Hey! Allen West! Ever heard of "Fox News," you smug, clueless fuckstick?

[ljm2002]

15. It's a standard right-wing tactic...

...take the thing that you do, and project it onto your opponent, thus muddying the waters and making any similar criticisms of yourself / your party look like tit-for-tat. So any response like "What about Fox News?" just looks like sour grapes to the less informed voters.

Republican politicians have no interest in factual debate, none whatsoever. Because factual debate would weaken their position, since people would begin to understand just whose interests are being served by their policies. Therefore, they do what is needed to keep people confused and misinformed.

It is similar to the Rove tactic of attacking your opponent's strength rather than their weakness. This is very effective because it hampers the opponent's ability to capitalize on their strengths. It is also only effective because the team employing it is willing to outright lie and smear.