Tuesday, October 28, 2008
McCain's Smear Tactics
With the election only a week away, McCain's still behind in the polls. Does his use of smear tactics have any bearing on his current position in the polls? Although both candidates use negative ads, McCain makes much more use of this style than Obama. When doing the Ad Analysis Assignment, I was looking through McCain's ads to find an ad that wasn't negative. I couldn't find one. Could this be a part of why McCain is steadily falling behind? Are the American people tired of trash talk and ready to hear the candidates talk about the issues?
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I was channel surfing this past weekend when my ears some how picked up on a McCain ad. My eyes, however, only saw an image of the rolling sea. Needless to say, I'm already bored with these ads -- perhaps in part of our extensive class discussion? I doubt it, though. Seems as though everyone is sick of them at this point in the election.
Time to vote!
I think the smear tactics by McCain have driven him into the hole he is in. During the debates, McCain fell behind because he was more worried about bashing Obama instead of portraying his stance on issues. While McCain was wasting his time, Obama was presenting his stance,and presenting it well. McCain continues to focus his campaign strategy on negative attacks, and the latest polls prove these methods are ineffective.
All the ads out there are either attack ads or response ads (that also attack), and we are all sick of them. One of the functions attack ads serve is to divert attention away from issues, and that’s exactly what both candidates want to do. But there are millions of resources available to us where we can find relevant information. Our job right now is to go out and seek the information we want.
you know rob i agree with, when i was doing the assignment all of Mccains ads are negetive and really dirty, im not saying obama didnt have any negative ads but they werent as bad as maccains... obama had negative ads but also alot more of his hads focused of praising him instead of trashing mccain.. where as i was having a hard time finidng a prais ad or mccain their all dark and negative and attacking obama.. i also believe that this is the reason why he is not progressing i believe that the ppl are reallin tired of his attacking ads.
I am also tired of the negative attacks, but I think they are necessary. The people who really care about the issues and finding out were the candidates truly stand don't look at the campaign ads to tell them the truth, because they know the ads are completely slanted. The ads are not directed at people who want to know the truth, they are directed towards people who already have a pre-conceived opinion, and want to be told what they want to hear from the candidate they would have voted for six months ago. I think the reason for McCain's decline in polls is because Obama is a better public speaker, and the Obama campaign has successfully linked McCain with President Bush. President Bush is Obama's number one critique of McCain, and it has hit home with the American public.
I think people are sick of them but obviously the McCain campaign does not think so. Almost every ad lately has been negative because the McCain campaign can not find a steady message to project to the people so they stick to character attacks instead.
I agree with Joel when saying the Obama campaign has done a great job at linking Bush with McCain. The combination of this and the repetitive negative ads have driven McCain closer to defeat. I agree with the confusion on why the McCain campaign thinks this advertising strategy is effective. Clearly, everyone is getting sick of this tactic, so why do they continue to use it?
I'm definately tired of McCain's smear ads it takes away from how is he going to help Americans.I think he needs to put some positive ads to if he wants some of the independent voters but he is using fear tactics instead. I think its sad his campaign choose this route.
Obama also uses negative ads; however he uses positive ads largely to supplement his campaign. I have not seen a positive ad from McCain in a very long time. I think the positive ad method as Heather suggests, would benefit McCain. The Independent voters are the key at this point in the election. They are not going to respond primarily on negative ads. Everyone knows that McCain does not agree with Obama, as he constantly states in his ads. Why not tell the American people where he stands on a topic for once, instead of dancing around it and playing the blame game.
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