If afraid a pack of dogs might focus their attention on you, throw the dogs a bone. Make them fight over the bone and forget you.
If afraid a bunch of voters might growl at you about taxes ever rising, or your pre-election promises never kept, or something, well, throw the dogs a bone! Let them fight over it. Take something which is not good on itself (smoking, abortion, racism, whatever) and legislate against that, but bring that ad absurdum, so that the numerous spiteful do get their chance to tatter the few sane who might try to point out the whole thing is overdone. It always works just perfect!
See, the malicious and the mean, usually too cowardly to raise their voices against things really evil, are always happy to raise Cain when the moderate and the temperate try to modestly ask if campaigning against an evil (just so-so, mostly) might not end in throwing the baby out with the bath water. Helps the spiteful feel virtuous and worthy and strong...
Thence books and movies and cartoons and things cleansed and purged and maimed.
Throw the dog a bone and let it worry that!