Another round of attack ads barkeep!

You know, for a country not in election mode the big boys sure are busy.

Last week the Harper Conservatives launched their attack ads. Not really a surprise. What bugs me about these ads is that they are simply attack ads on the liberal leader’s credibility. He lived abroad; he worked for the Americans and so on. Nowhere in the ads is any content as to what the Conservatives will do, how their policies are better. In the case of ad attacking the Liberal almost Coalition the Conservatives slam the Liberals for daring to think about forming a government this way, forgetting the fact the Harper tried some years ago.

You can view the ads here.

http://www.youtube.com/user/cpcpcc

Now the Liberals are not much better but I’ll give them the credit, their ads at least focus on what the Harper Conservatives have done wrong. But having just heard Michael Ignatieff speak at a town hall meeting indicating they would focus on the issues and leave the attack ads to the other guys it leaves me to wonder now that they are using them

Fair enough, the Liberal ads aren’t personal attack ads, but they do use fear as a motivator to not vote Harper.

The Liberal ads are here.

http://www.youtube.com/user/liberalvideo

The issue is one of how to use the media. Ads that attack or use fear as a goad work all too well, and they shouldn’t. George Bush in his 2004 campaign against John Kerry used fear to turn public opinion against a decorated war vet (something that usually resonates with the middle class voter) making Kerry having served a negative. George himself didn’t serve in the military actively, but through the use of attack ads made this not only a non issue but a problem for Kerry.

The Conservatives have learned well at the heels of their republican look a likes. It’s what turned the election against Martin and Dion, and it looks like we will see more of the same this time around. Issue is that this style of mudslinging serves no one and is in part one of the reasons for the decline in voter turnout. But as long as the people continue to be swayed by these ads we will keep seeing them.

And that’s a shame.