Mark Z. Barabak: Trump's Big Lie and the Republican Etch A Sketch strategy

Some things are so obvious, they scarcely bear mention.

Birds fly. Fish swim. Politicians say things they hope will get them elected.

That's not as terrible as it might sound.

Candidates could have the most ingenious proposal to, say, banish poverty and end hunger, but what good is that if they can't win office and at least try to implement their vision?

There is, however, an important qualitative difference between telling voters what they'd like to hear or dialing an issue up or down depending on the audience and knowingly, calculatedly telling a flat-out