Jerome
takes a look at DNC versus RNC commercials. Not too surprising, the bulk of the RNCs commercials were negative, while the bulk of the DNCs commercians were positive.
We still want to play nice. And many here play that game, "Oh, let's not stoop to their level."
Stan Matsunaka was abandoned early by the DCCC, thinking he had no chance against über winger Marilyn Musgrave. However, she barely got to 51 percent after outspending Matsunaka 5:1. The NRCC had to dump $2 million into the race to protect what should've been a safe incumbent.
How did Matsunaka get so close? A Colorado 527 ran a series of ads, in which an actress portraying Musgrave picked the pockets of a corpse in a funeral home, a soldier fighting in Iraq, and a bunch of children. The ads outraged Republicans and far too many Democrats, but they were viciously effective.
Negative ads work. And Democrats will need to stop being afraid to wield them. The moralists in the GOP have no problem with going hard negative. Dems should stop crying when the other side goes negative, and instead make sure to be the FIRST to go negative.
Update: A sign of the times? The DCCC argues that they, in fact, did not run positive ads. Well, they did run a few, but most of them were negative.
Update II: Of course, there are various degrees of "negative". From an email:
In Washington's eighth congressional district, Democrat Dave Ross was portrayed in GOP mailings as a red-faced Satan immersed in a background of red and black flames. Over-the-top, ludicrous, but unfortunately effective. TV ads portrayed a vast wasteland reminiscent of "Planet of the Apes" depicting the future if Ross won.
Democratic ads against Ross' opponent were civil and Ross failed to defend himself against the Republican attacks.
The anti-Musgrave ads were over the top, and it earned condemnations from Democrats all over the place. And yet, they were so effective Musgrave and the NRCC had to spend $5 million to keep her seat.
So let me amend -- we don't need to just be negative. We need to be vicious.
