Reader Elmer sends today's story [pdf] about some recent union endorsements of Eric Massa.
Today's Democrat and Chronicle gives its Golden Pen to a letter decrying negative ads. Though purportedly against negative ads in general, the only examples used in the letter were from Democrats. Eric Massa was one example.
Click on the "Ads" category to the right and you can make your own judgment on negative ads in this race. Kuhl and Massa began with one positive ad each, and after that, everything's been "negative". Moreover, the ads haven't been that negative -- they've stuck to issues rather than personalities and associations.
If the D&C is going to hold up letters as shining examples, it could at least pick ones that have a bit of balance.
Comments
One man's negative ad is another man's attempt to clarify positions taken by his or her opponent.
If Massa ran an ad that says Kuhl beats kittens, Kuhl would consider it negative but Massa would consider it an important service to the voters.
That's true.
The "negative" ads I don't like are ones that treat me like an idiot - they say that the other guy is going to do something that only an idiot would believe a politician would do. For example, "Politician X is going to take away social security" or "wants to wreck our environment" or whatever.
Maybe its just me...but that whole fictional quote sounds like Ron Paul.
Yeah, except Ron would agree with taking away Social Security (at some point, not right away).
I can agree with you on that, but the sad thing is they must work or they wouldn't be used.
I think there's a difference between negative issues based ads and Swift Boat/Willie Horton style ads.
I have no beef with the ads I've seen this cycle in NY-29. I think the RNCC ad that had Massa looking at seniors through the cross hairs of a rifle was a little over the top.
And I have to say that given what I know about Albany, it's pretty clear that no challengers to any state legislators are negative enough to be truthful.
All that I've seen Dollinger do is call Robach a Republican. Is that a negative ad nowadays?
If someone ran an ad that described what actually goes on in Albany -- legislators signing out and giving their votes to their party leader by proxy, little or no non-Potemkin floor debate, member items money doled out to keep incumbents safe -- it would certainly be described Lawrence et al. as excessively negative.