Sometimes when you don’t like the accusation hurled at your favorite candidate or someone attacking his record, you label it as “negative” campaigning. How do you run for office when you are not the incumbent without challenging the opposition’s views and votes and policies he has made? This is NOT negative but rather just plain political astuteness. Why run at all unless you believe your opponent has done a lousy job and you believe that you can do better? You have to be able to tell the voters the whys and wherefores and convince them to vote for you. That’s what running for office is all about.
Don’t send me the glossy flier with the pretty picture telling me you are for this and that. Tell me why you will be better than the other guy and what you will do to straighten out the mess. That’s what I want to know.
I personally think that “negative” campaigning is attacking a candidate on a personal level such as “he’s cheated on his wife; he’s solicited young boys for sex; he’s a Muslim who hangs around with terrorists or even going so far as to tell a lie about the candidate—that sort of thing. Negative campaigning is leaking something secretly to the media that could be damaging to a candidate on a personal level.
It is not negative to impugn a candidate’s record. Get that straight!
