Dirty campaigns and negative advertising

There is nothing more predictable in politics than the fact that each election cycle will bring claims that the current campaign is the dirtiest or the advertising is the most negative. I've had relatively intelligent people who should know better claim to me that this election has the most negative advertising they've ever seen. Well, Chris at A Large Regular scored a major interview with a past president and raised this very subject.

ALR: Perhaps the biggest topic of conversation during this current election cycle is negative advertising. Does it seem to you that the level of political discourse in this country has sunk to such low levels?

HST: Low levels as compared to when? Politics has always been the dirtiest of games. Think back to our founding where you had a man who lost the closest Presidential election in history and who served as Vice-President killing the man who created our banking system in a duel over rumors spread by one that the other was having inappropriate relations with his own daughter. Maybe I missed it but has anyone killed an opponent over rumors of incest like Aaron Burr killer Alexander Hamilton in this election cycle?

ALR: I see your point but I guess I was thinking of more recent, more modern history to compare to.

HST: Like when? The 50’s when accusations that a person was a Communist or “liked dark meat” could ruin not just the person’s election chances but also his life? The 60’s when protester’s threatened the water supplies of major cities or clashed with police on a regular basis in the late 60’s or in the early 60’s when violence was worse and civil rights workers in the South were killed for their beliefs or leaders assassinated like JFK, RFK or MLK? No the myth of a golden age of political civility is just a myth like the Easter Bunny. If anything politics are probably more civil today than the past.

Visit A Large Regular for the rest of the interview.