'It's an infection," the woman on the Lamisil Tablets commercial tells us about her yellow, crusted toenails, "one that lives deep within the nail."
If that isn't off-putting enough, the voiceover goes on, soothingly, saying that the side effects of the antifungal agent may include headache, diarrhea, upset stomach, taste disturbances, nausea, abdominal pain, flatulence, rash, itching, hives and liver enzyme abnormalities. Treatment time is 12 weeks. That's hot.
It's debatable whether white toenails are worth messing up your liver, and whether the people romping barefoot on the beach are actually sprinting for the bathroom, but the company that makes Lamisil is required by law to let the consumer know that the risk exists. Its commercials have a legal responsibility to tell the truth.
Not so with the political ads the country has been bombarded with as November approaches. Though our legislature dictates that an ad may not lie to persuade Americans to choose a prescription antifungal pill, it does nothing to prevent an ad from lying to persuade them to choose a president.
Political ads lie. They distort facts and sensationalize, but this phenomenon is most sinister when they are "approved of" by the candidates. The TV monitor shows President Bush ordering Chinese food on the phone while his voice says warmly, "I'm George W. Bush, and I approve this message." Sen. Kerry looks into the camera earnestly with Big Brother's ruggedly handsome features and says, "I'm John Kerry, and I approved this message."
Past ads produced by Bush's campaign used edited quotes from Kerry, mangling them to demonstrate his supposed inconsistency on the issue of Iraq, eliminating their proper context. George W. Bush approves of this message. Kerry's campaign has run ads accusing Vice President Dick Cheney of receiving $2 million from Halliburton while in office, an exaggerated figure. John Kerry approved this message. Both campaigns air ads with fudged figures on tax cuts, job creation and the economy in general.
The candidates' assertions are protected under the First Amendment and the Communications Act of 1934, which requires that the ads be aired uncensored. The political arena is obviously the most important application of the right to freedom of speech. But the candidates are turning their ads from educational into "Two Minutes Hate." They scream "facts" in nuggets that go down easy with undecided voters. They are turning undecided voters into misinformed voters.
Political sensationalism is nothing special. Candidates use inaccurate facts in debates and speeches. Partisan Web sites do the same. Michael Moore has been repeatedly criticized for his biased views and fact manipulation. But you make a choice when you pay to see a Moore film. Voters make a choice when they attend a speech or watch a debate. The only choice average Americans make in order to be subjected to these messages is to watch television, which they do an average of four hours a day. They don't even have to pay for cable to see them. All they have to do is want to watch some painfully unfunny Must See TV, and they become a target.
States that have enacted laws combating false information in political advertisements have had a hard time proving that the ads had malicious intent, but these actions were taken after the fact. Ads should be required to obtain the approval of a panel of fact checkers before being unleashed on the public.
These ads are dangerously persuasive. They create what's been called a screenocracy, where a population of voters is sold a candidate between a Game Day deal at KFC and a carpet replacement from Empire Warehouse. They contribute to a sound bite-based election, a politically dangerous situation when the race is so close.
Bush lied to America about Iraq and his intentions there. He will have that abomination on his conscience for the rest of the campaign and for the rest of his life. Kerry is giving us the option to abandon the ridiculous "stay the course" mentality that has gotten us so irrevocably screwed with our international relations. By comparison to Iraq, his half-true political ads seem like trivial white lies. But no one wants a liar for a president. Kerry shouldn't be tainting his campaign with this kind of manipulation. A president's political conscience ought to be as sparkly white as his toenails.
Jessica Lussenhop is a senior English major from St. Paul, Minn. Textual Revolution appears on Fridays.
