Why Politicians Sling Mud

Today's post is again inspired by Sunny, who wrote about her distaste for mudslinging earlier today.  I've had similar conversations with many, many friends over the years, and we all say that we hate it, yet somehow the overwhelming majority of today's political campaigns end up flinging poo at their opponents.  I think it's more appropriate to call it flinging poo, because our political discourse has become so dismal that our elected officials are behaving more like primates than people.

The thing is, slinging $h1+ works!  Polls and election results have consistently shown that saying bad things about your opponent yields better results than taking the high road and focusing on your own policy and platform.  This means it's our own damn fault, because at a macro level, we reward the exact behavior that we rebuke as individuals. Our brains seem to respond to trash talking at a subconscious level.

When I think back to my younger days, I recall the entire political arena being far more respectful.  While statistics demonstrate that elected officials did work across party lines more frequently than they do today, I have to admit that mudslinging has always existed. "Tricky Dick" was Richard Nixon's nickname.  John Kerry was "swiftboated."  Going back further in history, slinging $h1+ was rampant after the civil war, when there was national animosity, and yellow journalism was the rule, not the exception.

I believe that part of the appeal of Donald Trump is that he has turned smack talking into an art form.  Partisan supporters love that he's "owning the libs," and "calling out the deep state."  When he's caught in a lie about his opponents, Trump's supporters say that he's "speaking figuratively."

I also suspect that $h1+ slinging is a large part of why people stop participating in the election process.  They think crap, they're all a bunch of liars, why should I vote for any of them?!? Unfortunately, this would also mean that the people who respond to negative campaigning end up being the majority of voters, creating a vicious cycle.

What this all means is that mudslinging is nothing new, and the only way to make it stop is to quit feeding the beast.  Stop reading internet articles that talk about so-and-so owning his opponent.  Quit buying newspapers that focus on sensationalism.  End your support for politicians who attack the other guy's character instead of rationally disagreeing with platform issues.  We got where we are as a result of our own behavior.  Politicians are not guiding us, they are reflecting us.  They won't do better until we do better.