Election Manipulation

Coyote linked to Senator Claire McCaskill's article about how she helped an uber-conservative win so she could beat him later.

I told my team we needed to put Akin’s uber-conservative bona fides in an ad—and then, using reverse psychology, tell voters not to vote for him.

She's that much more proof the scammers win, and anyone conservative enough to make a difference is also usually too clueless to win. Makes me sick really.

But anyway, it also suggests to me my ideas for ads could work. Target potential Jeb voters with commercials about Terri Schiavo & Elian Gonzales. You don't have to agree with the conservatives on this issue to do it- you just point out how Jeb is a wimp, and he did nothing. Every Republican governor who, to a man, rolled on gay marriage and went right into 'protecting religous freedom' mode ought to be ask how, exactly, they should be trusted to defend anything if they cave every time the Supreme Court does something unconstitutional. Wouldn't it be better for them to stand up now, when no one's life is at stake, rather than promise to protect us when they come to throw us to the lions? Hyperbole, I'm sure, but it gets the point across.

Again, much like this sick little woman doesn't believe anything Akin believes in, the person putting up such ads don't have to believe it either.
It also works on the left, especially with environmentalists and some of the progressives- some of whom are upset with Obama for being a modern American president, rather than the magical unicorn they were hoping for.

These aren't really meant to be ads to get people to vote; they are ads to get people not to vote. Of course, they could sway an election in favor of one person or the other, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is more people knowing they shouldn't vote because the candidates they are provided with just don't deserve it. Maybe, as a side effect, we might see a few people (probably Republicans) get scared enough to enact real change- but they really have to feel the situation is desperate.

In any case, the wheels are coming off. It has been like a reality TV show for a while, largely driven by the media's need for all those campaign advertising dollars, and I must say there's I feeling the schadenfreude from watching Trump, who is a pro at reality TV, not to mention back room deals, destroy these losers. Serves them right for giving up on our principles.