Throughout the midterm elections last year, if you watched TV or went online, you likely saw some attack advertisements from candidates on both sides of the spectrum spewing hate at the opposition. Smear campaigns have been prominent since the founding of the country, but nothing that Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson did compares to the accessibility of advertisements and free speech in today’s media.
With the 2020 presidential election a mere 14 months away, attack ads have not yet been officially published, but they are still relevant throughout prominent social media platforms— especially Twitter. Every other day you see President Trump tweet about a Democratic candidate, calling them nicknames and scaring his followers away from them. Countering the president are many candidates—on both sides— calling for impeachment or insanity toward the incumbent.
Throughout the first two nights of debates in July, President Trump was mentioned 63 times by the 20 candidates on stage. As the third Democratic Debate went down last Thursday, there was one thing that every candidate fervently agreed upon: that Trump should not be the leader of the United States. Senator Kamala Harris even used her entire opening statement to besmirch Trump rather than discussing policy and her candidacy.
While many liberals, moderates and even some conservatives would prefer a different individual running our country, many also believe that playing Trump’s own game is not the correct way for it to happen. Attack ads and statements are nothing more than hate and fear spewed from each candidate. Every time a Democratic candidate mentions Trump in either a tweet, interview or statement, the candidate is instilling fear into the left side of America and moderate voters who are unsure of who to trust. On the other side, whenever Trump tweets, he only instills fear into his followers.
Attacks at opponents have also been prevalent in each of the candidates’ parties. Throughout the debates, there has been an abundance of attacks towards fellow primary opponents; progressive candidates have been pitted against more moderate candidates. Middle of the pack candidates are trying to set themselves apart from each other, and in turn, are pointing out flaws in the others. Vox News jokingly remarked, “there were 11 candidates on the stage tonight, the 10 Democrats and Donald Trump.” By slandering candidates within their own party, they are doing Trump’s debate for him.
Trump won the presidency, not simply because he discussed policy, but because he scared voters. Beseeching them to “lock her up!” when discussing Hillary Clinton, talking about immigrants as if they are vermin, and worrying moderate voters about loftier taxes that they would likely need to pay. Clinton could not keep up, waded through policy and evidently lost the race. If Democrats want to win the White House in 14 months, they need to stop doing Trump’s work for him and focus on policy and the true reason that they are running for president, rather than focusing on unseating the incumbent, making the country better.
As the election looms closer, you should focus more on the respective candidates’ policies rather than what they fear. Vote because a candidate is great, not because the other is not. Take attack ads for what they are, an example of hate and another reason that our country is divided—almost—more than ever.
Matthew Villanueva, Opinion Editor
villanjv@bonaventure.edu
