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Playing 'GOTCHA' during elections:

Truth, hypocrisy and evolving opinions

by Simon Longstaff

The week ahead looks to be ripe with the promise of an escalation in a favourite game of politicians and the media – GOTCHA. If you’ve never played it, then you have missed out on heaps of fun. The rules are breathtakingly simple. First, identify your target. Second, trawl through a lifetime of speeches, press releases, interviews, etc. Third, note any inconsistencies between what was said ‘then’ and now. Fourth, point the finger (really hard) and yell (really loud) ‘GOTCHA’.

It is then that the fun really starts as your victim squirms on the point of a pin labelled ‘hypocrite’ or more colloquially, ‘lying bastard’. The great thing about GOTCHA is that it is not just a game of tactics – but also of strategy. There’s no point yelling GOTCHA in a moment of passion. It takes a cool, calculated intelligence to ensure maximum impact. So, vast archives of inconsistencies lie in store for months, even years, ready to be used at a time reckoned to cause most inconvenience to the target. Politicians love the game – but not nearly as much as journalists and commentators (like me) who enjoy immunity (that’s another rule).

And it’s just as well that I have immunity! Looking back on my own life there are countless examples of contradictory opinions that I have expressed with total sincerity. The truth is that, from time to time, I change my mind on an issue of importance. Personally, I do not find it remarkable that I should do so. Rather, I see this as a mark of my ability to learn from others and from experience. I suspect that I am not alone in this.

So, it is somewhat surprising that politicians, who have been ‘pinned’ in GOTCHA, so rarely respond by saying, simply, ‘Yes I did say that, it was my view back then, but I have changed my mind … and here’s why …’. Perhaps they think that to do so would be perceived as a sign of weakness or even futile – that the public would be cynical and unforgiving of such a response. The sad thing is that their judgement is probably correct; but it is a consequence of their own actions. Most politicians (as a group – irrespective of party) rate poorly with the general public – especially in relation to perceived honesty and trustworthiness. This is not just a problem for the pollies. The cynicism is bad for all of us as it diminishes the quality of our democracy – causing popular disengagement that ends up leaving the practice of politics to ministerial staffers and other hacks who make a career out of contending for power. Progressively, our parliaments are being emptied of people who have a broader experience of life and who see politics as more than a game.

If ever a politician’s claim to a genuine change of mind were to be believed – and not just written off as a way of spinning hypocrisy, then there is a need for politicians of all stripes to build trust with the electorate. Governments have extraordinary powers to enact laws, raise taxes, to deploy all the powers of the state. A broken promise is almost unforgivable because it is seen not as an absence of means but as a failure of integrity.

We need to encourage politicians to reflect honestly on the way their thoughts evolve over time. But, in turn, politicians need to be more careful about the promises they make and their respect for the truth. Any change in sentiment amongst politicians, the media and the public is bound to be a while in coming. In the meantime, we can expect a rising crescendo of ‘GOTCHAS’ from across the land!

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