Author Sahara Foley

With the Presidential election a little over a month away, I feel like the rhetoric, hyperbole, and mudslinging has gone through the roof.  Can we give it a break?  Me included.  😂🤣

But this whole election cycle got me thinking about when I was a kid as I sat in front of the TV watching political ads or an occasional debate.  Sure, by the end of the election, everyone was SICK TO DEATH of all the ads.  Ugh.  

However, I remember the ads as spouting how good the candidates were compared to their opponents. All the promises they made, but never fulfilled.  You know?  The usual crapola.  

So, when did mudslinging start in our political system and who threw the first mud pie?

Well, according to my research, it turns out the trash talking started back in 1796 between Alexander Hamilton vs Thomas Jefferson.  Of course, they didn’t have TV or radio back them.  The accusations and recriminations were all done via print either through handbills or newspapers. 

Then it heated up in 1828 between Andrew Jackson vs. John Quincy Adams.  And so on and so on. 

You get the point.  Mudslinging isn’t anything new in politics.  What has changed, and makes it so much worse, is the media, the amount of ads, and the money behind them.  

Some of the techniques the political parties use are attack ads, contrast ads, or push polls.  I my opinion, I think the push polls are the worst.  Though, studies do show that most of the polls are done with democratic voters.  Which means, most of the national polls will always be skewed to Democrat vs. Republican.  That’s why you can’t trust polls as stated in our mainstream media.  Of course, they use those inflated Democratic numbers to dissuade the conservatives from voting.  

Some of the pitfalls of using negative campaigning is they can cause discrimination and polarization within their voter base.  Sound familiar?  Seems that’s where they actually want us to go.  The whole “United We Stand, Divided We Fall’ thingy.  

And the best way to control the nation is by all the horrible attack ads.  They use them to exploit our fears and to manipulate us.  

In other words, don’t become a sheeple.  Think for yourselves and ask yourself, what is that ad supposed to make you think or do?  It’s the same thing retailers do to get you to buy their products.  A politician is, after all, nothing but a product to the political parties.