As the midterm elections approach...

     Quit worrying!  This is not a political post!  Paula and I were just reminiscing about a political contest from our years in Peru, sometime around 2015 or so.  

    Peru has a long and "complicated" history concerning its leaders.  Nearly all recent former presidents have been impeached, arrested for all kinds of stuff, spent time behind bars, and served prison sentences.  Alberto Fujimori, who had Congress change the constitution so that he could serve three terms in a row went pretty much straight from the presidential palace to prison.  His daughter is the most recent leader of the country, and things once again aren't looking good.

    One particular politician during our time there had been accused of a number of scandals of varying seriousness, an assortment of the usual sins.  To our minds, it seems that he could have chosen a better campaign advisor.

    When confronted with accusations that might sway the electorate, most candidates will deny, obfuscate, accuse their opponent of worse, or just change the subject.  This fellow went for the "face it straight ahead" option, and I'm not sure it worked that well.

    His ads when something like this, though in Spanish:

    "They say that I have accepted bribes," followed by a loud, "FALSO!!

    Not leaving well enough alone, he continued down the list:

    "They say that I have not paid my taxes!  FALSO!!" 

    "They say that I am a narco-trafficker!  FALSO!!" 

     "They say that I have cheated on my wife!  FALSO!!"

     "They say that I am a drunkard!  FALSO!! 

    "They say that I have molested children!  FALSO!!

     And so on.  Maybe he got some attention for the unusual character of his advertisements, but he probably could have gotten more traction by pointing out positive plans, past accomplishments, almost anything else other than bad things that at least made me wonder about the guy.  I dunno, perhaps I don't understand how things work in Peruvian elections.  

    Oh, well, back to the more-boring election propaganda in our fair land as we approach the midterms.  And by the way, I am NOT a narco-trafficker.  FALSO!!

Dave