Attack Ads

Attack advertisements are an old-fashioned political tactic that needs to stop. This year, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama's campaigns have bombarded Americans with hundreds of attack ads. The most recent tactic from McCain and his running mate Gov. Sarah Palin is attempting to portray Obama as un-American through controversial ties with Bill Ayers, a University of Illinois professor and former member of the radical group Weather Underground. Obama, in response, has attempted to link McCain's involvement in the Keating Five scandal of the 1980's to the latest financial crisis. These negative campaign tactics mislead Americans and do not address the important issues that voters care about and deserve to know. Voters care about finding solutions to the problems the Bush administration has left in its wake. They look to Obama or McCain for those solutions. It is difficult for Americans to decide to vote for McCain or Obama, though, when all they hear in the media is about the latest attack ad each candidate has aired. Attack ads have proven to be a successful campaign tactic in the past, but with the digital age booming, Americans are able to see past the lies. The internet has become an important tool in this year's election. Americans are able to utilize thousands of websites to learn whether an attack ad's claims are true or false. When a president is elected because attack ads hurt the other candidate's chances of winning, like the Swift boat attack ads did for Sen. John Kerry in 2004, voters are stripped of their opportunity to vote fairly. In the end, attack ads may win an election, but they hurt Americans in the long run.