Regardless of your political views, it’s hard not to turn sour in the face of the negative campaign onslaught as this election cycle draws to a close.
This year is turning particularly ugly with loaded words and innuendo running amuck. Your biggest fear becomes that they all might be right about each other.
Words fly like “unstable”, “risky”, and “socialist”.
Some day, perhaps, we will have politicians (and their surrogates) who are able to articulate their messages like adults to audiences who behave like adults. Someday maybe we will reward candidates who speak to our highest hopes not our worst fears.
One day we may have an electorate that demands better behavior by punishing this kind of negativity at the ballot box rather than revelling in it. We will banish politicians whose only case for office is a negative case against their opponents.
To the extent we are divided by our elected officials, it is because we have accepted it and not demanded more.
One day these things may come to pass, but we do not yet seem to live in that world in 2008. So what can you do to counter all the negativity?
One group is taking positive steps to counter that negativity and encourage others to do the same.
LookForTheGood.org is encouraging people to stay positive this election season and offers tips on how to do your civic duty to pay attention to the campaigns without giving in to the negativity. Their mantra?
“This election season, make a positive difference…and remember to look for the good.”
Check out their website for more information.
Stay inspired!
Ray
November 1, 2008 at 6:27 am
While I agree that the kind of endless ugly mudslinging that characterizes presidential campaigns is not a good thing, and certainly not when it involves digging so much old dirt that has little to do with substantive issues, I don’t think that “articulating one’s message to adults” necessarily means avoiding saying anything negative. Often, negative points are important. Certainly, it matters that a candidate holds positions with which one disagrees, it matters if a candidate is lying, it matters if a candidate is inexperienced, and it matters if a candidate has done horrible things in his or her past.
This last is, of course, is where things get so ugly, and so unnecessarily most of the time, as candidates create horrible revelations out of anything they can find, and, as such, it’s where it’s most valid to complain about negative campaigning. Certainly, in the case of this current presidential election, I don’t believe that any dirt anyone’s dug up is particularly important, or valid, or enough to prevent me from voting based on the issues, and I wish everyone involved would apologize for bringing any of it up and promise not to do so again.
However, what if a candidate actually was “unstable,” or “risky” or a “socialist”–wouldn’t these be points that voters should know about? And what if one candidate actually was a secret Nazi, terrorist, or child molester? Wouldn’t you want to know? In fact, wouldn’t you appreciate it if the other candidate pointed it out, and kept on pointing it out until everybody heard it?
Just a few thoughts.