Should we stagger the elections so there can be no "October surprise"s?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Scholar Bush
  • Start date Start date
S

Scholar Bush

Guest
"An October surprise is American political jargon describing a news event with the potential to influence the outcome of an election, particularly one for the presidency. It is so called because Election Day in the U.S. is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and events shortly before the election have greater potential to swing votes. Most of the time, the term is used to label actions of a sitting president, especially with regard to military or foreign policy matters, but it can also apply to news stories unfavorable to the incumbent administration. "Historically, news outlets avoid investigative pieces critical of candidates within days of an election to avoid appearing partisan." [1] Particularly since the 1980 election, the term has been pre-emptively used to discredit late-campaign news by one side or the other."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_surprise
 
Back
Top