You're ugly so that fallacy didn't work.

The fallacy I chose was ad hominem. Ad hominem when translated into English means “against the man.” Like the definition implies ad hominem is when the arguer attacks someone’s character instead of addressing the argument. When they do this they appeal to emotions instead of using intellect. Ad hominem is most often found in political debates between politicians.

            This past election was one of the first I actually sat down to watch because of my government class. I began noticing ad hominem coming from both of the candidates. When a question was asked instead of addressing the question the candidate would throw in “Well he is not reliable because of such and such…” and “He can not be trust because if that one time.” For example this is part of the second presidential debate between Romney and Obama. The host asks a question about citizens that are long-termed employed and need jobs right now, which Romney answer and this is Obama’s response after, “And Governor Romney says he's got a five-point plan. Governor Romney doesn't have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan. And that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules. That's been his philosophy in the private sector; that's been his philosophy as governor; that's been his philosophy as a presidential candidate.” Obama attacks Romney and never actually address what he would do in the situation. Therefore, Romney looks bad in the eyes of the audience, but those who catch this fallacy realize that Obama never actually answered the question at hand.

I was not fooled by this fallacy because we had talked about it in my writing class and I could see the tactics the candidates were using. It was not effective for me and it honestly put down both of the men in my opinion. Instead of coming up with intellectual answers like men they reverted back to their childhood days of “You are ugly so you are wrong.”   

Although, I can see if someone were to be fooled by this fallacy the effect it would have on him or her. They would take into account all the “bad” things that the candidates did and would make a judgment on their character. While character is important part of the election process I would much rather hear where they stood on the issues of our society instead of hear about the one time either had a slip up.