Negative advertising?

[chaim]

What do you all think about negative advertising? After both campaigns had pledged to keep the campaign honorable and about the issues, they both appear to be sinking to new lows in attack ads. It seems that the main effect is to erode voter confidence in BOTH candidates.

Study: Nearly all recent McCain ads were negative

By SCOTT BAUER – 2 hours ago
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Nearly every TV ad Republican John McCain ran last week was negative, compared to just 34 percent of those by Democrat Barack Obama, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

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[billwald]

It is odd that negative campaigns only work in politics. Probably because the negative subject is stated in positive terms - not using "no" or "don't."

When a person hears, "Don't smoke," the brain remembers " . . . smoke." Then there is "Stop beating your wife," and domestic assaults skyrocket.

 

[platzapS]

In my congressional district, there's an awesome candidate running to unseat the lackluster incumbent. I was really excited about him, until I learned that one of the ads my favorite guy is running is a huge scummy misrepresentation of the incumbent's policies. I'm still voting for the challenger, but I'm much less enthusiastic.

I sent the challenger an e-mail saying I won't donate any more money to his campaign, and that I was very disappointed with his choice to go negative.

 

[chaim]

In general I find attack ads to be tiresome and the claims made are always exagerated or plain untrue (on both sides). It worries me that Mccain has completely given up campaigning on issues and is entirely bashing Obama. Was he not the one pledging a campaign based on honor and issues?