I got a pamphlet in the letterbox today, Thinking about voting for the Greens? It was about the risk a voter takes by voting Greens in the Senate and giving them the balance of power. It hits at the Labor Party for dealing with the Greens. Fair enough, get the info out there for all to see. Everyone’s got a right to an opinion, surely.
It has the usual mish-mash of irrelevent associations, quotes from several years ago, and absurd “A implies B, therefore B implies A” logic fallacies. We’re all pretty used to it by now, I guess. Even though mud-slinging irritates me enormously, we won’t see it reduce because research shows that character assassination does work in elections. There are very good reasons why, and they don’t say much that is good about the human condition, but that’s a topic for another day. Mud-slinging does work, that’s why American election ads are almost all negative ones, and we’re going that way too.
However, although irritated already, it irks me more when the mud-slingers try to hide and don’t even have the courage to show themselves. The pamphlet has no party logo and is written by an individual, Andrew Heath, who I’ve never heard of.
A quick google search shows he is not only a Liberal Party official, he is the Campaign Director for this election! An anonymous pamphlet critical of the Greens and Labor, written by the Liberal’s Campaign Director.
Heath, at least have the courage of your convictions and reveal yourself when you write these things. I might think a bit more of you than a bit of a cowardly-custard.
UPDATED –
There is a letter in today’s The Age, “Ssh, It’s the Liberals” complaining about the same anonymous pamphlet, except that their pamphlet comes from a Julian Sheezel who is the State Director in the Vic Liberals.
Perhaps Andrew Heath isn’t acting alone but is part of an organised campaign arranged to take place around the nation. All in all, it appears there are sneaky antics afoot. Come on Libs, don’t hide behind tricky pamphlets, be plain and upfront.
(The letter writer expresses the view that the pamphlet’s colour of green has been intentionally chosen to be misleading. He also has an interesting slant that the pamphlet demonstrates that the Liberals believe they have lost the election because it mentions Labor and Greens in power, which is a no-no for spin coming from an opposing party.)
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