Lying liars, and the lies they lie about.....

Where is the media push back on this?

McCain: Our Campaign Isn't "Negative In The Slightest"

So a candidate whose last 5 television ads have either contained completely false, or seriously misleading statements about his opponent's actions or character are not negative?

Negative ads work, mainly because the push back against them isn't as ferocious as the initial coverage that brings them to light. Notice how Senator McCain used a very limited ad buy for 2 of his most recent campaign ads; counting on the ensuing controversy to get it on every news show. Which it did flawlessly, and very often without any commentary as to the veracity of the claims that lay therein. Obviously the Britney-Paris ad is in heavy rotation, because of its effect and to head off those claims of playing the press as rubes. I actually read an article that stated flatly, if the press figured out that McCain was using them in that fashion they would stop falling for it. I respectfully disagree and as my evidence I cite the the last eight years and the uncritical reporting of White House, and republican talking points on the subject of Iraq, Iran, the attorney scandal, the DoJ hirings fiasco, HUD, etc.

Also people are dumb. It is simply easier to get people to vote against something then to vote for it. So no matter how specious a claim (Gore's invention of the Internet, or Kerry's frenchness) it is, once it enters into the echo chamber there is no stopping it. I would be pleasantly surprised if the press actually made as much of an effort to debunk the blatant prevarication in most of these ads. Hell if they did as much as Factcheck.org that would be swell.

But they will not. Not every side of a debate deserves equal weight and that needs to be called out.

-Cheers