On the brink of what could be a power-shifting election, it is kitchen-sink time: Desperate candidates are throwing everything. While negative campaigning is a tradition in American politics, this year's version in many races has an eccentric shade, filled with allegations of moral bankruptcy and sexual perversion. [...]And they call themselves the values party?
"When the news is bad, the ads tend to be negative," said Shanto Iyengar, a Stanford professor who studies political advertising. "And the more negative the ad, the more likely it is to get free media coverage. So there's a big incentive to go to the extremes."
The result has been a carnival of ugly, especially on the GOP side, where operatives are trying to counter what polls show is a hostile political environment by casting opponents as fatally flawed characters. The National Republican Campaign Committee is spending more than 90 percent of its advertising budget on negative ads, according to GOP operatives, and the rest of the party seems to be following suit. [emphasis added]
Friday, October 27, 2006
GOP: Carnival of Ugly
Desperate people do desperate things according to the WaPo:
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2 comments:
On the other hand, the Repubs really can't campaign on the issues, because they're simply wrong on the issues.
I think people might finally be getting tired of the Republicans. Here in Mass., the Republican candidate for Governor (and the current Lt. Governor) is getting trounced in the polls. Her answer to everything is "cut taxes." Maybe people are finally catching on.
Maybe the Reagan Revolution is finally over.
Abi, you're right about them not being able to campaign on the issues, but that doesn't justify the attack ads and negativity. How does that help our country? How does that help solve the problems? It doesn't. The Democrats have been undergoing a transformation, I think it's time for the Rpeublican Party to do the same thing. Their way is wrong (for the vast majority of Americans) and it's time for them to admit that. This is not just their country - it's everyone's country.
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