Psychological Warfare As Last Resort...

[kentuck]

When one candidate or another says that their opponent "cannot win", they are guilty of psychological warfare. They hope to plant the seed in the minds of would-be voters that if they vote for their opponent, they are wasting their vote. They "cannot win", they say.

On deeper analysis, it is the actions of a desperate candidate, when the battle reaches that point. They have finally exhausted every other strategy that was available to them. They resort to saying that the other person does not have a "chance" of winning, even when the other candidate might be ahead.

The end is near. Don't be a "fool". Don't be a person that votes for someone that doesn't stand a chance. We have all become unwitting agents in this experiment.

Here is only the latest installment:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/02/hillary-clinton-barack-ob_n_94770.html

[ColbertWatcher]

1. I thought this was about the GOP's use of...

...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear%2C_uncertainty_and_doubt">FUD.

My bad.

[kentuck]

3. And it should be noted...

That both sides have used this type of psychological warfare but there may be a distinction between early in the campaign and late in the campaign? They may not be of equal significance?

[ColbertWatcher]

4. ?

Who has used which type of psychological warfare?

[kentuck]

6. Both sides have said that the other side does not have a chance...

to win. Psychologically, it shows a deeper frustration and desperation to say at this stage of the campaign, in my opinion.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. I'm sorry...I meant...

which sides?

Do you mean Democratic v. GOP?

[kentuck]

12. No...

I mean Obama vs Hillary ...or vice-versa.

[anonymous171]

2. kick

:kick:

[kevinmc]

5. "Hillary Clinton is winning and Obama has been soundly defeated"

[kentuck]

7. Perfect !

Thank you. :-)

[boppers]

9. Bread and Circuses.

Hillary lost this thing on Feb 5th, but the media needed a story line, a contest, a horse race, some way of filling their time.

Ta-Dah: Pretend she's not done with, ramp up every drama point as much as possible.

"Hillary's down by 3 lengths, but what if Obama stumbles!"

"Hillary's behind by half a lap, but what if Obama gets bored and stops running?"

"In every reasonable metric, Hillary has lost, but the race isn't over, maybe she can magically teleport!"

Yeah. Ok.

[Ichingcarpenter]

11. I bet on that horse

Like when I was stupid and I just liked the name to make that bet

Lost almost every time.

Nice analogy.

[Cronus Protagonist]

10. Excellent example of framing the issue

Bill is the master. I bow to his skill.