No One Asked Me But…

by Dr. Larry Moses
Published August 13, 2008

No one asked me but…after the airing of a political ad that indicates that Barack Obama is one of the most popular celebrities in the world, Senator McCain has been accused of “going negative” in his campaign for the Presidency of the United States. While the words themselves seem complimentary, the images of two air-headed bimbo celebrities projected on the screen would belie the fact that Senator McCain was complimenting his opponent. The ad then goes on to discuss Obama’s stand on drilling for oil.

This got me thinking. What is negative campaigning? Would not any mention of one’s opponent at all be an example of negative campaigning? Wikipedia (not the greatest source of information but adequate for this piece) defines negative campaigning as “trying to win an advantage by referring to negative aspects of an opponent or of a policy rather than emphasizing one’s own positive attributes or preferred policies. In the broadest sense, the term covers any rhetoric which refers to an opponent, if only by way of contrast, but can also include attacks meant to destroy an opponent’s character.” Is this not what all political campaigning comes down to? One must convince the public that he/she is better suited to fill the position, due to a number of factors including one’s character.

Negative campaigning has been the heart and soul of the American Presidential race since the first contested election. To verify this statement, I turned to George Brown Tindall and David E. Shi’s book American Narrative History. Since George Washington faced no opponents, it was easy for him to observe the “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior” he learned while studying from a 16th Century manual as a young man. Rule number 49 was “Use no reproachful language against anyone; neither curse nor revile”. This advice was soon lost on American politicians.

In the election of 1800, the first contested election in American history, Thomas Jefferson said John Adams planned to marry off his son, John Quincy, to a daughter of King George III and then turn the country back to England. John Adams retaliated by stating Jefferson was “a mean spirited, low-lived fellow, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.” Adams supporters stated the election of Jefferson would lead to American “dwellings in flames, hoary hairs bathed in blood, female chastity violated…child writhing on the pike and halberd”.

In the 1824 election, Henry Clay stated of Andrew Jackson, “I cannot believe that the killing of 2,500 Englishmen at New Orleans qualifies one for the various, difficult and complicated duties of Chief Magistracy.”

In the 1840 election, William Henry Harrison’s supporters ran the Log Cabin Hard Cider campaign. They painted his opponent, the incumbent Martin Van Buren, as an elitist as they sang:

Let Van from his coolers of silver drink wine,
And lounge on his cushioned Settee;
Our man on his buckeye bench can recline
Content with hard cider is he!

Further, they chanted: “Van, Van the used up man!”

After the Civil War, all Republican candidates “waved the bloody shirt” associating all Democratic presidential hopefuls with the rebels in the Civil War. They encouraged all to vote as they shot and to remember it was the Republicans that saved the nation from the Democratic strong holds in the South. It was a southern Democrat that killed each northern solider.

In 1884, the Democratic candidate James G. Blaine was characterized as the “Continental Liar from the State of Maine.” The Republican candidate, a bachelor Grover Cleveland, may have been the father of a child out of wedlock, a point made by Democrats as they chanted “Ma! Ma! Where’s my Pa?” After winning the election, the Republicans said “Gone to the White House. Ha! Ha!

Generally speaking, the early 20th century candidates did not openly attack their opponents on a personal level. But that would change in 1960 when John Kennedy’s religion became the target for his opponents. John Kennedy mixed it up pretty well as he referred to Nixon as “Tricky Dick”. Kennedy stated “Nixon doesn’t know who he is and so each time he makes a speech he has to decide which Nixon he is, and that will be very exhausting”. Referring to Kennedy’s book PROFILES IN COURAGE his opponents contended he was more profile than courage.

We are all aware of the attack on the military record of John Kerry and the youthful drug use of President George W. Bush. The military record or lack of record was used against both George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Clinton was painted as a draft dodger and Bush as a person who received favors that allowed him into the National Guard to avoid service in Vietnam.

Barack may need to worry less about McCain’s negative campaigning and more about the words coming from the Clinton Camp. When ask if Obama was qualified to be President, Bill Clinton responded that he is constitutionally eligible. Despite saying that he believed Mr. Obama would defeat Senator John McCain, his Republican rival, in the election in November, the former president refused to say that the presumptive Democratic nominee was ready for high office. Mr. Clinton said “You can argue that nobody is ready to be president. You can argue that even if you’ve been vice-president for eight years, that no one can be fully ready for the pressures of the office.” When he was asked to clarify this statement Clinton stated, “I never said he wasn’t qualified. The constitution sets qualification for the president. And then the people decide who they think would be the better president. I think we have two choices.”

Hillary is not much help either. “I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2006.” Barrack must wonder where these shots to the back are coming from.

Why do campaigns become negative? I believe for two reasons. One they work, and two, any time an opponent is mentioned, it inherently is negative. You surely are not going to sing the praises of your opponent if you want to get elected. I am afraid negative campaigning is with us forever. Historically it is much more fun to read of campaigns with negative attacks than campaigns that have “I like Ike” to mark its place in history.

Thought of the week…In our brief national history, we have shot four of our presidents, worried five of them to death, impeached one and hounded another out of office. And when all else fails, we hold an election and assassinate their character – P.J. O’Rourke