These days, the most effective weapon to get elected is not competence, but the ability to dig up enough dirt on competitors to make them sink.
What baffles me is the timing and source of such dirt. Often it's stuff that happened in the distant past, but it'll conveniently pop up just at crucial moments. The media then eagerly attempts to make it a major issue, distorting the process (witness the dramatic poll shifts in response to such dirt, no matter how irrelevant it is).
So where does the dirt come from? Are folks simply running to the media to get their 15 minutes of fame? Are they tricked into it? Is someone paying them big money? Are they craftily conned into it to suit the purposes of one side or another? Often, it seems like it must take a lot of ill will to pop up the day or week before a major election event to go on TV and dish out dirt, especially when it's a former spouse or employee. With friends and family like that, politicians do not need enemies.
What baffles me is the timing and source of such dirt. Often it's stuff that happened in the distant past, but it'll conveniently pop up just at crucial moments. The media then eagerly attempts to make it a major issue, distorting the process (witness the dramatic poll shifts in response to such dirt, no matter how irrelevant it is).
So where does the dirt come from? Are folks simply running to the media to get their 15 minutes of fame? Are they tricked into it? Is someone paying them big money? Are they craftily conned into it to suit the purposes of one side or another? Often, it seems like it must take a lot of ill will to pop up the day or week before a major election event to go on TV and dish out dirt, especially when it's a former spouse or employee. With friends and family like that, politicians do not need enemies.
