Name Calling - in Politics and Public Opinion

In Politics and Public Opinion

Politicians often resort to “name calling” during political campaigns or public events with the intentions of gaining advantage over, or defending themselves from, an opponent or critic.

During the United States' 2012 primary campaign, name-calling seemingly was employed by both political parties and many candidates, but the presidential primary seemed to amplify the phenomenon.

At the same time, in the state of New Jersey, a fiesty governor, Chris Christie, was also accused of name-calling, prompting a New Jersey based university to poll the matter. Consequently, Peter J. Woolley, political scientist and director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University research group, PublicMind, compiled a list of 14 “insults” that had caught the attention of the media and public. The list consisted of the following names: liar, fake, numb-nuts, bully, snob, unpatriotic, hypocrite, dishonest, jerk, ignoramus, corrupt, flip flopper, radical and fascist. Voters were asked whether these names are “always acceptable” or “sometimes acceptable” or “never acceptable.”

According to PublicMind, “not all names are equal.”

A sizable majority of New Jersey residents (87%) believe politicians should be respectful towards each other and avoid name-calling. Only (10%) of the remaining voters concurred that name-calling is necessary in order for politicians to make a strong point.

At one end of the “never acceptable” range were “dishonest” (23%) and “corrupt” (24%). The public did not consider these names as offensive as others. At the other end, the top two “never acceptable” names; “numbnuts” (84%) and “jerk” (83%) were used by Gov. Christie during a same sex marriage debate in early 2012. Woolley commented: “People really do want civility in political discourse. The problem is that civility doesn’t sell any advertising, and it doesn’t necessarily energize voters. People want a spark.”

Significant differences were found between men and women. In general, women had a tendency to be less sympathetic about name-calling than men. For a majority of the names, women were more likely than men to declare them “never acceptable”. For example, half of women (52%) said “fake” is never acceptable, but only 29% of men said “fake” is never alright. For other names like “jerk,” 76% of men said it never acceptable compared to 89% of women, while 79% of men said “numb nuts” is never acceptable compared to 89% of women.