Posted on 10/14/2008 7:41:20 PM PDT by Kaslin
One of the oldest phenomena of American elections criticism of one's opponent has in recent times been stigmatized by much of the media as "negative advertising."
Is this because the criticism has gotten more vicious or more personal? You might think so, if you were totally ignorant of history, as so many graduates of even our elite universities are.
Although Grover Cleveland was elected president twice, he had to overcome a major scandal that he had fathered a child out of wedlock, which was considered more of a disgrace then than today. Even giants such as Lincoln and Jefferson were called names that neither John McCain nor Barack Obama has been called.
Why then is "negative advertising" such a big deal these days? The dirty little secret is this: Liberal candidates have needed to escape their past and pretend that they are not liberals, because so many voters have had it with liberals.
In 1988, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis called himself a technocrat, a pragmatic solver of problems, despite a classic liberal track record of big spending, big taxes and policies that were anti-business and pro-criminal.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
LOL!
PING!
SUPER LOL!!!!!!!!
IBD Rocks! They put out the very best, well reasoned, and researched editorials. The WSJ should be acorn green with envy!
Notes to self: Look who the author is dummy!
He was a Democrat, perhaps one of our greatest Presidents. A man who won the popular vote for President three times, losing to Harrison in the electoral college in the second election.
He was a real man of great character. A friend of the last Queen of Hawaii.
ping
bttt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.