Do last-minute scandals affect election outcomes?

AP ^ | 10-3 | AP

[ambrose]

Publishing allegations of a candidate's boorish behavior toward women just days before an election may raise eyebrows among the public, but it isn't unfair, media watchers said Friday.

Five days before the California recall election, voters awoke to a Los Angeles Times report that six women accused Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger of sexually harassing and groping them between 1975 and 2000.

[ambrose]

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[Consort]

Definitely yes and no.

[Hollywoodghost]

Its a political hit piece--If the people of California buy this they deserve three more years of Gray Davis and all the democrats shove down their throats. The Nazi story was just that--a story made of of half truths and lies. The times needs to be brought down! A rival newspaper needs to be funded and supported--I wish FOX News was in the newspaper business!

[blackbart.223]

"This was not an easy story to report, obviously," Favre said. "I think in this case, the Los Angeles Times worked very hard over seven weeks to nail down this piece. It just so happened that when they got it finished, it was five days before the election."

Bullshit! This is a hit piece and anyone who can't see that has blinders on.

[Timesink]

Yet another perfect example of why the public HATES the "mainstream" news media.

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[Tredge]

People saw (see) what Schwarzenegger looked like in those days and didn't think the charges were so much against him.

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[SAJ]

Do last-minute scandals affect election outcomes?

Sometimes, but not this time. Ah-nolt, at his worst, is still orders of magnitude less damaging to Calbania than Doofus. A plurality, perhaps even a majority, of Calbanians have this figured out.

This article's blather about ''gathering'' and ''reporting'' is just plain old kwapola -- the stories being published now have circulated for years, even perhaps decades. But (the curious part), only NOW are they ''newsworthy'', so sayeth the LA Slimes and the Murky News turdflingers.

[milemark]

It's hard to beleive that the voters in California won't be able to see through this smear campaign. These alleged incidents took place years ago. Arnold has been a famous celebrity for many years. This would have been news long before he ran for office, yet was never reported. That these stories surface now is too obviously contrived.

[Luke21]

You guys remember the books deriding "negative campaigning" and the Willie Horton ads a while back? These people are such lying hypocrites it would be funny if they weren't so powerful.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Yes, if the story "breaks" on the Thursday before the election. This way it's out there in time to be the lead story on all the weekend "talk shows". These shows, BTW, are usually taped on Friday so the pundits discuss conjecture without a counter argument.

If it breaks earlier or later than that precious Thursday; the answer is "no".

[laredo44]

"On a story like that, newspapers will be trashed either way," said Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. "If they hold back something harmful to Republicans, they'll be trashed by the Democrats, and vice versa."

Could someone refresh my memory? When was the last time one of these "mainstream" papers released a last minute bombshell about a Democrat?

[grumple]

It's a newspaper's obligation to report the story, if it's important, no matter the timing, Favre said.

The LATimes has had more than 5 years to report on Clinton's rape charges....wonder if the story will be ready in time for Hillary's presidential run.

[17th Miss Regt]

Gregory Favre, distinguished fellow in journalism values at the Poynter Institute, dismissed criticism that the article was timed to inflict the most damage to Schwarzenegger's campaign.

I think the words highlighted may explain why he does not think this is a crude hit piece.

[Ciexyz]

It's potentially very damaging to Arnold when even Fox News reports the news as "Arnold has to fight off allegations that he praised Hitler." Well, that sets in people's minds that there's someting to the story, that maybe Arnold really did say something complimentary about Hitler. If the news media knows that it's a distortion of something Arnold originally said, as is being reported now, then it's unethical for them to report the news in this fashion--even if they later have a clip of someone denying that Arnold said what is claimed, or said it in the extent that is claimed.

[Ciexyz]

IMO it's politically unethical of Tom McClintock to try to get publicity for his own campaign by commenting on the Arnold allegations. When Tom says, "IF the allegations are true, then Arnold should step down...." Tom knows very well that this is a controversy developed by the Democrats and that it's very much blown out of proportion. Yet Tom is trying to act like it's similar to Bob Packward, who was in political office while he groped numerous women. In Arnold's case, he was an entertainer who made some boorish moves against some women many years ago, and it's alleged that some of those allegations are false.

Tom gets my "Puke Alert" for his unethical political moves. I agree that it's a "puke campaign" tactic.

[Saundra Duffy]

This is California. I think it will backfire on Davis. I'm for McClintock all the way but I am really pissed about what the democraps are trying to do to Schwarzenegger.