They come on while you're watching the news or the game. They offer a choice between the candidate "just found breaking the law" and the one who "put a price tag on Wisconsin's good name."
They feature dramatic fadeouts and the least-flattering photos this side of supermarket tabloids. They're negative campaign advertisements, and in American politics, they're business as usual.
'A perfectly legitimate tactic'
Negative ads and negative discourse are nothing new in American political campaigns, according to Associate Professor of Political Science John McAdams.
"Before there was television, there were negative campaign speeches," he said.
But the advent of television and the ability of TV ads "toA
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