Mudslinging
Continued from Page 1
tactics are part of a Republican
strategy to reduce election
participation.
“Slick Republican con
sultants in Washington have
figured out that if you go
negative early, get your
Democratic opponents to res
pond in kind and keep the cam
paign on that level, you will
drive turnout down, and low
turnouts are good for
Republicans." Hart said
"The Republicans say it
works, or they wouldn't do It.”
said lames Klonoski. University
political science professor and
former state Democratic party
chairman. The Democrats are
"a little better at holding off,"
but both parties engage in
negative campaigning, he said.
"I'm skeptical of that as the
ma|or explanation," said James
I.emert. University journalism
and public opinion professor.
"For example (Peter) DeFazio
ran a negative ad about (Bruce)
Long and said he had a really
bad idea back in 1984 about
diverting young people's Social
Security payments," I.emert
said.
DeFazio's advertisement said
Ixtng's idea would "bankrupt"
the Social Security program.
DeFazio is the Democratic can
didate to the 4th Congressional
District, and l.ong is his
Republican opponent in that
race.
For his part. Long launched a
direct-mail campaign accusing
DeFazio of flip-flopping on tax
issues.
"For reasons quite understan
dable. once one side starts
slinging the mud. it becomes an
escalation," Lemert said.
Ted Kulongowski was a vic
tim of Gov. Vic Atiyeh's
negative campaign in 1982. he
said While both parlies par
ticipate in negative campaigns.
Republicans "do tend to be
more devious. Not because
they're inherently more
devious, but because they have
more money," he said.
Some explanations have been
offered as to why negative cam
paigns are so abundant and
vicious.
‘‘There are no crisp
ideological divides in 1986.
This has left a vacuum, which
politics abhors and which
character assaults have rushed
in to fill," according to Paul
Taylor of The Washington Post
Klonoski agreed "There are
no overriding national issues,
so they get down to par
ticulars." he said
In the governor's race par
ticularly. where the two can
didates are struggling to gain
acceptance as the most pro
gressive moderate, their
similarity in issue stands may
lend naturally to character
attacks.
Additionally. "The more it
goes on nationwide, the easier it
is to do it locally.” Lemert said.
Another factor is the rise of
political consultants. "As soon
as you start hiring those folks
you tap into the network,"
Lemert said. "In that sense, a
mudslinging campaign in one
part of the country hastens the
spread, or diffusion, of that sort
of tactic," he said.
The sophistication of elec
tronic media makes it easier to
conduct negative campaigns.
Klonoski said. "We live in an
age of images, and you can
make and remake images in a
matter of seconds Negative
campaigns help create those im
ages.” he said.
The way journalists cover
campaigns may encourage and
increase the effectiveness of
negative campaigns. Lemert
said. Negative campaign ads
played in the last days before
the election leave little time or
means for rebuttal, he said.
"If there is no way a politi
cian who is subjected to that can
respond, that doesn't say much
for journalists.” Lemert said.
"Ads repeat incessantly. In
the news, journalists would feel
very awkward about repeating
the same rebuttal.” Lemert said.
Kulongowski agreed. "The
secret to campaign ads is its
repetitiveness.” People don't
really listen to the specific
charges, but do absorb themes.
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he said In the most recent
advertisement attacking
Goldschmidt. "It's not so much
if he’s really changed, it's the
overall theme — he's inconsis
tent, you can't trust him.” he
said.
For the most part, negative
advertisements are effective,
said Ed Mellman, a Democratic
pollster. “When we ask people
about negative ads. they'll say
they don’t like them. But that’s
not the point. The point is that
they absorb the information."
he said in the Washington Post
article.
Nevertheless. Kulongowski
doesn't believe the Paulus ad
will lie effective, he said.
"There is a question of whether
her negative ad really has a
bite." he said. Additionally,
Paulus violated the 10-day rule,
he said.
"It wasn’t until a week ago
they realized Neil had the
momentum," Kulongowski
said. A candidate should
"never run negatives after
Thursday. You want to run
positives.” he said.
"Surveys early on showed
that Goldschmidt had a higher
negative rating." Lemert said.
"That would be consistent with
Kulongowski's analysis that
slinging mud is an act of
desperation.” he said.
When Atiyeh initiated a
negative media blitz. "Our
response was we'll take the
high ground," Kulongowski
said.
That was a mistake, he said.
"When you have people run a
negative with a bite, the people
want you to respond Otherwise
you look weak." he said.
"The most effective thing to
do is run negative on radio in
July and August, drop a little in
September for two or three
weeks, then go positive," he
said. Goldschmidt is wise to ig
nore the accusations because
the Paulus ad "did not bite hard
enough." he said.
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