Thumbs down to negativity

Jeff Walker
Published: August 26, 2008

Apparently, many Americans are kind of like politicians. They think one thing, yet do another.

Voters seem to have strong feelings about personal attacks as part of political campaigns. Yet negative campaigns work and people are influenced by them.

A bipartisan poll by Project on Campaign Conduct found that 87 percent of those surveyed have reservations about the level of personal attacks in political campaigns.

Furthermore, 88 percent feel that candidates make personal attacks on their opponents on purpose.

That being said, when candidates go on the offensive, one side or the other is swayed. Supporters of a candidate often get excited and more committed, said Michael Menzey, a dean at DePaul University. He said undecided voters get too turned off to even vote, so voter turn out is affected.

Why does negative campaigning work, even though people say they don’t like it? Try some FUD.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt is the triumvirate of negative advertising, according to an expert. Janice King, president of Janice King Communications, said it works towards all kinds of competitors, and politicians are no different.

We have seen it for what seems like far too many months in the 2008 race for the White House.

“He” is too old and out of touch.

“He” is an empty celebrity without a real message.

One is unpatriotic and inexperienced; the other is more of the same old policies and rhetoric.

It becomes like a tennis match, where a hand grenade is lobbed over the net instead of a ball.

What I find interesting in both cases of John McCain and Barack Obama — neither has, in my view, really used his advertising to state what he actually plans to do.

I applaud McCain’s service to our country and long-term commitment to serving it in other ways.

I also applaud a regular guy, who happens to be black, for taking up the causes he felt strongly about and working for them.

But, I still am not able to say definitively where either of them wants to take the U.S., if they are elected.

To me that is scary: Just why will others vote for Obama or McCain if their only clear messages are what they think about the other candidate?

In just three short months, both men have to convince me that they have a clear vision for what would be their presidency. I want to know the answers to many of the same questions you probably have.

What I don’t want is more “I’m better than the other guy because”-type ads, spin and innuendo.

Follow-up – Culpeper council and the skatepark
As this column’s deadline was prior to the Culpeper Parks and Recreation commission meeting, I wonder about the recommendations of the commission regarding the Yowell Meadow Park skating area.

There are the issues of the wear and tear that comes with young people using the equipment, and the users policing their behavior and language. The group SCOOP — Skate Culpeper On Our Park — is working on fundraisers to assist with the efforts of Culpeper Town Council.

However, I do have one observation about the skating area: This past weekend, the ramps at the park were filled with trash. There were discarded energy drink bottles, soda bottles and other debris scattered about.

As much as I applauded Town Council last week for trying to keep the skatepark in play, I must express disappointment in the skaters and other park users for adding to or allowing others to mess up the park. Showing responsibility starts with taking care of something you value.

Jeff Walker is an independent columnist who lives in Culpeper. He appears Wednesdays in the Star-Exponent. E-mail