This is a commonly used logical fallacy. It occurs when, rather than attack his or her actual opponent, an arguer creates a fake, more extreme version of his or her opponent which is then easier to attack. Then, a creation or "straw man" is attacked instead of the opponen's position. This ignores the possible complexity of an issue and, then, avoids the complex refutation that might be necessary to respond fairly. Depending on how extreme the "straw man" is created, this fallacy can border on becoming an ad hominem.
Example: "Environmentalists care more for snail darters and spotted owls than they do for people."
(While an environmentalist might advocate for certain creatures, this does not mean that he/she ranks them above people. In fact, some might argue that having a well-balanced environment with healthy populations of all animals is good for people.)
(Adapted from: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/01/03/baloney-detection-kit-carl-sagan/)
Example: Question: how should we help the homeless? Straw Figure Response--Lazy bums who don't want to make any effort to work shouldn't be helped.
(The truth is, people become homeless for many, many reasons, some of them no fault of their own. Many homeless people would work many jobs if they could. Those people are difficult to attack, so the respondent creates an extreme version of homeless people (aka: straw men), which are much easier to attack. Then, the respondent simple attacks them instead of the larger population of homeless people.)
Example: Governer Walker is being misrepresented here. By misrepresenting his words, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is creating a fictional character that is easier to attack. The end result is that, to those who are well-informed, the Democratic Party looks dishonest and, therefore, untrustworthy. That said, many people who are not critical of what they are seeing can be manipulated into thinking these were Governor Walker's properly synched words and actions. Either way, this type of misrepresentation (regularly engaged in by both political parties) is reckless and harmful to true democracy. Can you see why we need a highly educated, highly critical population of voters? It takes skill and dillegence to sift through nonsense like this.
Straw Figure Overview