PT153 S2 Q8 ExplanationAnalyst: When Johnson attacked his opponent

Answer choices, explained

1. A

   Correct81% picked this

   In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns will pursue the line of attack they believe to

   Why this is right

   If political campaigns will always pursue the most politically damaging attack, and Johnson's political campaign keeps pursuing a policy of quoting his opponent out of context, then apparently Johnson's political campaign believes that quoting his opponent out of context is the most politically damaging line of attack. Thus, this gives us strong support for the conclusion: Johnson's campaign clearly does not believe that quoting her in context is the more politically damaging version.

   Skill tested: Principle-Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   81%
2. B

   Bad Conclusion Match3% picked this

   In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns do not use techniques that they would find objectionable if

   Since Johnson's campaign keep using the technique of "quoting opponent out of context", then according to this rule, Johnson's campaign would not find it objectionable for the opponent's campaign to quote Johnson out of context. But who cares? We're not trying to decide whether Johnson's campaign would or wouldn't find it objectionable for their candidate to be quoted out of context. We're trying to decide whether Johnson's campaign believes or doesn't believe that quoting his opponent "in context" is more politically damaging.

   3%
3. C

   Bad Conclusion Match6% picked this

   In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns are expected by voters to make sure that the quotes to which these campaigns refer are

   This principle allows us to say that Johnson's campaign, which keeps quoting his opponent out of context, is violating an expectation of voters. But who cares? We're not trying to support a conclusion that says, "Thus, those who run his campaign have defied one of the voters' expectations".

   6%
4. D

   Bad Conclusion Match5% picked this

   In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns will not be strongly criticized as long as the words attributed to their opponent were

   According to this principle, since Johnson's campaign is continually quoting his opponent with her actual words (just not providing the context), Johnson's campaign will not be strongly criticized. But who cares? We're not trying to strengthen a conclusion that says, "Thus, those who run Johnson's campaign clearly will not be strongly criticized for this."

   5%
5. E

   Bad Premise Match4% picked this

   In criticizing an opponent, political campaigns will avoid using techniques that leave their candidate open

   This principle can only be triggered if we know whether or not quoting his opponent out of context vs. in context will leave Johnson open to effective counterattacks. The argument doesn't mention anything about that, so we have no idea.

   4%