Lies and Legality: Evaluating the Legislation’s Role in Monitoring Campaign Truthfulness

Given the gravity of a campaign to be elected to the highest office of what could conservatively be called a major international power, one might be tempted think that apparent perfidy would be a serious, and perhaps even criminal, charge. After all, these are men and women going out in front of every camera in the country and asking its people to consign their trust to them with their vote; doing so under false pretenses and misrepresentations seems to transcend the boundaries of the merely unsavory into the unconscionable. However, in reality, the inverse of that assertion actually carries the day in America – political candidates are afforded almost unfettered leeway to publicly lie during the course of elections, and usually with impunity.