Name Calling: Kindergarten Politics?

One doesn't need to quote the name calling on either the Left or the Right. We all have our favorites. What is name calling for?

Name calling accomplishes its ends using the method of guilt by association. A generic term is used to describe someone. Take your pick of which one. The audience's prejudices are expected to fill in the blanks. Whether from Al Franken or from Ann Coulter, name calling sounds like bar fighting, not like political discourse. Its appeal is to base instincts, not to thought. But, say the wags, isn't that the way it always is?

One of the smartest moves made in the first Reagan campaign was the then-candidate Reagan's running of a series of policy statements. It is likely that his own campaign staff thought he was wasting his money doing this, but these appearances, which lasted several minutes and often far longer, featured candidate Reagan delivering a cogent, well-argued presentation of a policy he intended to lead as President. Candidate Reagan didn't name names; he listed points of departure from current policy and enumerated goals he would have as President. As campaign advertisements, these presentations were startling compared with the empty rhetorical and visual frenzy of television appearances by candidate Reagan's opponents. For this writer, it was the first time in years that he'd heard a national candidate actually talk intelligently about policy aims and objectives.

What candidate Reagan was doing of course was engaging in political discourse. What Franken and Coulter do is engage in mudslinging. Fortunately, neither one of them is running for President. One hopes that those who do run make it a goal to follow the late President's example, not stand at opposite ends of the street cursing at each other.

Luther