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What is it called when someone (example: a political figure) is mis-characterized constantly and untruthfully?

For example a campaign constantly hammers the message: "Senator X promotes high spending", because they voted for 1 expensive bill, but evaluating them across all votes might demonstrate that they are actually quite fiscally conservative.

There is a nice concise term for such mis-characterizations that's used commonly in the political landscape.

In this case we might say: "The opposing campaign has ____ this candidate", or something along those lines.

Addition: Perhaps the word I'm hoping to find is one that describes the wholesale act of this kind of mis-characterization across political discourse...

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It's often referred to as a gross oversimplification, for example. But there are lots of words, including caricature, parody, travesty - some of which have associated verb forms, but not all. –  FumbleFingers Jun 12 at 20:01
Can it be "defamation"? It is a general term but it is used in politics also. –  ermanen Jun 12 at 20:34
.......politics –  Edwin Ashworth Jun 12 at 21:07

6 Answers 6

I think denigrate may be used in this context:

To attack the character or reputation of; speak ill of; defame.

Political denigration.

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that's a good one, but I'm pretty sure there's another one floating around in my mind, in particular a more generic term that describes the entire act of doing this kind of thing (my example probably lead to more specific terms) –  David Parks Jun 12 at 20:07
Except "denigrate" doesn't really have the "falsity" aspect. –  emodendroket Jun 13 at 1:06

Might I suggest "swiftboating?"


Since the political smear campaign conducted by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth against John Kerry, the term "swiftboating" has come into common use to refer to a harsh attack by a political opponent that is dishonest, personal, and unfair. The Swift Boat Veterans and media pundits objected to this use of the term to define a smear campaign.

You might also refer to a "smear campaign" or (from the Nixon days) "ratfucking."

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both good examples that are helpful, though a little more abstract than what I was truly hoping for. I've heard the term used in modern debate about the role of media in election campaigns for example –  David Parks Jun 12 at 20:10
Well if you were looking for something more specific you'll have to give narrower examples, I guess. –  emodendroket Jun 12 at 20:12
I know, it's hard for me to provide the perfect example because I know the word myself, but for the life of me I just can't think of it all day. So I'm trying to attack it from any angle I can in hopes that someone else pops up with it. It's one of those "I'll know it when I see it" kind of things. These are nice terms too though that I might also use in other contexts than the one I have in mind here. :) :) –  David Parks Jun 12 at 20:18

In the specific example you mentioned (i.e. politics), it's called mudslinging:

the use of insults and accusations, especially unjust ones, with the aim of damaging the reputation of an opponent; efforts to discredit one's opponent by malicious or scandalous attacks.

More generally, it is a form of character assassination or slander:


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lampooned or vilified may work in this case, though neither are specifically restricted to politics.

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Roorback a false and more or less damaging report circulated for political effect, usually about a candidate seeking an office.

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Misrepresent would seem to fit, and since such misrepresentation is intended to injure the affected party, if one feels strongly about the incident slander comes to mind.

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