The Great Wall, China
Please feel free to click on any post photo to enlarge it.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Negative Campaigning

I'm really getting tired of the negative campaigning going on now in Hawaii. It's getting worse and worse. We're seeing a lot of it at dinner time. It's enough to give you indigestion!

When it's really nasty, the Republican or Democratic Party will take the heat for it. I guess they figure you won't blame their candidate for the nasty ad if the party takes credit for it. Wrong.

It seems to be standard practice to air ugly photos of the other candidate in black and white (usually), all the while denigrating them, and then ending with the other person in beautiful warm colors smiling at the camera and asking for our vote with uplifting music in the background. Do I really want to vote for someone who authorizes such vindictive ads?

I don't think so.

13 comments:

  1. Political campaigning is a real pain and I hate the character assassination that goes with it.
    I notice the material comes by first class mail, too - expensive!
    I love your header, by the way - absolutely wonderful :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whether it is political or not, I always MUTE the commercials and do something else while they are running.

    As for printed ads, I always toss them into the trash can without reading them first.

    Where do I get my info regarding the candidates? Not from commercials and ads, but from newspaper articles and editorials.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kay -- You're right.
    The party now in power in Canada has carried negative campaigning to a new low. They tell lies about almost everything, and are always slandering the opposition. And we don't even have an election coming up (or maybe we do, the party in power gets to announce last-minute elections for which no one is prepared except them).
    There was a time when we had no negative political advertising in Canada. It was considered undignified and reflected badly on the candidate saying things against his or her opponent. Now we see it all the time. We also see American negative campaigning because we get a lot of American TV channels. Even though we seldom watch live TV, except for baseball, we still see the negative campaign ads. We record other shows we both like, so we can watch them together when Dick's work hours permit. Unless we are fast with the fast-forward button, we see two Seattle politicians slugging out slanderously in every commercial break.
    I still think it is undignified and beneath contempt.
    -- Kay

    ReplyDelete
  4. I agree about politics..great photo effects in your header-you are getting good at that...

    ReplyDelete
  5. We're getting a lot of independent ads here, not just from the party. The new "non-profit" 501(c)(3) organizations can now collect unlimited contributions and not disclose the source of the money. Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS is trying hard to unseat our Dem. Senator. I'm finding myself talking back to the ads of all persuations, pointing out their truth stretching and idiotic assertions. It helps me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love that banner photo!

    Negative political ads are putting us over the edge, too. Maine needs to elect a new governor on Nov. 2, but three of the five candidates have turned us against them because of the ads their campaigns have put out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. You know Kay, I agrree with you. I would really like to hear something positive from the candidates. Even if they only commented about how well the "other guy" could whistle! I loose track of the facts and become confused with all of the negative commentary.
    Good for you Kay.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amen, sista! I've had it with politicians.

    Love your banner picture. How sweet! I may have to try Photoshop sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  9. You are so right, Kay. It seems to be the same everywhere. I will be so glad when the elections are over.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I totally agree! Here we are getting phone calls from an "anonymous" voice that say, "If you're considering voting for so-and-so there are some things you should know ..." And then all sorts of horrid things are said and we're urged to vote for the better candidate. At that point the voice changes and we hear, "Hi, I am Such-and-Such" and I appreciate your vote."

    Pft. I am not voting for anybody unless I know why I should. Period.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I know what you mean and it seems to get worse as we get close to election time.

    ReplyDelete

I LOVE hearing from you!

However, if you sign in as ANONYMOUS, please don't forget to tell me who you are in the comment box by just writing your first name. We would all appreciate it if you kept your comment respectful and kind.

I apologize for having to use Word Verification occasionally, but the SPAM is making me crazy.