American campaigning: how do you guys stand it?

[Broacher]

http://nelson.sitebuilder.completecampaigns.com/sbcc/personalinfo.php?page=biography&seq=16

The scarier thing is that I see more and more of this style of campaigning worming itself north, every election.

[colonel5]

simple, if they have a smear campaign i don't vote for em'

[mac.FINN]

easy...I live in Canada.

[reuber1]

I cope by hurling some teenagers off of mountain tops. :D

[mac.FINN]

^^ in Canada.

[doubting_thomas]

I drink on a daily basis, and shower at least once after voting, though
sometimes once isn't enough. I like to think that I'm not the lowest
common denominator that these campaigns are aimed at, but there
just aren't that many viable candidates in elections. Usually it's a job
well done if you can figure out who's the least vile.

/zuke

[Red Kittie Kat]

easy .... I don't listen to or watch much of anything political... its enough to make me throw up. :rolleyes:

[Drorain]

truth be told, negative campaigns work, a negative message will be remembered by more people for a longer period of time. Alternatively I am finding others doing a vague campaign using soothing buzz words like "Together we can" (yes the D. Patrick tagline) here in MA. I don't like vagueness or fingerpointing, I want people that present a clear solid solution. Unfortunately the only canidate doing that for us in MA has recently flew off the handle and into the deep-end...you failed me christy...you failed me

*runs away crying*

[maxx]

Drorain is correct.....negative ads work....that's why every poilitician uses them to some extent or another. People no longer vote FOR people....but rather vote AGAINST someone.

If we as voters want to see an end to negative campaigning....we simply have to stop responding to them. We sorta have ourselves to blame as much as the politicians.....

[Danger_Mouse]

The scarier thing is that I see more and more of this style of campaigning worming itself north, every election.

Oy, boggles the mind he would get votes.

Harper has taken on alot of Bushlike qualities on how he handles PR and the media.
Too much behind the scenes stuff.

[LeftBrain Artist]

You say you favor the so called "positive" ad campaigns, but lets take a look at the facts, shall we?

Fact: positive campaigners lack the testicular fortitude to look at the harsh, unpleasant realities that surround us every day. Does that make the unpleasantries disappear like snow on a warm summer day. Of course not. Sorry, comrade, this isn't a Freddy Kruger movie, this is reality. Deal with it. Support for positive campaigners is support for drug induced apathy. That might be OK for running your drum circle, but its not OK for running America.

Fact: Supporters of "positive" campaigning say they don't like "negative" campaigns. They've said it, we've got it on tape. Well, I don't know about you, but it seems to me for electricity to work, you need both a positive and a negative. Without the negative, no more electricity. Is that what you want, starving children huddled together for warmth because you shut down America's power grid?

Fact: Elections are decided by counting votes. Votes are counted by elderly people, elderly people show up to the mall early, the mall is built with cement and steel, just like, OMG .. . the twin towers. Maybe you can just forget 9/11 and what it meant, but I cant.

So in summary, positive campaigners would have you believe that they are on your side, but they're really all about legalizing PCP, turning your children into frozen popsicles, forgetting 9/11, and stealing babies from their cribs with their cold, clawed hands in the still of the night so they can sacrifice them to their pagan gods in their bizarre "positive" campaign rituals.

That's why I support smear campaigns. God Bless America.

[Logo-Mechanix]

I find the guy/woman with the nastiest campaign and I vote FOR them, hey at least they got balls or nerve or hypocrisy.

[Red Kittie Kat]

I tend to go with the best hair-doo


:D

[rickself]

I drink on a daily basis, and shower at least once after voting, though sometimes once isn't enough. I like to think that I'm not the lowest common denominator. Sounds like a local campaign running right now!!:eek:

[Ned]

Paul Nelson is against spending money on Sex and Sex Studies, but is for spending money on Soldiers and Military.

http://nelson.sitebuilder.completecampaigns.com/content/video/Sex_Studies_Spot_8575_8_1_3236.wmv

Sex is better than war, in my opinion, so Ron Kind's got my vote! :D

[budafist]

I do hope the general public see right through smear campaigns!

[budafist]

Imagine if a party put out a ridiculous smear campaign on themselves to make the other party look bad? Wonder if that would work?

[Ned]

It's been done before, actually.

Al Gore sent out a viral video on YouTube making fun of himself, to appear like a smear campaign against Al Gore. I'll see if I can find the link.

*EDIT: Here it is... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZSqXUSwHRI

It later turned up that this not-so-amateur video was produced by Al Gore's own Campaign Advertisers. There have been other similiar campaigns, but this is the one that sticks in my head.

[morea]

American campaigning: how do you guys stand it?

by keeping a firm grip on the remote control during September, October, and November of any election year.

[danedawg99]

i don't watch TV. Very simple.

[Neballer]

me either dane.

People no longer vote FOR people....but rather vote AGAINST someone.
how very sad but true. In my opinion there's really no need ads at this point. You have two parties to chose from, where ever you stand, that's where you'll vote - I honestly don't think this crappy ads will change that many peoples minds.

[CamarotaDesign]

How do we deal with them you ask?

How about How do I deal with designing them!!

I can't take this shit any longer!!! I feel dispicable. The first smear campaign ad I had to do for a local city election blossomed into 11 more campaign ads, pretty much all of them smears.

Make matters even worse, one of the candidates that I had to design the smear campaign against died a week ago, so we had to go and change 8 smear mailers with his name in them before they hit the press.

Only one more day of this shit and then I can go back to normal stuff, and not feel like a scumbag. The only reason I'm doing it is because the boss is giving it to me, and neither me, nor my company is in a position to turn down any jobs, it woud be nice if we could say "we definately dont need this money" but we do, bad. so... shucks. We are charging an arm and a leg for it, and thats making it easier. Furthermore, all the candidates in this years elections are scumbags in California, in my opinion, so what do I care, we're gonna get a bastard either way.

[reuber1]

how very sad but true. In my opinion there's really no need ads at this point. You have two parties to chose from, where ever you stand, that's where you'll vote - I honestly don't think this crappy ads will change that many peoples minds.Seconded. I think the 'swing' voters know who they want.

[urstwile]

I thought this was kind of an interesting analysis: http://www.thisnation.com/question/031.html

I see at least two kinds of voters in the U.S. (not sure how people view this stuff elsewhere, in less TV-centric cultures). One type gets all of their information from the media and TV alone, and use that supposed information to make their decisions. That group is probably the most influenced by negative and positive campaign ads. The other group actually reads about the history of the candidates as best as possible, and also about the propositions up on the ballot (right now, California has a couple of props in contention at the next vote) and decides from there.

I myself consider myself in the latter group. Perhaps because I work in advertising, I know how much spin can do in the hands of a skilled professional, so I trust nothing I see on television to help me decide my vote. If I'm unsure, I read the voter book I'm sent at each election (yeah, I actually do), and decide from there. I'm not going to decide what and who I'm voting for based on a commercial or an editorial.

[Samakimoto Graphics]

Candidates over here have started to realise that a huge youth movement might over throw the "old guard", so a lot of the more prominent ones have taken to writing autobios, and started websites.

African politics is still dominated by almost heirachical leadership; you find that specific families that had colonial and post colonial ties seem to be the ones producing leaders (we call them "Home Guard" families-as many come from the lineage of the African foot-soldiers of the colnialists, and as such have a lot of material wealth and little regard for democracy), that and tribalism, where three or four major tribes seem to be the only ones regarded as producers of leaders - it's a shame, but it will change, soon. So now, the young people (young- denoting those aged between 18 and 35yrs) have formed an alliance that seeks to overthrow this mentality.