Election 2004: Some Historical Underpinnings
will see a flowering of campaign ads, a great many of them will probably end up being attack ads. Normally we would think that attacking the opposition might force some of the opposition's supporters to reconsider their support and change sides. However, "...advertising reinforces and invigorates existing partisan preferences and beliefs." (Ansolabehere and Iyengar 65) Attack ads don't win converts; they only sure up existing support. If either candidate wants to erode support for the opposition, he will need to persuade with reason and logic, not attacks. Among the most famous attack ads of any presidential campaign, the "Willie Horton" and "Revolving Door" ads attacked Dukakis's position on prisons and crime in general, explaining that Willie Horton was released on furlough from a Massachusetts prison and committed another crime. The "Revolving Door" depicted a long line of convicts walking toward a prison yard as if they were going to enter but only passing through a revolving door, indicative of Dukakis' stance on releasing prisons on furlough. These ads did not win Bush any Democratic support but they did play on the sensibilities of suburban undecided voters who then leaned toward Bush because these ads showed Dukakis was soft on crime.
The 2004 presidential campaign and election has historical precedents in 1988 and 1992, chiefly because of George W. Bush's role as adviser to his father George H.W. Bush and also because the issues are similar. Economy, military service, and taxes among others are all current issues that were current in both the 1988 and 1992 elections with heavy consequences. Over the next seven months, we will see how these issues play out in terms of the election and which candidate manipulates which issues to what advantage. At the very least, the coming months will be interesting and exciting as we will be able to see where some of these issues have taken the candidates in previous elections and where they may lead them now.
Bibliography
Ansolabehere, Stephen and Shanto Iyengar. Going Negative: How Political Advertisements Shrink and Polarize the Electorate.
Boller, Paul F. Presidential Anecdotes
Boller, Paul F. Presidential Campaigns
Bush, George H.W. All the Best, George: My Life in Letters and other Writings
Bush, George W. A Charge to Keep
Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. Packaging the Presidency
Pine, Joslyn. Wit and Wisdom of the U.S Presidents
Troy, Gil. See How They Ran
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