Uh, oh: here comes the most grating phrase of the 21st century — and it’ll come from both sides:
FALSE EQUIVILANCY.
But, let ‘er rip: because today was a day when Camp Obama and Camp Romney both released ads that are widely seen as…truth impaired. So let the emails (“You’re not nice to progressives! You’re not nice to conservatives! You’re a closet Democrat! You’re a closet Republican! I bet you eat Chick-Fil-A! I bet you watch Michael Moore movies!) begin.
First, from Camp Romney, an ad on welfare that again suggests Mitt Romney is trying to ignore his own record as Governor and has real problem with not saying things that would make Pinoccio’s nose grow. GO HERE.
Second, an ad from an Obama-allied Super Pac (spare us the emails about how the Obama campaign has nothing to do with it since they have not denounced it) that is also truth impaired. GO HERE.
So if you read an indignant post on a weblog or a story on a website going after one side and ignoring what the writer’s own side did just remember: it’s a case of the pot calling the pot a pot. Yes, there is an equivalence when it comes to both parties fighting bare knuckle-style.
THE REALITY: This will be an intensely fought campaign, with both sides pulling out all stops. It may be easier in the end deciding which candidate you most agree with than which campaign was the most pristine.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.