With Newt Gingrich going around the country abusing the most vulnerable, I thought I’d take the time to share a book review on Negative Campaigning.
Those who study politics are constantly subjected to the idea that no one likes negative campaigning. Yet, for some reason it is so pervasive. It is for this reason David Mark’s Going Dirty: The Art of Negative Campaigning is a dreaded but necessary read. Mark shows, in this detailed account, not only that negative campaigning is an integral part of elections but that it is incredibly successful. In addition to being told that negative campaigning is reviled, we also hear the constant refrain that politicians need to campaign on positive messages like in the good old days. However, as Mark shows, there were no good old days. In fact, negative campaigning in American politics is as old as American politics itself. This book is an excellent survey of the evolution of negative campaigning in the United States that takes the reader through a myriad of examples ranging from the gross tactics of Jesse Helms up to the days of his successor Karl Rove. With a resounding message: negative campaigning is here to stay, it is a grotesque yet fascinating story of the poisonous politics of pestilence.
The most edifying story of this saga is the one of Senator Jesse Helms. Helms made a career out of negative campaigning, particularly in the arenas of race baiting and anti-communist rhetoric. His strategies included the Nixonian tactic of innuendo to outright attacks on his opponents. Helms got his start in the viciously racist campaign of Willis Smith, who used white voters’ fears of racial integration in a most disgusting manner. Helms continued this race baiting with his outspoken opposition to making Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday. This does not exhaust Helms’ shadiness. Most striking to me in this regard was his connection the Congressional Club, a Republican fundraising outfit and attack machine. This group was instrumental in helping Helms maintain his Senate seat. Unique about this relationship was that this group did not see any way fit to campaign for Helms except by going negative. Certainly there are few politicians who are in this category but it is unsurprising that Helms was one of them. After all, this was a man who had ties to Latin American death squads and other notorious individuals. To be sure, Jesse Helms’ method of attack left a legacy that later became the model from which Karl Rove based his smear against John McCain that he fathered an illegitimate child.
Negative advertising isn’t always effective. Green’s hard-hitting chapter on the limitations of negative campaigning aptly describes the tactic as a double-edged sword. Green’s position is not without substantiation, either. Indeed, there is a plethora of examples of negative tactics gone awry. Sometimes it is simply that the issue being exploited is outdated, as in the case of Lisa Quigley’s attack on her opponent Jim Costa. Other times the claims within the advertisement are not credible, causing them to backfire. By far the most powerful attack that foiled was Senator Kerry’s comment about Vice President Cheney’s daughter’s sexual orientation. This is a perfect example of an attack that went below the belt, causing many people to empathize with the Vice President about his family life and the lack of respect that Kerry showed for his privacy.
With these examples it is clear that Mark presents a nuanced account of negative campaigning, showing where it works and where it doesn’t. One of the trends he captures in this regard is the attack book. Although it remains to be seen how far this medium will go, we are already seeing it evolve this campaign season with a book called The Obama Nation by Jerome Corsi, who also authored an attack book on Senator Kerry called Unfit for Command. These books have been exposed as having numerous factual errors and distortions. The question arises after reading these tracts is whether this method of attack is a new low in American politics? Also, will there be more books of this sort? This is relevant to ask because in spite of their veracity being challenged, these books generate a lot of controversy.
Although it is difficult for me to admit, I did find this book to be well worth reading in spite of its somber message. While I embrace the politics of positivity, it is always important to remember what is actually going on in the world around you. It is for this reason that I recommend this book to anyone looking to study this ghastly art.
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