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The "Straw-Man" fallacy occurs when someone misrepresents an opponent's position and then attacks the weaker misrepresentation. A weaker version of your opponent's view is, like a straw man, much easier to knock down. This is a fallacy, however, because you don't have any reason to reject a view if your objections to it really only apply to your watered-down misconception of it.
Example #1:
Romney recently criticized Obama's view on entrepreneurship. He quotes Obama as claiming that entrepreneurs didn't build their own businesses. Despite the fact that Romeny did use a direct quote from Obama, we think he misrepresents Obama's view by taking it out of context. When we look at the context of Obama's statement, we see that he is really trying to express the view that entrepreneurs depend on public goods (e.g., infrastructure) for their success. By taking Obama's quotation out of context, Romney was able to easily criticize Obama's view. However, the listeners of Romney’s speech were not given reason to reject Obama's actual view on the topic.
To see, Obama's statement in context, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/13/remarks-president-campaign-event-roanoke-virginia
Example #1:
Romney recently criticized Obama's view on entrepreneurship. He quotes Obama as claiming that entrepreneurs didn't build their own businesses. Despite the fact that Romeny did use a direct quote from Obama, we think he misrepresents Obama's view by taking it out of context. When we look at the context of Obama's statement, we see that he is really trying to express the view that entrepreneurs depend on public goods (e.g., infrastructure) for their success. By taking Obama's quotation out of context, Romney was able to easily criticize Obama's view. However, the listeners of Romney’s speech were not given reason to reject Obama's actual view on the topic.
To see, Obama's statement in context, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/13/remarks-president-campaign-event-roanoke-virginia
Example #2:
This Obama campaign ad misrepresents a quote from Romney where he says,“Whatever I said, I stand by it,” as if Romney was claiming that he stands by anything he has ever said in the past. However, Romney was only expressing that he was standing by whatever he said at a specific time on a specific issue.