Slinging Mud

[missydog1]

Beautifully expressed, Cat.

A while back I read something on this topic that stuck with me. It was on a page about logical arguments.

quote:

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We vote for, elect, and are governed by politicians, not platforms; in fact, political platforms are primarily symbolic and seldom enacted. So, personal criticisms are logically relevant to deciding who to vote for.

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Source:http://www.fallacyfiles.org/adhomine.html

The problem with this topic, Clayton and Mendo, is you don't seem to understand that "mudslinging" has a specific meaning: it means negative campaigning against an opponent.

It doesn't apply to voters and non-candidates who critique a politician, only to people who are running campaigns.

Wikipedia does a good job on explaining what mudslinging is and is not:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mudslinging

I'm not running a campaign; I'm not a politician; it is my right and I would say my civic duty to express misgivings about politicians, and ditto for the other forum users. It is in fact offensive for you or anyone to disparage our first amendment right to speak freely about candidates.

quote:

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I'd also like to ask anyone, who still wishes to talk negatively about a candidate, would you please include the name of the person you are backing in that particular race.

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This is another confusion between candidates and citizens. You pose questions like this to candidates, and they reply because they want your vote. You don't have any right to demand of other forum users that they adhere to some formula you present for making comments. []