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14 Oct, 2010 07:35

Republican Senate candidate under fire over PR tactics

It took Christine O’Donnell, a Republican nominee for Senate, just weeks to become a household name in the US, but she is now facing criticism for the moves she used to gain public attention.

In her early career she campaigned for Christian values, making clear her views on masturbation and her belief in no sex before marriage.

”I am a young woman in my thirties and I remain chaste,” O’Donnell said in a televised debate.

As for masturbation, “You are going to be pleasing each other. He already knows what pleases him. He can please himself, then why am I in the picture?”

Some would argue she blurted it out ages ago and it is no longer valid. So where does she stand now, when running for a seat previously held by Vice President Joe Biden?

Many say Christine uses the same tools as her fellow Republican Sarah Palin, the most effective of which is stoking fear.

”It does not take an expert to see that our country is going broke,” she said in her campaign.

PR experts say experience has little to do with becoming a media darling in America. All you have to know is how to push the right buttons.

“People make decisions not on principle but on fear, on emotions and when you know how to manipulate emotions, you can get even the worst candidates, the most preposterous candidates,” PR manager Ilene Proctor told RT.

Republican candidates seem to be especially good at scaremongering and stirring emotions in this election season.

Sharron Angel, who came from nowhere to become a Republican frontrunner for Senate, wishes to take the US out of the UN, phase out social security and shut down the tax service.

Few believe that these candidates will gain actual political power, but what if?

”We are going to see more anger and also less effectiveness in Congress, that is not able to do what needs to get done,” said a Washington resident.

Some blame the media, for giving so much coverage to candidates whose qualifications are questionable.

”The American media is so screwed up on matters of substance and so ready to do the flashy, the superficial. They love a quick quote from a pretty face,” said political analyst Brent Budowski.

For now, these Republican candidates, with their lack of qualifications, seem to be a laughing matter in the political arena. However, there is still the big question, who will have the last laugh come the November mid-terms?

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