Like most people, I’ve been following the primaries with much interest. And as Democrat, I’ve watched this race with particular fervor. We’ve seen candidates promising change, experience, and all the things you hear about with regularity during campaign season.
Of course, with campaigning comes mudslinging and that’s something that voters have come to expect. However, watching the Democratic primary race is something akin to a Ultimate Fighting Championship rather than a friendly backyard tussle.
The frontrunners, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama seem to have taken the gloves off with dealing with each other. There are some who say this is to be expected, however, it seems to me that such low blows only hurt the party and the country as well. When two people disagree on a topic, nothing gets accomplished by the two going out to the alley to settle the scores.
The only way to decide the matter truly is to meet face to face on the issues. That’s the only possible way that either side is going to convince the other. This is true for classroom discussions, and presidential front runners. This country has been divided for too long along party lines thanks to the current administration, and it will only further muck up the problem if the parties themselves become divided. It’s too early in the race to give the Republicans more ammunition to take apart the Democratic candidate.
Clinton, Obama, and Edwards shouldn’t dig all the dirt on their opponents, and leave them defenseless should they win the nomination. On another level all of this negative campaigning has a negative effect on those who are watching the election coverage. If you hear day after day of negative things about your candidate, the other side looks a lot more appealing.
I doubt that anyone is thinking of changing their political affiliation just because of some negative ads, but it certainly can’t help the primary candidates in keeping polling and fundraising up. Those in the race need to not forget that this is only the first hurdle in a series, and it’s certainly not even the most challenging. There’s never going to be a race for government in which one side doesn’t illustrate the faults of the other. In every tier of government there are those who think they can do a better job, and want the chance to prove it. However, an overabundance of negative campaigning might not only lead to people turning away from their televisions and radios, but turning away from the polls as well.