[unclebucknasty]

>false equivalency

This. What-aboutism is rampant these days, but frequently involves conflating things of such vastly different degree as to be of an altogether distinct quality.

The strange thing about the supposed "insurgent" party invoking it so frequently is that they are justifying their own behavior by equating it to that of those they so vehemently oppose and demand to be repudiated.

[UnpossibleJim]

Pointing fingers at "the other guy" helps us not fix ourselves. That way, if we use underhanded tactics "to compete", we can play it off as "it's only fair", because someone else does it as well. If anyone wants true change in the world, that change starts by changing ourselves. every truly great leader has regurgitated this, ad nauseam.

[craftyguy]

To play devil's advocate: what's the point in changing ourselves when 99.9% of the voting populace, with the help of every media outlet ever, views major elections like a major sporting event?

[UnpossibleJim]

Because leading by example woks better than putting the whip to someone else and screaming for them to change, while you stay the same. That only leads to revolution.