When campaigns go negative
Posted by Moonage on 21 Apr 2008 | Tagged as: 2008 Presidential Race
DOwn the stretch of just about any major campaign, we get the same pattern. After months of touting the candidate and making them something they most likely are not, campaigns will predictably start knocking the other candidate down in order to make their own look better. Apparently this happening on the Democrat side now. The beauty of this race in my opinion has been the amazing lack of substance in lieu of vague promises of “change” and things like that. So, what’s the nature of these new negative attacks on each other?
Clinton, Obama attack each other for being too negative
They of course, attack each other for being too negative. On the front page of CNN there is also a poll running. So far, 76% of the respondents don’t like negative ads or think they do the candidate any good. I don’t really agree with that. You have to point out your advantage over your opposition, even if it’s by pointing out their weakness. It’s not a matter of being negative, it’s a matter of how you present it. Anything you say that demeans your opposition will be perceived as negative by the people supporting that candidate. So, negative ads are here to stay. It’s a matter of how it’s presented. So far, I haven’t seen any ad by either candidate that has been particularly negative. For that matter, I haven’t seen any that have been particularly positive either. Change does not connote anything good to me. So, for them to suddenly start trashing each other doesn’t really surprise me, disappoint me, or think anything different about either candidate. For me, it was predicted and expected. And, even though 76% of those pollers think it doesn’t help, it can not be avoided. So, let’s see what the candidates can do. Personally, I’m not expecting much to change from this sudden perception of negativity.
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