I am not so sure --- I wonder if personal or ad hominem attacks truly are more effective at the end. I am guessing this will also depend on context and the intended audience. If a president dismisses critics by using personal attacks, he may gain some points with his/her base, but I would like to think that experts, analyists and even diplomats will not buy the argument. In the case of Farage's insults against van Rumpuy, given the environment and context in which they were expressed, they were not effective. In fact, I think they did more damage to Farage himself, after seeing the reactions of others, such as the President of the EU Parliament, while van Rumpuy, in my opinion, saved face by "taking the punches" in a diplomatic and institutional way, instead of jumping straight to attack back.

Source author: Desirée Colomé Menéndez dcolome@sre.gob.mx