The world of politics is an ever-changing landscape, especially on the national level. Today’s modern political arena is a wild and viciously competitive atmosphere. Modern campaigns like to employ “political attack ads.” Before looking at how political attack ads affect campaigns and how effective they really are, I think it is important to look at a few historical factors that have led to shaping our modern political arena.
In the 1920s, the first AM radio stations began to broadcast. This was a huge advance in media technology. It also had a major impact on America’s political scene. For the first time, Americans could listen in their homes to elected officials and political candidates speak. Political figures were no longer just pictures and quotes in the local newspapers. The AM radio remained a staple in American news media until shortly after WWII.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s the television exploded onto the American market. Now American families not only could listen to the news, but see it as well. This again changed the political game. For the first time, political candidates were not only judged on the message that they were delivering to the American people, but they were now judged on how they delivered it. The election of 1960 (Kennedy vs. Nixon) is a good example. Americans everywhere gathered in front of their televisions to watch the political debates. They saw two men behind podiums. One was young, tall, handsome, confident and poised. The other seemed uncomfortable and unsure of being in front of cameras, and therefore uncomfortable in front of the American people. The 1960 election was ultimately a close race, but it could be argued that Kennedy’s victory was due to the public “falling in love” with him as well as his policies.
Today’s politicians are as competitive as ever. Political candidates have to be fluid in every way. One blunder and it is instantly on thousands of websites, blogs and television news programs, and because our candidates are human and far from perfect, their blunders are really all we ever see.
Political attack ads thrive on this. All of the primetime “he said-she said” news programs will debate the usefulness of attack ads, and usually attack one opponent or the other in the process. The cycle is truly nauseating and does not do a bit of good for anyone. It is important to remember that attack ads are simply tools that campaigns use to get a message out. They can be used in one of two ways. Voters can allow them to be a continuing petty distraction from what the true issues facing the country are, or they can use them as an opportunity to research where the opponents truly stand on the actual issue that prompted the attack ad in the first place.
All of the technology that is placed before us here in 2012 is both a blessing and a curse. It is our job as Americans to be able to sift through all of the finger pointing, attack ads and mainstream media’s “he said she said” games in order to make informed decisions on key issues.
