Crush Liberalism

Study: Democrats can’t run on achievements, so they run on negative ads

Don’t get me wrong here, folks.  I have no problem with negative ads, so long as they’re honest.  This is a bit desperate, though:

In one typical example, Democratic ads have transformed Kentucky Republican House candidate Andy Barr into “a convicted criminal” — complete with images yellow police tape and fuzzy video of crime scenes. Not mentioned is his crime: As a college student 19 years ago, he was caught using a fake ID during spring break.

If only he had commited perjury or obstructed justice instead of the significantly more heinous crime of trying to get booze as an immature college kid, right?  And if he had snorted some coke, he could actually be president today!

What’s hilarious here is that since the Dems can’t give anybody a reason to vote for them, they’re relegated to trying to convince voters to vote against the other guy.  It’s a trend:

As you watch this year’s ads — and I’ve been watching all too many lately — you’ll notice a striking difference between Democratic and Republican attack ads: Democrats are attacking over personal issues, Republicans are attacking over policy.

There are, of course, many exceptions, but the overall trend is clear. Democrats are hitting their Republican opponents over past legal transgressions, shady business deals and even speeding tickets. Republicans are hammering Democrats over “Obamacare,” Nancy Pelosi and the economy.

A recent study by the Wesleyan Media Project actually quantifies this. They looked at 900,000 airing of political ads this year and concluded: “Democrats are using personal attacks at much higher rates than Republicans and a much higher rate than Democrats in 2008.”

CLICK HERE for the study summary.

Go to the next page for some — and there are many more — of the personal attack ads being run by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. 

Ask Jack Conway in KY, author of the infamous “Aqua Buddha” ad, how that attack worked out for him.  With about four days to go, the consensus thus far?  Not very effective, and in all likelihood, counterproductive.

October 29, 2010 - Posted by crushliberalism | polls, shameful