Downplaying their faults is pretty much the point of campaigns. But we do count on them living with the constant terror of public rejection.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Somebody must be up and somebody must be down. Trouble is, campaigns are messy, subtle creatures that don't follow convenient narratives.
Sometimes, political campaigns make decent people act and talk like perfect buffoons.
Almost all political campaigns involve falsity and playacting.
I know that campaigns can seem small, and even silly. Trivial things become big distractions. Serious issues become sound bites. And the truth gets buried under an avalanche of money and advertising. If you're sick of hearing me approve this message, believe me - so am I.
I think sometimes negative campaigning, like so much, is in the eye of the beholder, and I don't think we'll ever get rid of it.
The people are fed up with their elected officials playing the blame game and treating their political counterparts as enemies.
Our adversaries - our Democratic adversaries - like to be able to portray the Republican Party as a bunch of wingnuts - narrow based, always have some agenda that's not attractive to the public... That's easier for them, and more fun, than dealing with their own problems. And I think their problems are significant.
Concerned about re-election, interest-group reactions, the media, or fundraising, many legislators have found it in their interest to refuse to cooperate with members of the opposing party - or to treat them as enemies in some kind of war, in which the whole point is to defeat and humiliate them. But the American people have been the real losers.
Negative campaigning is wrong.
People spend money on negative campaigning because it works.
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