I have zero tolerance for these kind of heart-warming / emotion-tugging quasi-personal-second-hand anecdotes of folks who ask the candidate oh-so-conveniently to ensure they get the help they need, protect them from the threat of the evil government, make it all better and give them a puppy and a jet pack kind of stuff.
It's grotesquely manipulative, and even if it's completely accurate it remains an anecdotal bit that mean nothing for good public policy.
And, yes, it's used by both parties in all sorts of races. Though in the debates it's been used more by Mitt than Barack.
Reshared post from +The Onion
Embedded Link
Romney Tells Heartbreaking Lie About Single Mother Of 4 He Never Met
HEMPSTEAD, NY—In response to a question on unemployment asked during tonight’s town-hall-style debate, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shared a touching and poignant lie about meeting a …
Google+: View post on Google+
Ummm….you know the Onion's a parody site, right? Unless they're actually running a real, honest to gosh story here?
Ummm, have you watched the debates Mark? Or read any or heard any campaign speeches? You can barely go a week without hearing these anecdotes. Many times The Onion is based more in reality than we want to think.
Oh, I know it's the Onion, +Mark Means … I used it as a humorous inspiration to my general disdain for these sorts of heartstringtugging "I was just talking to a single unemployed autoworking mother of 12 in Oshkosh" anecdotes that both candidates tend to use.
I don't recall precisely when these first came into currency in policy debates. I want to say Reagan, but I could be mistaken.
+Jon Weber Yep, I've done both and see all the candidates doing stuff like this. I was just confused as to A). Is this a real story, and B). if not, does Dave know it's a parody site.
I'm assuming he probably does, but I have to ask 🙂
Ah o.k….gotcha, Dave.
Although it's on the Onion it parodies the intent of people. I think the Onion is exaggerating reality, but to a certain extent there is some truth to it, which is why people find it especially amusing.
I read The Onion off the newstand (or at least the freebee newspaper containers downtown). I know it's parody, +Mark Means — though, as +Elis Diaz and +Jon Weber note, they often seem very, very, very close to actual (sad) reality.