ABSTRACT
There are very few areas in political science campaign work that elicit more research, more discussion, and more analysis than negative advertising. Unlike candidate analysis, messaging, or even issue positions, negative advertising is one of the areas in political science that receives almost equal attention from the voters, the press, and academics. Why? Not everyone understands issues, or policy, or the complexities of government, but everybody understands it when someone else is getting slammed on national television. Negative advertising is primal, exciting, and one of the reasons so much time and money are raised and spent on television during campaigns. The truth, however, is that those same intense, negative mudslinging ads might also be one of the more problematic parts of political campaigners’ behavior and American politics in general.
