Sarah Palin demonstrated the technique, and Mitt Romney perfected it. There is no need for any Republican candidate to concern their pretty heads with facts, because the point of the primary is to see who can tell the best lies with the most sincere expression on their face.
Therefore, while it was admirable for CNN to take on the role of fact-checking Carly Fiorina, it was a fruitless endeavor.
Watch how Carly handles it. You can follow along in the transcript, thanks to Media Matters.
Step One: Slam the media outlet that fact-checked you first.
ALISYN CAMEROTA (HOST): Let's talk about a moment that you had last night. And it was about what Barack Obama has done for women, you say that unemployment among women has spiked.
[...]
According to The Washington Post Fact Checker, that is a recycled talking point from the Mitt Romney campaign that they've deemed as false. They say that you were using a very narrow moment in time when unemployment among women had spiked, but since then, the numbers have changed and it's a much rosier picture for women. What's your response?
CARLY FIORINA: Well, first of all, it's The Washington Post that said I wasn't a secretary. So from my point of view, they have no credibility, honestly. The statistics are well-known.
Step Two: Throw some more bogus claims out there like you know what you're talking about.
(FIORINA, cont) Here's another statistic, Alisyn, if you don't like that one, the extreme poverty rate among women is at the highest level ever recorded. The number of women living in poverty is at the highest level in 20 years. And every single policy that Hillary Clinton is now proposing, demonstrably, we have evidence that suggests it causes women to be fired, not to be hired. The record's very clear on this.
Interlude: CNN host tries to get Fiorina to admit there is actual real, hard data contradicting her.
Step Three: Dig in with both heels as hard as you can, and by all means, be sure to make a lot of claims about "liberal media" and other deflective maneuvers.
CAMEROTA: But is there newer data available that makes those numbers obsolete that you shouldn't have used the old numbers last night?
FIORINA: No, absolutely not. Wow, this is the same conversation we had after the last debate. Everybody came out and said I was using wrong data. No, I'm not using wrong data. The liberal media doesn't like the data. Perhaps the liberal media doesn't like the facts. The facts are clear. Women have been hit hardest by his recession and this lackluster economic recovery. That's just a fact. Women are suffering more than men.
Interlude: Interject throwaway about African-Americans suffering too. Also ignore all state policies implemented by state governments which intended to and have caused women to be poorer and have less access to a pathway forward.
And by the way, African-Americans are suffering as well. All the groups that progressives claim to be helping are being hurt in this Barack Obama term. And of course, Hillary Clinton is going to double-down on every single one of these policies. Here's another fact that maybe The Washington Post won't like, but it's also true. Student loan has doubled under Barack Obama. Why? Because Barack Obama has nationalized the student loan industry. African-American unemployment remains almost twice as high as white unemployment. Maybe they don't like that stat either. But that stat is true.
Step Four: When confronted with old lies, make sure to stick to them with everything you've got. Do not, under any circumstances, give an inch even in the face of clearly contradictory evidence.
CAMEROTA: During the last debate what people said was erroneous about what you said were about the Planned Parenthood sting videos, and that what came out afterwards was that there had been portions that had been edited. Do you change your opinion about those now?
FIORINA: Wow, Alisyn, I can't believe we're having this conversation, honestly. It's clear now, it's very clear that Planned Parenthood is harvesting body parts. So clear that they had to announce that that they no longer take compensation for it. Honestly, this has been hashed and rehashed is there no other issue of economic import to the middle class in the United States of America that you'd like to talk about this morning?
Well, yes. Hashed and rehashed, but never has Carly Fiorina admitted she just flat-out lied, because again, the competition is about who lies best.
Final Step: Just laugh it off, along with your tanking poll numbers. Pretend you're a serious candidate. Be sure you pivot back to the original media slam you deployed in Step One.
CAMEROTA: Well, I think we did just cover women and unemployment, and we did just talk about the numbers. You gave a lot of stats about how you feel women are doing right now. But that was the issue, that afterwards people went back at you about because they did feel as though those sting videos had been edited. And some people, let me go on, even felt that that is why your national poll numbers dipped. So I did want to get you on the record about that.
FIORINA: Oh, well, that's quite a theory. Well, that's quite a theory. All of the stats that I just quoted are true. They're out there. And as I say, it was The Washington Post that said I wasn't a secretary.
Full circle we go.
