Persistence of Rumor
by Vera H-C ChanJun 13, 2008
In politics, there may be no high road on the Internet superhighway.
The Web has been the way to galvanize the populace. However, that same strength and speed have been co-opted by strategists in order to hijack the political conversation. Celebrities have long had to deal with the stubborn stain of rumors, but innuendo about presidential candidates has a far more corrosive effect.
So it seemed inevitable that Democratic contender Barack Obama would use the Internet again, and dedicate a new site www.fightthesmears.com to address rumors fueled by email, bloggers, and online outlets. Originally, his campaign site allowed visitors to "fact check" a rumor, but a Time magazine report said that feature somehow inflated even crazier variations.
The rumor-fighting site apparently arose when a McClatchy Newspapers reporter got on the nominee's last nerve, after he asked about an alleged tape of his wife using the word "whitey." In the post Swift-Boat world, the Obama camp apparently decided the risks in calling attention to a lie outweighed letting a rumor became malignant.
When the smears site debuted June 11, searches for the alleged Michelle Obama remark—which first registered in mid-May—were already on the decline. The site's launch has done no further harm, even though it addresses that rumor front and center. That particular search remains on the downslide, although the woman who would be First Lady remains under intense online scrutiny. On the upside, queries have risen exponentially for "fight the smears," "obama smears" and "obama smear campaign."
The site faces a long slog. Many of the same questions and rumors that plagued the candidates at the start of the primary season still persists six months later. As noted in a January politics Buzz Log, the question marks about Obama revolved around religion and patriotism... and that was before the flag-pin flap and Reverend Jeremiah Wright fall-out.
The preponderance of Obama's searches has been neutral, positive or just plain goofy. In the past seven days, benign curiousity has centered on "obama running mate," "obama tax plans" and obama parrot." Yet there are those who continue to seek out his birth certificate and religious connections.
Counterintuitively, online searches for rumors may be a good thing, as they should expose people to as many debunkers (like the Fight the Smears site) as the mongerers.
However the race evolves or devolves, the Internet's role will rank up there alongside the first viable female candidate and biracial nominee in 2008 presidential campaign firsts.