Like Leader, Like Follower

Even-handedness is a fine principle to live by and a critical part of thinking reasonably. If you hear of Republicans trying to suppress the vote in African-American communities, it behooves you to search for similar activities from Democrats before jumping to the conclusion that "Republicans are worse than Democrats".

But there is no cosmic law that says Democrats and Republicans take equal part in slimy political tricks, even though the media, either through cynicism or fear of complaints of "the liberal media" often tries too hard to give moral equivalency to the actions of both parties.

I am more hesitant than most to say that Republicans are dirtier than Democrats in Presidential campaigns because, on some level, it's what I want to believe. If anything, I think it is better to argue that certain political advisers and staff members engage in more dirty tricks than their counterparts.

But if you want a good, ol' fashion "We're better than they there" story, read about this experiment that ABC News did. They entered campaign rallies of both candidates wearing T-shirts that would be certain to rub the attendees' the wrong way.

And while the influence of a "they're both the same" viewpoint is evident in the headline and how they put the differences they found later in the story, they are still clear contrasts in how each campaign handles dissenters. One of the quotes:

And at Kerry's Boca Raton rally, one of the faithful Democrats could be seen calming a woman upset at the sight of the Bush-Cheney T-shirts.

"Feel proud that we let them in," he said. "That's what democracy is all about, that's what we're fighting for."

That is what we're fighting for, isn't it?

(link originally from TPM)