Election day is coming up in the US, and I've noticed a sharp increase in negative ads and radio spots in the last 2 weeks or so. Does all this negativity affect your decision to vote, e.g. do you get so disgusted that you don't want to vote? Do you ignore the mudslinging, or does it make a difference in how you vote?

I was watching a programm late last night (nothing rude?!?! wow!) and there was some documentary on about the US election. Some guy who said he liked puppies, and then followed a load of ads saying how he was against the women's right to vote etc.
"but, it's ok, because he likes puppies" was one of ther comebacks anyway...

And then there was something about a senator or some politician guy disallowing the use of some body armour, which was blatantly better than the current one which they proved in a demonstration. *shrugs*

I daresay any "mudslinging" would effect my opinion, if i lived in the US and therefore had the ability to vote, but tbh i dont pay much attention to the political debates. I dont know how to run a country any better than the next person, but contrary to popular belief, the people in charge seem to be doing an allright job...

Well...it depens what kind of negative campaigning you mean.
If you mean the thing Cherry said with the 'Go study kids, or you'll end up in Iraq' thing, I'll go and rant on. If not, I'll shut my mouth, since I'm no Yankee :)

Okay then...the Cherry thing.
It's very negative to say such a thing. It implies that the soldiers fighting in Iraq are poorly educated individuals who fight because Bush wants it. In fact, it's just a sneer at Bush.
That's a direct insult to me as well, since there are some European troops fighting there too, same goes for Afghanistan.
Those brave men and women fight there to protect our way of life, and our safety. They don't fight because Bush want them too. (He does, but that's a different subject).
That way of negative compaigning makes me sick. Cherry just picks a group of individuals, insults them, hoping to 'score' at the mass. Luckily, that didn't happen. :)

Whoah...did i just answer to a serious topic? HELP ME RC! I'm de-asylumising :(

All the 2 candidates for Michigan governor do is bash each other. I don't think I've seen any commercials promoting either of them, just bashing their opponent. I'm not old enought vote (17) but I think I still would vote even with all the negative campaigning. Not that I approve of it.

Not really. I've always tried to educate myself waaaaaay in advance of election day (on the real topics at hand.. not who did what where & when) ;)

But it does get old. Back in the day, ironically enough, before I was old enough to vote.. I remember my parents being able to watch debates, go to council meetings, etc. that actually dealt with "matters at hand"... I kinda wish I could have that experience.. at least once in my voting career.. hehehe...

Frankly the pointing fingers, botched jokes or flat-out denial of duty many of our (USA) political figureheads portray nowadays is a bit childish and insulting to the citizens of the US. Unfortunately, because of that.. other nations tend to think the common person is much the same. Trust me... politics and it's politicians live in a completely different "world" than real-life US living :xp:

Anywho... I'll definitely be interested in this mid-term election's outcome.. looking forward to "rocking the boat" with my votes :devsmoke:

i stick to the issues and monitor the candidates' respective platforms. the only time i ever listen to negative campaigning is if it's something serious like trying to get lucky with the pages. :rolleyes:

it doesnt matter to me, i'm not in the US. i don't mind who it as long as its not Bush.

Whoah...did i just answer to a serious topic? HELP ME RC! I'm de-asylumising :(

just pm TSR to help you :D

No idea, since I live in England in the UK. Although I hope it ain't Bush, like RC said.

Voting never appealed to me. As far as im concerned, the country could burn for all i care. I just wanna live and not be bothered by the affairs of people in suits who get paid to do all the worrying we do.

No, I wouldn't say negative campaigning affects my decision to vote.
However, it does influence how I vote.

Whomever throws the most mud wins. :marx1:


Alright I was joking, but imagine how many people do think like that and rely on the media and campaign promises to influence thier choices.

It's actually kinda scary.

I try not to pay any attention to any political ad. You hear that someone voted against this or that while in congress. Hell, if I was up there I’d vote against almost every bill. They insert so much pork into even the most noble bill (not that there are any noble bills) that is no crime to vote against it. Our two choices “tax and spend Democrats” or “spend and borrow Republicans,” which is really no choice at all. Then I hear that the Democrats can’t protect us from the terrorist, well I don’t see the Republicans protecting me from terrorist either. I’ve never seen Bush or the rest of his cohorts patrolling the Mexico/US border. No, the men and women of our military and law enforcement agency protect us from terrorist not our elected officials. Their job would be made easier if our elected officials did not spend millions on bridges to nowhere and used that money to buy proper armor for the military.

If any of them ever took real responsibility for the own actions I’d be shocked to death. It is always someone else fault. 911 was all former President Clinton fault. The Page scandal was caused by alcohol. So on and so on….

I’ve always voted, but it is getting harder and harder to justify the time and energy it takes to cut through all the BULL to make an educated decision.

That's because there is no end to the bull.
The good ones can spew out the bull forever.

Look at Bush. He's been feeding us the bull for nearly a decade.

...and I'm full.

I was watching a programm late last night (nothing rude?!?! wow!) and there was some documentary on about the US election. Some guy who said he liked puppies, and then followed a load of ads saying how he was against the women's right to vote etc.
"but, it's ok, because he likes puppies" was one of ther comebacks anyway...


SuperRodian, I live in the Maryland area. The candidate was Michael Steele. That puppy commercial was a pre-emptive strike because he's a Republican in a majority Democrat state. He knew that commercials would be coming aligning him with Bush and showing his stand on the issues which mostly don't match the people of the state. It backfired on him because it was a goofy silly commercial and instead of talking about issues he's hugging a puppy.

Voting never appealed to me. As far as im concerned, the country could burn for all i care. I just wanna live and not be bothered by the affairs of people in suits who get paid to do all the worrying we do.

I think if the country burned it would bother your life. I'm suprised you posted in this topic since you have no interest in such things.

Look at Bush. He's been feeding us the bull for nearly a decade.

...and I'm full.

Me too!

I just vote for the person who's got the coolest-sounding name. Hasn't failed me yet. :)

Voting never appealed to me. As far as im concerned, the country could burn for all i care. I just wanna live and not be bothered by the affairs of people in suits who get paid to do all the worrying we do.

Well, don't come whining and moaning when income tax is up to 75%, there's checkpoints every two miles, a curfew and five different branches of secret police, with 5 people being disappeared every two days and mass censorship of the media.

That's what those 'people in suits who get paid to do all the worrying we do" can and are likely to do.

@topic: Yes. The more a candidate mud-slings, the less I'm likely to vote for them.

Not that you can drive a wedge between the three main UK parties at that moment...

Does it affect my voting choice? Simply put, no. I turn off the sound whenever a political ad comes on, as they're chock full of bull and slander. Or, since I can tivo the shows on the computer, I just skip the ads and keep watching my show. My decision's based on written opinions in newspapers and in the booklet provided to the voters outlining the pros and cons of everything we get to vote on. As far as politicians are concerned, their stance on an issue is more important to me than their party, and no amount of slanderous mudslinging ads are going to change my mind. Honestly, the ads are about as intelligent sounding as a stoned middle schooler's oral presentation. I can't wait for election day to come and go so I can watch car ads again.

Lots of poop-slinging here, too. In protest, I usually vote for the independent or whomever ISN'T a Republican or Democrat. The very idea that we have democracy in this country is a cruel joke on the population. The voter usually has four choices:

1&2 involve voting for one of the two opposing sides of the same cowpie.

3 involves voting for the independent, who hardly ever wins.

4 involves not voting at all, because really: WHAT'S THE POINT?

Democracy, MY ASS! :swear:

I think if the country burned it would bother your life. I'm suprised you posted in this topic since you have no interest in such things.

Not literally burn. I mean politically. The title of this thread literally asks for opinions, so i threw mine in. Interpret it as you wish. :smash:

Well, don't come whining and moaning when income tax is up to 75%, there's checkpoints every two miles, a curfew and five different branches of secret police, with 5 people being disappeared every two days and mass censorship of the media.

That's what those 'people in suits who get paid to do all the worrying we do" can and are likely to do.

Okay fine im so worried about the constant threat of the country turning to Communism i think il leave. See all it does is make you worry about what tomorrow may bring. Life's too short to do criticize these people for their JOBS and judge them just because one person makes a change that one other person doesn't agree with and then thinking the country is going down the pan.

hell yes, herbie, you've got my backing on that one.
Although, does anyone here actually understand communism? we've been doing a slight (by which i mean many hours with noses in books for god knows how long) bit of research into it, and, if human nature was to accept the "i'll help for the good of the people AND myself" nature as depicted min the concept, then communism could work. And tbh, i think the world would be a much better place for it.

Honestly im not sure what communism is personally. I played alot of Vietnam games and games featuring Soviet Russia and i think it allows people to have shiney gold stars on their flags and military helmets. Honestly thats all i see. Indeed extremely narrow of me but you see any communist memorabilia and well whaddya know? A gold star. :smash:

If i werent in the process of making a sig that will truly own yours i'd explain. you only have yourself to blame for that.

What really affects me when it comes to voting is the fact that I'm not registered yet... which I should really get on, but what yes all the negative campaigning really pisses me off. I want to hear what the candidate is going to do to address the issues, I don't want to hear what your opponent did wrong...

Of course it effects my decision.

I don't vote for disrespectful people that build themselves up by breaking others down.

No idea, since I live in England in the UK. Although I hope it ain't Bush, like RC said.

This has very little to do with Bush, at least directly. He's not running for president next week.
The midterm elections are for the Congress and the Senate. Bush might lose the majority in both those chambers. That will hurt his last two years.
And to directly answer the "as long as it ain't Bush" comment, so Cheney is better? So some neo-nazi right-wing extremist is better?

Although, does anyone here actually understand communism? we've been doing a slight (by which i mean many hours with noses in books for god knows how long) bit of research into it, and, if human nature was to accept the "i'll help for the good of the people AND myself" nature as depicted min the concept, then communism could work. And tbh, i think the world would be a much better place for it.

Political science guy here, so yes, I do know quite a bit about communism and I also know that it doesn't work. Although Marx was a brilliant man and that his analysis of his contemporary world is very accurate, he forgot everything about human nature when he started developing his proposition for communism.
Humans are, unfortunately, inherently selfish. Leftist theorists have always decided to ignore this simple fact. Someone once said something like this:"Communism is the best system in the world. It's only the first 300 years that are hell."
Communism was bound to fail.
That's why the only system that worked that's closest to communism is social-democracy. It struck a certain balance between the selfish nature of humans and helping the "greater good". Even it is not without its flaws. But that's for another thread.


On topic:

Yes, it does. Though I'm north of the US border, I still get to watch those ads and frankly, it's dirty politics at its best. That trend started to get here with the last Canadian federal elections. A campaign without those attacks might be more boring to follow, but it's at least less disgusting and more honest.

does anyone here actually understand communism?

It's Communism, my friend, not communism. ;)

As another person with a great interest in political science, (and Communism in particular) I would say I understand it quite well, which brings me to the next sentence:

@LIAYD, I would respectfully disagree with your post, but this isn't the topic for it. I'd love to discuss the topic, though. :)

Negative campaigning - don't watch it. I'd like to know why the candidate is so good, not why his/her opponents are so bad. You don't buy a product just because the others are worse. The same goes for politcians.

Of course it effects my decision.

I don't vote for disrespectful people that build themselves up by breaking others down.

So you don't vote? :D

"Communism is the best system in the world. It's only the first 300 years that are hell."

true, but, as i said that agreed with your point, iF humans were to adopt the less selfish approach to life, and worked for the greater good, then it couldwork. It would obviously have its flaws to begin with, what with the non complying people rebelling. But, as the system explains, those that don't coply eventuually "die out". So that quote is right, it will just take a long time for te result to be achieved. I wouldnt mind living in it, as the results would be better than this so called democracy that we live in now

You mean having no freedom from the Nomenklatura, as opposed to the limited freedoms we have now?

Human nature doesn't and won't change. We are an inherently flawed species, and fundamentally predatorial.

And predators don't work well for the Common Good.

@Herbie: Oh, well then. Perhaps we shouldn't criticise Stalin - he was only doing his JOB.

@Herbie: Oh, well then. Perhaps we shouldn't criticise Stalin - he was only doing his JOB.


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