By Steve Sears
The presidential campaign has gotten nasty like we all knew it would. Last month, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth came out of the blue. (Where have they been for the past 35 years?) They claimed Sen. John F. Kerry lied about his service in Vietnam and that his medals were undeserved. Now, just last week, President George W. Bush’s controversial years in the National Guard have been pushed to the forefront yet again. The mud-slinging begins, leaving the public wondering why everyone has to be so mean.
The public can get an answer by taking a look in the mirror.
Over the past weeks, I have seen and heard people complaining about the negativity of the campaign. I always hear about the poor, bamboozled American voters subjected to the merciless mud-slinging of American politics. What I want to hear is that we have made the proverbial bed and are now sleeping in it. Politicians go negative because it works.
Ask Professor Michael Dukakis. In 1988, the former presidential nominee saw his lead evaporate in large part due to the Willie Horton ads. Ask former Sen. Max Cleland, who was compared to Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein in an infamous commercial. Former Rep. Newt Gingrich advised his comrades to “go negative early,” putting the opponent on the defensive and effectively drawing the parameters of the campaign. Dukakis and Cleland learned all too well, and so have many others. Now it is Kerry’s turn.
After weeks of incessant coverage of those baseless swift boat ads, Kerry’s polling numbers began to take some serious hits. His main advantage over Bush, besides being competent, was his Vietnam service. Deluged with coverage of the ads, the people have come to doubt Kerry’s war history. John Kerry, the decorated veteran, not Bush, is on the defensive about his war record. And it is all because the other side went negative early and persistently.
In late August, the Republicans held their convention. Their strategy rang very clear to the public. Kerry is an unacceptable candidate who waffles on the issues and who will fail to protect this country from terrorists. He robs the soldiers of their weapons. He puts the UN above national security. He “flip-flops.” The crowd even wore band-aids with purple hearts on them.
Disgusting? Yes. But it gets the message across and the undecided and soft Kerry supporters get a bad taste in their mouth.
Now we are less than two months away from the election and Bush’s numbers are improving, if not overwhelming. Yet, I still hear regret at the negative tone of the campaign, now that the Democrats have started to fight back. Americans claim to favor positive campaigning but reliably vote for the guy who goes negative early and does it the best.
The Republicans rule the White House, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court. They did not attain full control of D.C. through a positive agenda for the future, but through unceasingly portraying Democrats as unacceptable. They have reached the summit and the voters gave them the ride. Every now and then, Democrats return the favor. Nastiness ensues, and we wonder why it does.
We have no excuse. We put these people in office, on both sides of the aisle. With our votes we determine how campaigns are run. We live in a democracy so we get what we deserve.
— Steve Sears is a junior journalism major and former Northeastern News columnist.
