AMERICAN POLITICS IS somewhat more…vicious than Irish politics.
The battle to make it to congress in next month’s elections has been sour in many races, but the history of American politics is littered with attack ads that are at times racist, insensitive and just downright false.
Here are some of the best/worst (depending on how you view it).
In 1988, the Presidential election was effectively sealed when George HW Bush’s team went negative on Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee on the issue of weekend prison passes given when Dukakis was governor.
That ad was evoked last week when the Republican party took a swing at Democratic candidate Brad Ashford in the Nebraska congressional race. The ad links Ashford to a multiple killer, despite his never having only been a state senator.
There was also this. Which is fairly awful.
It’s not all race-baiting, however. Some are just bad. Like this one that reminds voters that Democratic Party candidate in Michigan Gary Peters took money from loan sharks.
Or this gloriously terrible one from the same race.
There was swiftboating, which not only impugned John Kerry’s reputation, it helped decide a Presidential election.
Incumbent President Lyndon B Johnson was going negative before it was cool, telling voters that if they voted for Republican Barry Goldwater, little girls would die fiery deaths.
Walter Mondale tried to warn America that computers would take control of the Cold War in one of America’s least effective ads against Ronald Reagan
Reagan also went after Dukakis for being too weak on national defence, even adding in the sounds of a grinding gears to this ad
A central Florida race in 2012 led to Republican Dan Webster being referred to as “Taliban Dan”
And then there’s this:
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