How dirty tactics work in the short run, harm democratic process
in the long term
Negative ad campaigns have been around as long as there have
been elections.
How dirty tactics work in the short run, harm democratic process in the long term
Negative ad campaigns have been around as long as there have been elections.
“You should see some of the things they did in the 1800s,” said Terry Christensen, a political science professor at San Jose State University. “They used sex lives, interracial relationships, corruption. It was personal attacks and outright lies.”
When it comes to campaigning, recent elections show we haven’t come far since then. Negative ad campaigns work so candidates continue to use them.
“The only thing that would stop them, is if they stopped working,” Christensen said. “They are more likely to catch our attention than the positive ads. We are to blame for them.”
Negative advertising in political campaigns can’t be restricted because they enjoy the freedom of speech allotted by the first amendment and libel laws don’t apply.
“We as voters need to say we don’t like them,” he said. “The good news is once in a while, they backfire.”
One case where dirty ads didn’t work, Christensen said, is the 28th assembly district race. During the race, Democrat candidate Anna Caballero and her Republican opponent Ignacio Velazquez spent a combined total of $1 million on the state election.
From the start – even in the primary – Velazquez focused on what he perceived to be his opponents weaknesses. He sent out mailers focused on gang violence in Salinas where Caballero is mayor. Recent mailers and television advertisements included personal attacks on Caballero.
In one glossy ad, Velazquez linked the lawyer to a serial killer in Hollister who she had served as a public defender more than a decade ago. But nowhere in the ad does Velazquez disclose that Caballero was a public defender.
“It has no place in political discourse or in public discourse,” said Rick Rivas, Caballero’s campaign manager. “It really tore our community apart and to be brought up again is desperate and pathetic.”
In this case, the mailer did not sway voters in favor of Velazquez.
“Unfortunately [those tactics] are common,” said Christensen. “When it’s that grotesque, it can backfire on you. That was a pretty mean attack and it was pretty unfair, but it was true.”
Velazquez said his loss has less to do with his or his opponent’s campaign than with the general feeling toward the Republican Party nationally.
“We sent out a lot of mailers talking about my campaign,” he said. “The end result was people were revolting against the Republican Party. Unfortunately, I am a registered Republican. It went that way throughout the country and the state.”
The results may have had more to do with the demographics of the district than national sentiment, Christensen said.
“The candidates are better known. It is more of a small town, small city district,” Christensen said. “Plus, the way the lines are drawn it has more registered democrats.”
Throughout the election, Caballero’s inner circle sent out positive mailers. They sent out a letter to voters from Caballero which shared a story of her mother telling her if she couldn’t say something nice, not to say anything at all as she grew up. But in the weeks before the election, a negative ad against Velazquez aired on local television stations.
Caballero’s campaign maintained that the Democratic Party produced the piece and Caballero did not view it or approve it before it went out. Christensen said it might make little difference to voters in the long run.
“Those negative ads often come from independent expenditures that insulate the candidate a little bit,” he said. “She’s not responsible that the Democratic Party did that. But most people just aren’t going to read the fine print.”
Still, Christensen sees a distinction between negative ads and dirty ads.
“Some negative campaigning is appropriate,” he said. “But it’s not when it gets personal and distorts the facts.”
Ads that expose past voting records or policies are fair in Christensen’s eyes, but so many of the campaigns step over the lines that he couldn’t even name what past campaign has been the worst.
In San Juan Bautista’s city council race, the two candidates who ran negative campaigns against incumbent Priscilla Hill made the worst showing at the polls. Incumbent Chuck Geiger garnered 16.55 percent of the votes and Jim Pereyra received 16.44 percent.
“Negative campaigns are less effective in a small town,” Christensen said. “Most people know the person being attacked.”
Whether they work or not, the negativity can have a lasting effect on voters.
“When people get cynical, why should they vote?” Christensen asked. “We hear bad things about all the candidates so we start to think they are all crooks. But I really don’t think that’s true.”
Melissa Flores can be reached at [email protected].
