Are Negative Campaign Ads Helpful to Voters?

1964 “Daisy Girl” Ad Run by LBJ

On November 2, 2016, an op-ed article I wrote was published online at TheHill.com.  The topic they assigned to me (with less less than a day to prepare!) was “Are Negative Campaign Ads Helpful to Voters?”  The 2016 presidential campaign has been the most negative and vitriolic campaign in American history.

Key points about negative advertising:  Here’s a brief outline of my major points about negative advertising:

• Convinces voters to vote for or against a candidate
• Creates the narrative or story about an opponent
• Designed to produce an emotional response (often fear)
• Attempts to validate concerns voters already have about an opponent
• Often twists and distorts the truth
• Social media convicts candidates without due process

Positive campaigns?  Our hope is that campaigns would be conducted with all due decorum, and focus on the issues, as well as on the positive reasons why a candidate is better able to move the country forward.

Read my article:  Click here to read my Op-Ed article.