When your opponent may not be honest, perhaps a bit of thinking outside the box is called for. An example might be candidate for the Senate from Ohio Josh Mandel (R-OH), who Steve Benen describes this way:
In Ohio, the top Republican contenders in the state’s U.S. Senate race met for a debate, though as Newsweek noted, former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel raised a few eyebrows in the afternoon with this tweet.
Ahead of the debate, Mandel tweeted that the country should “shut down government schools and put schools in churches and synagogues.”
For those unfamiliar with Mandel and his political style, it’s worth noting for context that much of his campaign is built on making outrageous political statements, which he peddles in the hopes that his provocative rhetoric will be denounced, which in turn empowers Mandel to effectively boast to the GOP base, “Look at all the liberals who are mad at me.”
With that in mind, I’d recommend this – Don’t take unserious candidates seriously.
Instead, I’d hire a critic, a critic of comedians. Have the critic go through Mandel’s positions and performances over the years, with an emphasis on Mandel’s more ridiculous positions.
Let them loose. It should be an honest evaluation from a comedic point of view. And if Mandel deserves it, heap some praise on him for his ridiculous positions – a carefully designed praise. A bit like this:
Tonight, Mr. Mandel reached new heights of political humor through his innovative use of ludicrous political suggestions to drive home the extremism of his “competitors” for the Senate seat. As is well known in the state of Ohio, Mr. Mandel is not a serious candidate, but instead has chosen to attempt to rehabilitate the Republican Party of Ohio through his subtle use of ridicule, bringing to bear positions that only far-right fringers, desperate to control the education of the typical conventional Ohioan “Buckeye” family, with no regard as to how anti-competitive the results will be for those children.
In terms of delivery, Mr. Mandel cannot be matched. His dry and expressionless delivery will bring tears to the eyes of the audience, once they believe, if only for the duration of each performance, that he honestly believes these satiric positions. That they resemble political positions of those who are serious concerning this race only makes the comedic aspects that much more sharper, much like an ice knife forged in a Norse Hell and then plunged into the back of some ancient victim of the Norwegian Kings.
Like I said, hire a real critic.
