It seemed so simple. A sweet little girl was picking petals from a daisy in the opening scene. Everyone watched with interest until the scene shot tight to an atomic bomb in the background.
The birth of negative advertising was born with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s one-minute television commercial against his opponent, Barry Goldwater, according to Charlie Cook, Editor-in-Chief for The Atlantic, an online digital magazine.
Based on all the flyers piling up in mailboxes countywide, mudslinging has become a hot-button issue in Hernando County politics. It may not be nuclear-button ad from 50-years ago, but local candidates are being affected by negative radio advertising and circulars in the mail.
One person who has first-hand knowledge of mudslinging in Hernando County is Greg Myers. As a campaign treasurer, he has noticed negative attack ads emerge over the last week against one of his candidates.
Myers represents Rose Rocco, a Democrat, who is a running for Florida House District 35 against incumbent Robert Schenck. Rocco is on the receiving-end of a high-tech negative advertising campaign being waged by the Republican Party of Florida who is using radio advertising and mail outs.
“I think negativity helps the person where the attacks are directed,” Myers said. “Negative campaigns by political parties are so past tense because people vote for the person, not the party line.”
According to Shanto Iyengar at the Political Communication’s Lab of Stanford University, respect for politicians is at an all-time low. Iyengar said people have begun to mistrust governmental bodies based on attack-dog politics. It is his contention that if a race is close, the campaign can take on a mean-spirited tone.
Iyengar said the legitimacy of the electoral process comes into question with negative campaigns which causes lower voter turnout on Election Day according to statistics. Iyengar believes it does real damage to the electoral process because it makes voters bitter.
A representative from the local Republican Party declined to comment on the tone of the race in Florida House District 35. He said it wouldn’t be prudent to discuss any candidate’s advertising methods in the heat of competition.
One of the flyers sent out by the Republican Party of Florida shows Rocco on a stage with her arms in the air. The caption states, The Flip-Flopper starring Rose Rocco. The other side of the flyer lists snippets of information concerning Rocco’s voting record when she served on the Hernando County Commission several years ago.
A local radio station, WWJB is running attack advertising against Rocco. The radio ads mimic the text of the flyers produced by the Republican Party of Florida. The radio ads are being aired throughout Hernando County.
“The negative ads are giving little bits and pieces on information on candidates,” Myers said. “But it doesn’t give enough of the facts for someone to come to the right conclusion.”
Myers said the advertising against his candidate is malicious but he understands why it is occurring now. He believes Schenck feels threatened because he hasn’t done a good job as the incumbent.
“I think reality is setting in for Rocco’s opponent because he hasn’t dealt with people’s best interests in his district,” Myers said.
“I think my opponent is afraid.” Rocco said. “I don’t think he is serious about House District 35 because he is just biding his time while he waits for another opportunity.”
Rocco said she has gotten a flood of support from residents who have received flyers. She said people are appalled by her opponent’s behavior. She believes people are just getting annoyed with all the negative advertising.
“You have those few who believe negative advertising,” Myers said. “They don’t go out and research the facts, but they are a small minority.”
Local resident, Jean Martineau who is retired from Brooksville Department of Public Works, questions how candidates will be able to solve any problems. Martineau said he doesn’t understand all the negativity in the campaigns. He said the candidates act like school children by calling each other names, but they never address any issues.
Martineau believes negativity can affect elections. He said it’s like picking the lesser of the two evils at the polls because no one really knows what the candidates stand for in the election. Martineau said the public only has general knowledge about the candidate’s positions.
“All the negative ads I’ve gotten in the mail go in the junk pile because I’m fed up with them,” Martineau said. “When candidates are asked questions, all they do is attack their opponent with a negative comment.”
“How are candidates ever going to solve any problems?” Martineau said.
References
The Atlantic; November 4, 2011; Charlie Cook, editor-in-chief; The Grandfather of Negative Campaign Ads. www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/11/the-grandfather-of-negative-campaign-ads/247917/
Stanford University; Excerpt from Going Negative, How negative campaigns shrink electorate, manipulate the news, by Stephen Ansolabehere and Shanto Iyengar
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