Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching
the second hand of a clock. ~Ben Hecht

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Pledge to stop negative ads...I don't think so!


With only about a week till election day, California Governor candidates, Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown, sat down to an interview with Matt Lauer. Current Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was also there. He has not really endorsed either candidate yet, but is probably going for Meg Whitman since they are both Republicans. They sat down for a little chat about who they were, what they stood for, etc... Towards the end of the interview, Matt Lauer asked if they could stop the negative ads and focus more on the positive ones. Both candidates kinda laughed it off and said they would kind of, sort of stop. However, Matt Lauer asked them to shake on it. That is when Arnold came in and said that there was probably someone freaking out backstage about the issue and they could not commit to something in front of an audience. 

This just goes to show what we have been talking about in class. Negative ads is something we are pretty much never going to get rid of in the world of politics. They are the ones candidates rely on to slam the opposite candidate. We have said that positive ads don't really do much good at the end of the race. Voting is just days away and candidates are desperate to get their messages out there. For the uneducated masses, negative ads really can sway people's vote. It's unfortunate, but how can candidates be expected to not do them? What do you guys think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/27/us/politics/27calif.html?ref=politics

3 comments:

  1. Wow, I didn't hear about this one. Negative ads aren't going anywhere. Politicians know that there are ignorant voters out there that they must reach out to as well. Negative ads are what they use to do so. Thanks for trying, Lauer, but its not going anywhere.

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  2. Ah yeah thats kinda awkward. of course he isnt going to agree to that! what scares me is how much WORSE the attack ads will get.

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  3. Yeah, I completely agree with you guys. If anything, attack ads are going to get a lot worse and more cynical. The world of politics just can't seem to d without them. We've been discussing the power of negative ads and that is precisely the reason why they are not going to go anywhere. Negative ads "educate" the uneducated voter and fool them into thinking what they say is true. Most of these people believe them bc they identify with that specific party and they poke at the most important issues on everyone's minds. Healthcare, taxes, immigration, etc....

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