OAll candidates like to say that they run on “principle”, but the truth is that, with few exceptions, they try to blur the differences between themselves and their opponent, especially on TV. By another name, this strategy is called “running to the middle”—take your political party base for granted and go after the soft, somewhat disinterested middle of the political spectrum.

Jim Talent’s early commercials on education looked not unlike a commercial that a Democrat might run. Jean Carnahan talked so often about how many times she voted with a Republican President the uniformed voter might not be sure to which party she belonged.

Once each candidate sails along for a few weeks getting out their message of moderation, then the other begins with the ads attempting to paint or push their opponent to the far right or left. In other words drawing distinctions. Most of these ads are not truly “negative,” meaning personal attacks on an opponent, but what political operatives call “contrast” messages. “Tim Shallenburger’s record shows he is against education.” “No, Kathleen Sebelius’ record demonstrates she is the one against education.” The beat goes on with each candidate painting the other in negative tones.

Does it work? I am not sure if anyone really knows. However, it is like nuclear war—the goal is mutual assured destruction. If they strike, you strike back, and no one is willing to stop for fear of not responding to the last attack. In the end, it is too often the public that is nuked—tired of the warfare and just wishing it would all just end.

My years of experience show that, within reason, negative ads can work, but only when the non-aligned voter reaches a point of trusting one candidate over the other. From then on they tend to believe the attacks launched against the opponent of that particular candidate. The trick is how to gain that trust, and this, finally, cannot be done with negative ads.

In most cases, it is not the better ads that win an election. It is the better candidate.

Steve Glorioso is a political consultant. He may be reached at 816-531-5536 or by email at s_glorioso@hotmail.com.

TThe fact of the matter is that most people who vote are interested in the issues and how the candidates in question are positioned concerning those issues.

The problem is that the media blitzes that accompany most campaigns, especially on TV, are almost issue-free. As a result, they simply become more and more of a nuisance as the campaigns progresses. In fact, TV advertising devolves to the point that, even though I am involved in the process myself, I start switching channels to avoid political ads, especially those that just slam a candidate.

After a while, these ads become almost childish in nature. “Well I’m the good guy here because I did this and that.” “Yea, but you also did such and such.” “Oh Yeah?” “Yeah, and your momma too.” It’s not quite this bad of course, but you get the picture.

The problem is aggravated because the credibility of most politicians from both sides of the aisle is at an all time low. As a consequence, viewers tend to take mud-slinging from either side with a grain of salt and look upon both parties with disdain.

It does not have to be this way. Incumbent candidates can and should run for re-election based on their voting record, what they did for their constituency while they were in office, and what they hope to do for their constituency in the next term.

Challengers should run their campaign based on what they think they can do better. Or they should offer a different approach to consider.

Negative political advertising tells the voting public they are not smart enough to pick a candidate to support based on the issues. But those who think that they need to “sensationalize” the campaign by saying awful things about each other to get folks to pay attention underestimate the American voter. Believe me, folks are paying attention, and they don’t believe that mud can clarify the issues.

Greg Baker is president of Firefly Marketing and has helped pioneer e-mail political campaigns. He can be reached at 816-531-2330 or by email at ron@fireflymkt.com.