling for one back in 2013. I guess he also supports North Carolina creating its own currency since another one of his allies introduced a bill to do that back in 2011. I’ve got more evidence from this mailer that the North Carolina Republican Party is full of anti-Semites than they’ve got evidence that my candidate is from New York.
In another mailer, the GOP accused my candidate of opposing voter ID. She’s not on record anywhere either supporting or opposing voter ID. The just made it up.
On neither of their mailers, does the North Carolina Republican Party offer any documentation to back up their claims. The days of any truth in political advertising are over. They can offer “alternative facts,” what once were called lies, as proof. Now, they’re just making stuff up. Truth is a casualty of our political process.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Guilt by innuendo, a customary practice among folks who are consistently seeking ways to hate.
You are not from around here! How can you tell? You talk like a TV announcer. (A known fact, all TV announcers are evil-right?)
My all-time favorite why is you talking to that person, he is from a place where folks think all of us are ignorant hillbillies.
(Truth has nothing to do with folks who harbor these concepts)
One good thing, folks who think like this, they are becoming fewer and fewer daily.