Yes, you have to make that choice. That was my point: choose better over worse. The "more damaging lies" part is just trying not to be too rosy-eyed about any

Yes, you have to make that choice. That was my point: choose better over worse. The "more damaging lies" part is just trying not to be too rosy-eyed about any particular party. Your choices are imperfect, but that's the world we live in. ETA In case it was unclear, I think political behavior aimed at your self image is vanity and thus self-defeating. Even if your chief goal is thinking better of yourself or getting others to think better of you, forsaking a choice to do good for the world at large in the interest of your own vanity will not achieve your goal. If you want a better image, you should still choose better over worse, not pretty and pointless over ugly and effective.