"It's a lot like porn," author David Mark says of negative campaigning—and he means that in a good way. As a political journalist and former editor-in-chief of Campaigns & Elections magazine, Mark has watched vicious attack ads take down many an aspiring politico. But instead of bemoaning the low blows struck in the name of electoral politics—from Swift Boat slanders to friend-of-terrorist-smears—Mark is convinced negativity is a distinctly positive feature of U.S. elections.
Like pornographers, Mark argues, negative campaigners have seized emerging technology to reach their audience, bypassing gatekeepers to reach voters directly. The result, he claims, is a more rich, if less genteel, conversation. In Going Dirty (Rowman Littlefield), coming out next month, Mark lays out and defends the modern history of negative campaigning, from1928 attacks on presidential nominee and "rum-soaked Romanist" Al Smith to less-than-subtle images of Osama Bin Laden in 2004. Assistant Editor Kerry Howley spoke with Mark in Washington D.C. in February.
reason: Why does negativity get such a bad rap?
David Mark: People are used to commercial advertising, where it's really difficult to go negative. You have regulatory bodies like the Federal Trade Commission. There is a lot of incentive to stay positive because you don't want to drive people away from the product entirely. But the goal of political campaigns is entirely different. It's not to bring out as many people as you can to vote. It's to bring out a very selected group and in many ways you do want to diminish the turnout of people coming to buy your product. When a negative commercial comes on interspersed between commercials for restaurants and laundry detergents, it really stands out.
reason: What's over the line in 2006?
Mark:Not much. I think you still want to be careful with somebody's religion. Until recent history, religion was fair game. JFK in 1960 had to fend off questions about his Catholicism. But that really backfires on people now. A good test case in 2008 will beMitt Romney [Mormon], the governor of Massachusetts.
In the Florida Senate campaign, Bill Nelson, a Democrat, is being opposed by Katherine Harris. Probably some of the ads will focus on her physical appearance. Hillary Clinton will undoubtedly face the same thing in 2008.
reason: Campaign finance reform was supposed to curtail negative tactics.
Mark: Which speaks to the utter futility of campaign finance reform. All McCain-Feingold did was drive the big money away from the political parties to unregulated groups who were willing to say anything. Outside groups are willing to make charges that campaigns themselves might not want to be associated with. They go much further, they're much nastier and meaner.
With campaigns you're really going for the swing voters, people who have not made up their minds. Outside groups aim to hardcore supporters who already know who they like and dislike and just want to make sure they show up on election day. Just to make sure they actually cast a ballot.
People who want to contribute big money to politics have a lot of dough to burn. They're not just going to sit on their hands because one avenue is closed off. The money is going to find its way in. So money went into the arms of people who are willing to say anything. The Swift Vets for Truth leveled some of the harshest charges at Kerry that the Bush administration didn't want to be associated with. It's a good example of how you can have an outside group do your dirty work.
reason: Which you claim is ultimately positive.
Mark: It is positive to put everything out there and let it be rebutted. Counter ideas with more ideas. Outside groups are willing to put on the record things campaigns themselves aren't, and I think it's best for voters to have as much information as possible about their elected officials and decide for themselves. We live in a great age for negative campaigning because any charge can be rebutted in real time on the internet.
reason: But many of the campaign ads you reference aren't about ideas so much as they are about playing on fears and prejudices—implying that a candidate is homosexual, exploiting racial tensions, playing up fears of a terrorist attack.
Mark: I agree that campaigns often play on those fears. But in this age of the Internet, blogging and myriad information sources, it is up to individual voters to figure out for themselves of the nasty, mean charges against candidates are accurate or not. For every strong opinion critical of a certain candidate, there are counter-opinions and disagreements easily accessible on the Internet.
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دردشة عراقية|10.17.11 @ 12:15PM|#
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