http://youtu.be/glwjxemLaK8
New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie‘s ill-fated ride to his son’s baseball game on a $2,500 per hour State Police helicopter, after saying that New Jersey can’t afford a commuter train tunnel and other important services, is the latest example of hypocrisy by politicians that hits voters like a stink bomb. Some previous examples of this kind of hypocrisy include:
–Republican Congressman Eric Cantor holding aid to victims of tornado-struck Joplin, MO hostage to cuts in the federal budget while supporting an extension (and even lowering) of George W. Bush‘s tax cuts for the wealthy, which have cost the U.S. some $2.48 trillion thus far;
–Republican Congressman Paul Ryan proposing to kill Medicare as we know it, while also supporting the extension of the Bush tax cuts and further lowering of tax rates for the wealthy;
–Republican Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker taking away collective bargaining rights for public employees, supposedly because of a budget emergency, after cutting corporate taxes which added to Wisconsin’s budget shortfall in the first place;
–Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho arrested for soliciting gay sex in public restroom after voting for years against gay rights; and
–Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich impeaching President Bill Clinton for adultery and promoting Republican “family values” while carrying on an adulterous affair with a staffer.
In each of these examples, it’s not just the politician’s current action, which, like Christie’s personal use of state helicopters, may be bad enough, or what Beltway pundits might call “bad optics”. It’s that such action also runs directly counter to the politician’s previous statements, voting or executive record, and/or self-styled reputation. That smacks of hypocrisy, or throwing stones in glass houses, and an “I’m in power now so the very rules I have set down for others don’t apply to me” sense of elitism and entitlement.
Good political messaging, and effective political communication, is visceral, meaning something voters can feel in their guts. In these cases of hypocrisy, voters can immediately smell a rat, and their judgment and punishment can be swift, and harsh.
