New Midterm Campaign Strategy: Blame China!

As midterm election battles are waged, a new campaign strategy is emerging: Blame the lack of jobs in the US on … China! Or, in a few cases, India or Mexico. Over the past week or so, at least 29 candidates from both sides of the fence have run ads accusing their opponents of allowing jobs to be exported overseas, the New York Times reports. With so many Americans upset about the state of the economy, “China is a really easy scapegoat,” says one professor.

A few examples of the often-tasteless ads:

• Zack Space accuses Bob Gibbs, his Republican opponent for Congress in Ohio, of supporting free-trade policies … as a giant dragon appears onscreen and the narrator “thanks” Gibbs in Chinese: “As they say in China, xie xie Mr. Gibbs!”
• Spike Maynard, Republican challenger of West Virginia’s Representative Nick Rahall, accuses him of supporting the creation of jobs in China … as Chinese music plays and a photo of Chairman Mao is shown.
• Barbara Boxer accuses former HP CEO Carly Fiorina of outsourcing jobs to “Shanghai instead of San Jose, Bangalore instead of Burbank,” and “proudly stamping her products ‘Made in China.’”

Read the complete article here. (More China stories.)