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Historical Winter 2006 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
As I indicated in our last issue, I have gotten very tired of racially targeted campaign literature and telephone calls.
This is likely not the most effective strategy in an integrated neighborhood.
I hope that our citybased campaigns begin to recognize this. American political campaigns have been divisive from our earliest days. Federalists thought of Thomas Jefferson as the antiChrist and subsequent campaigns through the years have touched on race, ethnicity, and personal life without necessarily full regard for the truth.
I have certainly been pained to listen to the negative ads in Missouri’s Senate contest.
Some have been very shrill and very nasty. What is interesting to find is how far from the truth they often are as well.
If you are a sitting senator, you have taken dozens of votes on various versions of bills. So you can be accused of voting x times against something even if you voted for the final version of the bill. Incumbent Jim Talent hit Claire McCaskill hard on nursing home regulation.
The nurses’ association rebutted the allegations. Which is true? What is misleading is the use of socalled quotes from newspapers in Missouri.
The ad may say that the candidate is known for untruths and cite a paper. Yet, the paper may have actually said that opponents of the candidate said he is known for untruths.
My colleague, Terry Jones, made this clear recently on a Channel 2 newscast.
The best thing for any voter to do would be to ignore all negative ads. But, they work because people do not have a lot of information about any candidate and the negative ads tap emotions.
The worst possible ad I’ve heard of to date is one being used against Harold Ford in his quest for Tennessee’s senate seat.
It plays on old the old fears of miscegenation in this once Confederate state.
It doesn’t bother some white commentators. Incredible.
I wish that I could wave a magic wand and get rid of the politics of dread and fear.
We saw a little of it before the August primary.
Now it’s everywhere.
The British do it better.
They limit their parliamentary campaigns to six weeks and show no ads for three days prior to election day.
We should look for a more sensible way to do things here.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Winter 2006.
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Original source: SD_Times2006_11.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
