The lies are gonna fly this election season, the establishment is in a panic.
'Twas always so. There was a legendary campaign between incumbent Senator Claude Pepper (D FL) and challenger George Smathers in the 50's. As the story goes, Smathers was encouraged by President Truman: "I want you to do me a favor. I want you to beat that son-of-a-bitch Claude Pepper."
Smathers supposedly gave a campaign speech denunciating Pepper, in which he said:
"Are you aware that Claude Pepper is known all over Washington as a shameless extrovert? Not only that, but this man is reliably reported to practice nepotism with his sister-in-law, he has a brother who is a known homo sapien, and he has a sister who was once a thespian in wicked New York. Worst of all, it is an established fact that Mr. Pepper, before his marriage habitually practiced celibacy."Pepper lost the election to Smathers in 1950. Voters told reporters that they weren't quiet sure words like "extrovert", "nepotism" and "thespian" meant, but they were sure they were connected to bad, immoral or illegal activities. Hey, they had Low-Information voters even back then!
Smathers proved you can't lose an election by underestimating the intelligence of the average American voter - a political truism that controls the campaign system even more so today.