Rumour mill in overdrive before US election
Published: 20 October, 2008, 06:19
As the US presidential election approaches, voters seem to be less interested in candidates' promises – and more concerned by rumours surrounding them. The huge volume of gossip has forced candidates to keep busy rebuffing them.
Sarah Palin's son is really her grandson? False.
John McCain was nicknamed McNasty in high school? True.
Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim? False.
Joe Biden was accused of plagiarism during his presidential campaign? True.
Professor Nicholas DiFonzo, the author of “Water Cooler Effect” has his own explanation on why rumours are so popular with the American electorate at the moment.
“When we get to the place where we mistrust the press, the rumours become more depended upon, more important to us and more powerful,” he said. He also believes gossip can be the best indication of a candidate's popularity.
“To hear a rumour about Ron Paul is much less important than a rumour about Barack Obama,” he said.
This year's candidates are handling the gossip in different ways. Senator McCain prefers to ignore them, with his typical reaction a “No comment“. Barack Obama prefers to face the gossip upfront. The rumours are all collected on his web page, in a section called ”Fight the smears”, and thoroughly rebutted by facts. The idea of such a website seems unusual but it seems to work better than just ignoring the spin.
Meanwhile, tabloids are offering more and more new revelations. John McCain's debut on live TV took place in 1965 and was unsuccessful. He appeared on the game show Jeopardy where failed to reach Wuthering Heights after being asked a question about the famous novel by Emily Bronte. Elsewhere, Barack Obama doesn’t like ice cream after a spell working at Baskin Robbins while a teenager.
Most of these kinds of stories have little chance of doing any real damage to either candidates’ chances. However, that doesn’t seem to diminish the appetite the American public has for reading about them.
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