The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.
What Would We Do Without Experts?
“Voter Turnout Will Determine Election, Says Expert,” reads the headline on a University of Connecticut press release: “So says Carolyn Lin, professor of communication sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and associate dean of the UConn Graduate School. Lin is an expert on campaign strategy.”
Lin has lots of other great insights too:
“The most damaging aspect about negative political advertising is that when the lies about another candidate stick, there is no easy way for that candidate to rebut those lies.” . . .
Around the country, a lot of candidates have been condemning government and the need for government to participate in people’s lives. But Lin says most voters really don’t agree with that, since elimination of government might mean you have to pave your own street, establish you own fire department, go without food safety regulations, or live without government help in a disaster such as a hurricane, earthquake, or oil spill. . . .
You have to craft messages in such a way that people can understand them. You need one clear message, and you need to hang on it throughout the campaign.” . . .
In politics, a week is a lifetime and voters tend to pay the most attention to the election “right now.” So the final days before the election, Lin says, are the most important of the entire campaign.
Unless one of the candidates comes up with that one good idea that really convinces the voters something will change, people may feel that neither candidate really satisfies them and stay home.
She forgot to mention that all politics is local, that money is the mother’s milk of politics, and that the key to winning is to get more votes than the other candidate. But hey, even an expert doesn’t know everything!
All Religions Look Alike
CNN.com has a curious quote in a story about last week’s thwarted package-bombing plot:
“Since two of the suspicious packages that were intercepted were addressed to religious institutions in Chicago, all churches, synagogues and mosques in the Chicago area should be vigilant for any unsolicited or unexpected packages, especially those originating from overseas locations,” said FBI Special Agent Ross Rice.
Both of the “religious institutions” to which the packages were addressed were synagogues. By what logic does the FBI conclude that mosques need to be vigilant because Islamic supremacists are sending dangerous packages to synagogues?
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.
