Name Calling

As my summer draws to a close, I have found myself running on political fumes. No, I’m not tired, it’s just that there really isn’t that much information out there for someone who spends most of his day repeating the same 30-second trope to Nevadan answering machines to absorb. I’ve started looking beyond my once sufficient daily dose of Andrew Sullivan, Ben Smith, Al Giordano and Nate Silver. I read more Daily Kos now, even venturing down into the non- recommended diaries (which usually aren’t recommended for good reason). I even browse redstate.com when I want some humor in my day.

My favorite redstate joke? That Sarah Palin has more of a bipartisan record than Barack Obama because she’s married to a non-Republican. Yes, she’s married to a non-Republican; he just happens to also be a non-Democrat. He’s a member of the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party (or at least was until 2002).

Funny, huh?

But anyway, my foray into less scrupulous blogs, or the comment sections of blogs I like, has led me to a realization: I really hate it when people call other people names. Every day, I log on and read a string of insults directed at candidates through not-so-clever variations of their names. Whether people are using Obambi, McInsane, or Sarah Failin’ (yes, Marino, I don’t like it when you do it either) it cheapens the debate. It’s juvenile, but more importantly it dilutes your arguments. I, as a matter of principle, don’t read anything that refers to Barack Obama as Barack Osama. Nor do I enjoy reading anything that refers to McCain as McBush.

What these terms do is reduce the debate into narratives – the broad, sweeping narratives that define elections and, in the case of many elections, decide them. Rick Davis, a McCain campaign advisor, put this into words best in the little repeated corollary to his much-criticized statement that issues would not decide the election. His insight, that this election was about a “composite view” of what people would take away from the candidates, is true, albeit sad. And name-calling serves not only to reinforce these composites but to simplify them even further. While it may or may not win elections (see: Kerry, windsurfing), it takes our debate one step further away from where it should be.

Finally though, I do have a confession. I really like calling McCain McSame. Even if I hate myself for it.

peace