Conservative Student News

photo credit publicradio.org

Well, it’s been about a month since the elections, and don’t you miss those helpful negative political ads? Hopefully you’ve noticed the sarcasm. I don’t care which political party you associate yourself with—these ads are harmful to the democratic foundation of our country.

I mean, we’re all supposed to be Americans, right? The politicians are supposed to be trying to do what’s best for the country, not throwing out school-yard jabs at each other. To me they sound ridiculous as each tries make the other candidate sound like the big, bad ogre who will destroy everything if they get elected.

Let’s think about this. Who would you trust more: A candidate who directly puts forth his or her own views or one who spends their time trying to scare you away from voting for the said candidate?

Let’s use an analogy with my little sisters—ages five and three—since that’s about the level these politicians were operating at. Do I believe Catherine more if she says, “I want some ice cream,” or if she says, “Give me Teresa’s ice cream too, because she doesn’t want it?” I obviously believe her more when she is saying what she wants and believes in than when she says what Teresa supposedly wants.

Granted, these are politicians, so you can’t really believe what they say about themselves either. However, I would trust them describing their own ideology much more than another candidate whose tactic is to destroy the character of their opponent using a 30-second TV ad.

Besides, I thought these ads were supposed to be helping us decide who to vote for, instead of helping us decide who NOT to vote for. If I listened to all these negative campaign ads, I would have been scared to vote for ANY candidate. I would have gone to the polls and turned in a blank ballot. Unfortunately, these ads seemed to be the only information that was easily accessible.

I’ll be honest, I don’t follow the political scene that much. I’m 20 years old, so the first time I voted was in 2004. I’ve listened to my parents discuss politics since I was little, and my thoughts have been formed from what they think. However, in the spirit of being off at college and more independent, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to ask them what each candidate’s views were in all of the races this year.

At the same time though, I’m not going to spend hours browsing through editorials on these politicians (which I wouldn’t know whether to trust or not either). If they’re going to spend millions of dollars on TV ads, maybe they should tell us what THEY think, as opposed to how EVIL their opponent is.

I remember on the Saturday before the elections, I was trying to watch college football, but all I saw was one negative campaign ad after another. Watching them trying to destroy each other’s characters was sickening. I kept hoping that one candidate would have the moral courage to ignore what the other candidate was saying about him or her, and instead of firing back, they would tell me what they actually thought about the issues. If I’d seen that happen, I probably would have voted for that candidate regardless of what their actual views were. At least he or she would have the integrity to not maliciously malign someone else’s character.

Alas, it never happened, and I had to turn off the commercials because I couldn’t take it any more. It also made me wonder how stupid they think we are. Why would I believe what they say about each other when they are obviously just trying to cut each other down?

How twisted do you think these ads are? (Extremely twisted in case you were wondering).

If every candidate is as bad as the ads made them seem, America is in a sorry state and none of the candidates should be in office. I think both parties need to step back and look at what is happening. Instead of fighting like my two little sisters, maybe they should try using reason and logic instead of instilling fear.

They’re turning the elections into a war and the media isn’t helping. I was watching the news on election night and their big headline was something like “Battleground America.” Since when did election night compare to Pearl Harbor or D-Day?

Aren’t political parties supposed to come together and do what’s best for the country once they reach office? It seems more and more that they disagree simply because it’s the other party’s idea. The votes seem to be consistently split: Democrat on one side and Republican on the other.

Come on people, think for yourselves. You don’t have to vote the party line every time. Maybe if elections were not perceived so much as a battle, the parties would be willing to admit when something they came up with was not working and help to form a solution.

As it is, any perceived weakness is pounced on and used mercilessly as propaganda by the opposing party. (Notice my choice of words: “opposing” instead of “other.” Even subconsciously, I put them at odds with each other).

The result is that no party is willing to regularly compromise. When one side pushes a bill through Congress, their pride makes them think it’s infallible. On the other hand, if they admit that their plan isn’t working, the other party will be all over them.

Personally, I’m fed up with both parties and have begun wondering if it’s possible to do away with the two-party system. However, that’s a topic for some other time. Since that’s not going to happen any time soon, maybe we can take some preemptive action to forestall these ads in the 2008 elections.

Everyone, Republican and Democrat alike, should write to your party leaders and representatives and tell them that you do not appreciate the negative ads. Tell them that you think it is beneath them and that they will be seen as the better man or woman if they ignore any attacks made by their opponent.

Thanks for reading, and please do let them know how you feel. I would enjoy hearing any thoughts anyone has on this issue. I’ve also started thinking about the two-party system and would be interested in hearing your thoughts on that as well.