What does Negative Campaign Ads accomplish/appropriate?

It boggles the mind that negative adds and indeed any of the 30 second spots work their magic. However, they apparently do or the politicians would not spend millions to air them.
That they do only reflects on the intelligence and political ignorance of much of the electorate.

My father always said... "no one ever lost an election by underestimating the intelligence of the American people."

I think that whole thing about how stupid people are to fall for this stuff is a bunch of crap. Everyone is affected by what they hear, see, and feel, whether it's negative or not

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I think that whole thing about how stupid people are to fall for this stuff is a bunch of crap. Everyone is affected by what they hear, see, and feel, whether it's negative or not

Not if they were informed and could separate the wheat from the chaff.

Reading the headlines and sports pages just won't do it.

Getting information and making a decision based on a 30 second spot is the same as never getting passed the glaring headlines.

Negative campaigning does nothing but make the author of the slams look childish, bitchy and totally irresponsible.

Negative campaigns have nothing to do with issues.

How is this different than apply for a job or promotion? On a job interview - you discuss your virtues and qualifications - it is unacceptable to point out negative flaws of your competition. Isn't running for office a type of job interview? The public is hiring you?

plainoldme wrote:

Negative campaigning does nothing but make the author of the slams look childish, bitchy and totally irresponsible.

Negative campaigns have nothing to do with issues.

Respectfully disagree, Plainoldme... I have seen some really effective negative ads here where a politician's stand on various issues were highlighted, and other politician's flip-flops were quoted.

Not all negative ads are bad. I would love to know how a politician voted on various issues, esp if they are flip-flopping!

And they can be done informatively as opposed to slamming, don't you think? When they are, they are great.

If I'm looking to hire someone I can ask them to come in and be interviewed one-on-one with any of several people. I can also have the HR folks, who presumably hold the same biases I have toward the candidate (i.e. are they a good fit for the job/company?), look into their history and verify that what is on the resume is true. When was the last time any political candidate made themselves available to each and every voter in their district for one-on-one interviews?

Where I live the television stations run the 30 sec. ads and let the viewers sort out the lies from the truth. Sadly most of the electorate don't look into the voting records of most of the candidates nor do they read the papers or use their computers to check the records. They are too busy watching the games on T.V.

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fishin wrote:

If I'm looking to hire someone I can ask them to come in and be interviewed one-on-one with any of several people. I can also have the HR folks, who presumably hold the same biases I have toward the candidate (i.e. are they a good fit for the job/company?), look into their history and verify that what is on the resume is true. When was the last time any political candidate made themselves available to each and every voter in their district for one-on-one interviews?

Well this would be impossible, but I have been invited to see candidates speak, social type gatherings, etc. where I can ask questions. One can also call campaign headquarters and ask questions - believe me I receive phone calls daily from candidates and/or representatives from their campaign so it is possible if I wanted to.

Who is your biased resource for assistance in making your political choice?

The other 6 million or so voters in Massachusetts.